Sittings · Document

OPINION (2024/2051(INI)) 2025-03-19

On a revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy · Rapporteur: Christian Ehler

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy submits the following to the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible:

Amendment 1

Motion for a resolution

Recital E a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

Ea. whereas the challenges posed by ongoing geopolitical events, particularly the Russian aggression in Ukraine, has led to disruptions in value chains and energy markets, impacting the timely implementation of the current multiannual financial framework (MFF);

Amendment 2

Motion for a resolution

Recital H a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

Ha. whereas the Budapest Declaration on the new European competitiveness deal committed the Union and its Member States to achieving the objective of spending at least 3 % of the Union’s GDP on research and development by 2030, an objective first set for 2010 under the Lisbon Strategy;

Amendment 3

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 3 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

3a. Reiterates its commitment to phasing out all fossil fuel subsidies and environmentally harmful subsidies from the next MFF; requests that the Commission put forward its planned roadmap for further scaling down and phasing out the use of fossil fuel subsidies well ahead of its proposal for the next MFF;

Amendment 4

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 10

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

10. Insists that, in the next MFF, more must be done to maximise the potential of the role of the European Investment Bank Group – together with other international and national financial institutions – in lending in strategic policy areas, such as climate and, latterly, dual-use defence projects without losing triple-A status; believes, therefore, that alternative instruments, such as the European Innovation Council, should be used to deliver the Union financial instrument investments needed to unlock and attract sufficient private venture capital to ensure a financing environment for European start-ups that can compete with the EU’s global competitors;

Amendment 5

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

11. Emphasises that funding for research and innovation should be significantly increased, should be focused on the Union’s strategic priorities and should continue to be determined by the principle of excellence; considers that there should be sufficient resources across the MFF and at national level to fund all high-quality projects;

11. Stresses that the innovation gap is one of the causes of the Union’s slowing productivity growth; emphasises that, in order to put research and innovation at the heart of the EU economy, the Union needs to significantly increase investment in research and innovation, in particular by fostering public spending on research and development (R&D), including at national level, and leveraging private R&D spending, including via a more attractive internal market for start-ups, scale-ups and venture capital, with a particular focus on strategic sectors; emphasises the importance of efficient funding processes, guaranteeing predictability and efficient use of public resources, in attracting private investment in cutting-edge research and innovation; notes that in order to achieve the Union’s policy objectives, the Union and its Member States need to fund the best possible science (including basic science), research and innovation and attractive research infrastructure and complete the European research area, most notably by introducing the Fifth Freedom1a and by continuing research cooperation through Euratom; considers that under the next MFF, the 10th Framework Programme should receive an overall budget that is in line with the 3 % of GDP spending target and is sufficient to fund at least 75 % of high-quality proposals, namely a budget of at least EUR 220 billion; underlines that the 10th Framework Programme has to be an independent funding programme encompassing all Union funding and financing for excellent research, technology development and innovation activities across the Union; emphasises that in order to ensure budgetary stability, the budget for this Framework Programme should be ring-fenced in the MFF and any decommitments stemming from this Programme or its predecessors should automatically return to the Programme or its successors; notes the generally positive assessments (in particular in terms of EU added value) of the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) by independent experts; regrets, however, that the relevance of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology as a programme is questioned by several stakeholders, including some of its biggest beneficiaries; underlines that in principle, the concept of KICs is appreciated by stakeholders as a useful instrument for the effective development and integration of innovation ecosystems; stresses that the two main concerns raised are the financial self-sustainability requirement for KICs1b, and the central management by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology, which is considered too bureaucratic and burdensome and creates governance difficulties for the KICs1c; concludes that for many stakeholders, the financial and other costs, including the high burden of participating in a KIC, outweigh the benefits of the relatively small amount of funding support that is relevant for them;

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1a Letta Report, pp. 19-26.

1b See, for example, European University Association, ‘Paving the way for impactful European R&I – EUA’s vision for FP10’, position paper, 2024, p. 14, https://www.eua.eu/publications/positions/paving-the-way-for-impactful-european-r-i.html.

