According to the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Maria Leptin, one of the keys to the ERC's success is its independence. The proposed merger could undermine this independence, which would have a negative impact on research excellence.
The League of European Research Universities (LERU) also expressed concern about the proposal and called on the Commission not to limit the independence of the European Research Authority.
The main source of controversy is that the leaked Commission plans propose a single set of rules under which disparate programs such as Horizon Europe and InvestEU will fall.
According to the plan, under the European Extended Fund, all the EU's strategic financing programs will be managed in a single system, which, according to critics, hides the danger of centralization and a “planned economy.”
Although the European Commission has not yet finalized the plan, the leaked document has received great attention. Brussels is expected to present its formal budget restructuring proposals in mid-2024, which would, in addition to direct resource allocation, also transform the Common Agricultural Policy and its coherent funding allocations completely. Until the final plans are published, the research community claims it will exert pressure to ensure that the European Research Council's independence is maintained and that programs do not become too centralized.
In the EUyou tender, Portfolio consortium partners are Blue Door Consulting and Euroactiv.
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