The Rectors’ Councils of 23 countries have signed a joint statement to prevent the planned cuts in the EU’s multiannual budget for the vital Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes.
In a time of crisis, the European Union must strengthen Europeans’ faith in the future and show that safeguarding the wellbeing of people and the environment is one of the most important tasks for the next few years. It is therefore essential for the EU to ensure adequate funding for research, education and innovation in its multiannual budget.
UNIFI, along with other national boards of directors, is calling on MEPs to prevent the cuts that are now being planned in these areas.
– The EU must not undermine its own capacity for reconstruction by reducing funding for vital research and training programmes, Horizon Europe and Erasmus. The cuts would make it more difficult to carry out ground-breaking basic research, slow down the emergence of new growth-creating innovations and weaken the conditions for internationalisation. This is not the right message for Europeans in these challenging times, says UNIFI’s chairman, Rector Keijo Hämäläinen.
Indeed, UNIFI and other boards of directors call on the European Parliament to do its utmost to secure adequate funding. Horizon Europe and Erasmus + budgets should be restored to the level of the original proposal or at least equal to the European Commission’s May proposal.
– This would send an important message that policy makers are ready to invest in Europe’s sustainable development and in safeguarding the well-being and living conditions of hundreds of millions of citizens. We need research and education now, so we can head towards a brighter future, we are reminded by UNIFI’s Executive Director Tanja Risikko.
Read the joint statement of the Rectors’ Councils here.
Further information
Keijo Hämäläinen
Chair
Universities Finland UNIFI
Phone +358 (0) 40 0247 435
Tanja Risikko
Executive Director
Universities Finland UNIFI
Phone +358 (0) 40 1952 037