1c See, for example, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, ‘Towards a bigger bang for the buck: Bid farewell to the EIT’, position paper, May 2024, https://www.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/zv/en/institutes/international/brussels/finalpapers/Fraunhofer_PositionPaper_EIT.pdf.

Amendment 6

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 11 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

11a. Believes that the continued presence of nuclear technology in the Union and the continued interest in the use of nuclear power as part of the national energy mix in some Member States, which currently means that about 22.8 % of electricity generation in the Union stems from nuclear production, requires that the Union be a world leader with regard to knowledge of, R&D into and expertise on these technologies, including on their safety, through the Euratom Research and Training Programme and the continued involvement of the Union in the ITER project; stresses that the budgets for these programmes should reflect the new realities of the significant development towards the commercialisation of fusion technology; underlines, against the backdrop of the project’s delays and unspent appropriations in the current MFF, that the funding structure for the Union’s contribution to the ITER project should reflect the inherent uncertainty in the long-term financial planning of such a high-tech, ambitious project, in order to ensure that the Union’s budget can be used optimally in each financial year as well as over the full MFF period; expresses deep concern regarding Russia’s continued membership of the ITER project, considering Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine and the ongoing threat that Russia poses to a free and democratic European continent; recalls China’s membership of the ITER project; points out the members participating in the ITER project share ownership of the technology that is developed and the intellectual property rights that arise;

Amendment 7

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 12

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

12. Stresses that the next MFF should include much greater funding for energy, transport and digital infrastructure, with priority given to cross-border connections and national links with European added value; considers that such infrastructure goes hand in hand with a deepening of the single market;

12. Stresses that the deepening of the energy union will be crucial in order to deliver affordable, clean and secure energy to European citizens and businesses, in particular through the ramp-up of renewables in line with the Renewable Energy Directive, such as through the Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism); notes that this will require European investment in critical and cross-border energy infrastructure, energy storage and flexibility and in improving energy efficiency and further decarbonising the energy system, with respect for national energy mix choices and the principle of technological neutrality; underlines that investments should be directed at ensuring the open strategic autonomy of the Union with regard to its energy supply to increase energy security and provide affordable energy, as well as achieve the Union’s climate neutrality target; calls for the funding for energy infrastructure provided by CEF Energy to be significantly increased under the next MFF in order to support the transition of the EU energy system into a more resilient, cheaper, cleaner and smarter future and to meet the growing demand for transformative investments in critical projects; underlines that investments should improve flexibility and efficiency, mitigate price volatility and enhance the security of the energy supply; notes that for cross-border infrastructure projects, investments should continue to follow the priorities set out in the TEN-E Regulation and focus on supporting projects of common interest in order to ensure the further deployment and integration of clean energy so as to deliver affordable and secure energy to consumers and businesses; recommends that funding to facilitate cross-border cooperation in renewable energy be continued, in addition to funding for promoting energy system integration and system efficiency via support for the modernisation and development of electricity grid interconnections and increased investments in hydrogen transport infrastructure, CO2 transport infrastructure, offshore grids and projects of mutual interest with third countries, particularly with Ukraine and other countries in the EU’s neighbourhood; underlines the essential role of electrification in the energy transition and calls, therefore, for measures that accelerate the modernisation and expansion of national electricity grids in order to increase the coherence of the Union’s electricity grid; underlines, furthermore, the importance of the Modernisation Fund for accelerating the transition to climate neutrality in the 13 beneficiary Member States by providing funding for the ramping-up of renewables and energy storage, promoting energy efficiency and modernising energy networks;

Amendment 8

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

13. Considers that the Union must develop a competitiveness framework in line with its own values and political aims and that competitiveness must therefore be understood as encompassing not only economic growth, but also social, economic and territorial cohesion and environmental sustainability;

13. Recalls that ‘European competitiveness’ refers to the ability of European companies to compete successfully in global markets; points out that fostering sustainable European industrial competitiveness will require levelling the playing field for European industry compared to global competitors in terms of the cost of doing business, including by making it easier to invest, lowering energy costs, enhancing productivity, increasing long-term public investments, reducing the administrative burden and facilitating access to public contracts, critical raw materials and private capital; considers that the Union must foster its competitiveness in line with its own values and political aims, including economic growth, social, economic and territorial cohesion and environmental sustainability;

Amendment 9

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

13a. Stresses that, in order to compete with other major global players, the European economy must also become more competitive and resilient on the supply side by investing more in the Union’s open strategic autonomy through enhanced industrial policy with a focus on strategic sectors and critical technologies to reduce dependence on third countries; recalls that European industrial policy has to complete the twin green and digital transitions of European industry; recalls the previous term’s debates on a European sovereignty fund; considers, in that regard, that a new competitiveness fund should deliver on investments to ensure the strategic autonomy of the Union by fostering the sustainable industrial competitiveness and resilience of the Union, in particular through investments in strategic industrial sectors and projects, and that its priorities should be based on the Union’s industrial policy; underscores that this fund needs to be a new and targeted funding instrument to fill a funding gap in the current MFF, rather than partly or completely taking over the role of existing funding programmes; insists, in particular, on the need for a stand-alone European framework programme for research and innovation to fund European research and innovation activities, in the context of the envisaged discussion of the anticipated competitiveness fund; underlines that the primary aim of the anticipated competitiveness fund should be to facilitate private investments in industrial capacity in the Union by levelling the playing field with the conditions for industrial investment in other parts of the world; notes that, in this regard, the fund might be built on the experience garnered with InvestEU and the Innovation Fund, for example through the use of the ‘auction as a service’ approach;

Amendment 10

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 13 b (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

13b. Insists that in order to ensure open strategic autonomy and competitiveness in the space sector and reduce dependence on non-EU actors in space activities, the EU needs a significant increase in investments to deliver its space policy; underlines that the Union’s space policy has become increasingly important as a result of the changing geopolitical climate and fundamental changes to the global space industry, including through the emergence of New Space and increased commercialisation; highlights, in this context, the need to invest in space-based technologies, particularly communication technologies and earth observation, and in technologies related to access to space; believes that the Member States will not be able to efficiently meet these investment challenges alone, and that European intervention and cooperation are therefore increasingly important in this field and must be strengthened, including through the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the European Space Agency (ESA); stresses that the coordinated action of the EU, leveraging the EUSPA’s operational leadership alongside the ESA’s technical expertise, will become increasingly important in this field; believes that the investments in space system development and deployment, as currently provided by the European Union space programme, InvestEU, the European Defence Fund and Horizon Europe, should be increased significantly compared to the current MFF in order to strengthen European open strategic autonomy in space; underlines, in this regard, the need to continue investing in the leading role of the Copernicus and Galileo satellite systems while significantly ramping up investments in European space-based secure communication systems, such as IRIS2, and in space-based civil security-related systems, including space situational awareness systems; highlights the important work of the EUSPA in ensuring the proper and strategic implementation of these investments; notes that further investments in access to space should also be included in the next MFF, including investments in launch infrastructure and in advanced launch technology development, and that investments should, as far as possible, promote the reform of the European space market into a more competition-driven market with due support for new European space players; underlines that investments in space systems under the next MFF must prioritise integrating cybersecurity by design, enhancing the production of European space data and ensuring its optimal use within the EU, thus ensuring resilience across the entire life cycle of space infrastructure, from development to decommissioning;

Amendment 11

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 16

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

16. Stresses that, in order to compete with other major global players, the European economy must also become more competitive and resilient on the supply side by investing more in the Union’s open strategic autonomy through enhanced industrial policy and a focus on strategic sectors and critical technologies to reduce dependence on third countries;

deleted

Amendment 12

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 21

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

21. Highlights that the green and digital transitions are inextricably linked to competitiveness, the modernisation of the economy and the resilience of society and that, therefore, the post-2027 MFF must continue to support the twin transitions;

21. Highlights that the green and digital transitions are inextricably linked to competitiveness, the modernisation of the economy and the resilience of society, that they must therefore be supported by strong research and innovation efforts, and that the post-2027 MFF must continue to support the twin transitions;

Amendment 13

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 23

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

23. Underlines that industry will be central in the transition to net zero and that support will be needed in helping some industrial sectors and their workers to adapt; stresses that the transition must leave no one behind, requiring investment in regions that are heavily fossil-fuel dependent and increased support for households, in particular through the Social Climate Fund;

23. Underlines that industry will be central in the transition to net zero and that support will be needed in helping some industrial sectors and their workers to adapt; stresses that this transition will take place in the context of global competition that is characterised by a relatively high cost of doing business in Europe and by unfair and anti-competitive efforts by the Union’s global competitors; considers that innovation, and in particular cleantech innovation, is the only way to keep European industry competitive, securing economic growth and quality jobs while also decarbonising; underlines, in this regard, the importance of a strengthened Innovation Fund as part of the MFF; believes that the Innovation Fund should continue to serve the clear objective of decarbonising European industry and should form, together with the anticipated competitiveness fund and investments in the digital and space sectors, a coherent and easy-to-access suite of funding programmes to support the competitiveness of European industry; believes that the transition must leave no one behind, requiring investment in regions that are heavily fossil-fuel dependent and increased support for households, in particular through the Social Climate Fund;

Amendment 14

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 23 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

23a. Underlines that for the Union to fully benefit from the digital transition, it needs to invest in its technology leadership and sovereignty, including through standardisation and the development of a European technology stack to support the EU’s digital autonomy and influence in international standards; notes that the full deployment of scalable and user-centred digital technologies will make the EU’s public sector and administration more efficient, improve the quality of life of EU citizens and increase the competitiveness of EU companies; highlights that the rapid evolution of digital infrastructure shows the need for reliable, future-ready connectivity that combines terrestrial, satellite and next-generation mobile networks (i.e. 5G and 6G) into a seamless, secure system capable of supporting large-scale, high-speed communication networks; strongly believes that in order to achieve this, the Union should prioritise the development of innovative, trusted and adaptable networks; emphasises, furthermore, that the continued acceleration of the digital transition underlines the importance of ongoing Union spending on deploying, using (digital skills) and innovating with digital technologies, and on the data infrastructure that forms the backbone of an internal market for digital products and services; notes that given the speed of technological development, the next MFF needs to have enough flexibility to include new priorities as they arise, while ensuring streamlined access to funding for stakeholders; calls for an increased budget for digital infrastructure investments; believes that the objectives of both the Digital Europe Programme and CEF Digital remain relevant, but that rationalising the programming landscape for digital investments could be considered, in particular to foster the development of a European technology stack; highlights the need to ensure robust cyber- and physical security for all digital technologies and infrastructure, and the need for this to remain a horizontal priority in Union spending in order to safeguard critical investments, withstand hybrid attacks, such as sabotage and espionage, and foster trust in digital and technological advancements;

Amendment 15

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 24

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

24. Points to the profound technological shift under way, with new technologies such as artificial intelligence both creating opportunities, in terms of economic potential and improvements to the citizens’ lives, and posing reliability and ethical challenges; stresses that the next MFF must support the development and safe application of such technologies and help people to hone the skills they need to work with and use them;

24. Points to the profound technological shift under way, with new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum both creating opportunities, in terms of economic potential and improvements to the citizens’ lives, and posing reliability and ethical challenges; stresses that the next MFF must increase support for research and development related to such technologies and the safe application of such technologies; notes the importance of further investments to help people to hone the skills they need to work with and use such technologies;

Amendment 16

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 35

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

35. Insists that, in a context of heightened global instability, the Union must continue to engage constructively with third countries and support peace, stability, prosperity, security, democracy and sustainable development globally, in line with its values; underlines that science diplomacy can be a very effective tool in this regard, particularly considering the strength of the European scientific sector;

Amendment 17

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 56

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

56. Is pleased that the climate mainstreaming target of 30 % is projected to be exceeded in the current MFF; regrets, however, that the Union is not on track to meet the target for biodiversity-related expenditure; considers that the targets in the IIA have been a major factor in driving climate and biodiversity spending; recalls, furthermore, Article 33(2)d of the Financial Regulation, which sets out that Union programmes ‘shall, where feasible and appropriate in accordance with the relevant sector-specific rules, be implemented to achieve their set objectives without doing significant harm to the environmental objectives of climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, as set out in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council’;

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12 Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/852/oj).

Amendment 18

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 58

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

58. Regrets that the Union’s ability to implement policy effectively within the current MFF has been undermined by stretched administrative resources and a dogmatic attachment to a policy of stable staffing, despite increasing demands and responsibilities; points, for example, to the failure to provide sufficient staff to properly enforce the Digital Services13 and Digital Markets Acts14, thus undercutting the legislation’s effectiveness; highlights, in this regard, the negative effect of the understaffing of the Commission on the efficiency of the Union’s industrial policy, as it undermines the Commission’s ability to quickly process state-aid notifications or effectively apply trade defence instruments, leading to a non-level global playing field for European industry;

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13 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj).

14 Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Digital Markets Act) (OJ L 265, 12.10.2022, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/1925/oj).

Amendment 19

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 59 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

59a. Believes that the programme-specific implementation of any potential horizontal policies or mainstreaming efforts set out for the MFF, for example related to competitiveness or the twin green and digital transitions, should be left to sectoral legislation in order to ensure that it is effective and does not create unnecessary administrative complexity for the final recipients of Union funds;

Amendment 20

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 91 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

91a. Stresses the importance of parliamentary scrutiny of the implementation of the Union budget under the MFF and in compliance with sectoral legislation; underlines, in that context, that agreements allowing for the participation of specific third countries1a in EU programmes should allow for full parliamentary scrutiny, through a consent procedure, of the participation of a specific partner country in a specific EU programme; underlines that this is of particular importance where the participation is not part of a single international agreement on political relations between the Union and the third country;

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1a These specific countries include members of the European Free Trade Association that are members of the European Economic Area, acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries, European Neighbourhood Policy countries, and like-minded third countries, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR FOR OPINION HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

18.3.2025

Result of final vote

–:

Members present for the final vote

Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez, Wouter Beke, Paolo Borchia, Markus Buchheit, Borys Budka, João Cotrim De Figueiredo, Pilar del Castillo Vera, Elena Donazzan, Matthias Ecke, Christian Ehler, Sofie Eriksson, Jan Farský, Sigrid Friis, Niels Fuglsang, Alexandra Geese, Bruno Gonçalves, Nicolás González Casares, Giorgio Gori, Bart Groothuis, András Gyürk, Niels Flemming Hansen, Eero Heinäluoma, Ivars Ijabs, Diana Iovanovici Şoşoacă, Adam Jarubas, Fernand Kartheiser, Seán Kelly, Rudi Kennes, Sarah Knafo, Michał Kobosko, Ondřej Krutílek, Eszter Lakos, Morten Løkkegaard, Yannis Maniatis, Eva Maydell, Marina Mesure, Jana Nagyová, Ville Niinistö, Aleksandar Nikolic, Mirosława Nykiel, Daniel Obajtek, Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Tsvetelina Penkova, Virgil-Daniel Popescu, Jüri Ratas, Julie Rechagneux, Aura Salla, Elena Sancho Murillo, Jussi Saramo, Paulius Saudargas, Benedetta Scuderi, Diego Solier, Anna Stürgkh, Marcin Sypniewski, Beata Szydło, Dario Tamburrano, Filip Turek, Yvan Verougstraete, Mariateresa Vivaldini, Andrea Wechsler, Angelika Winzig, Auke Zijlstra, Nicola Zingaretti

Substitutes present for the final vote

Mohammed Chahim, Paulo Cunha, Radan Kanev, Marion Maréchal, Georg Mayer, Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, Oliver Schenk, Irene Tinagli, Zala Tomašič, Francesco Torselli, Marie Toussaint, Dimitris Tsiodras

Members under Rule 216(7) present for the final vote

Grégory Allione, Mireia Borrás Pabón, Vasile Dîncu, Marcos Ros Sempere, Alexandre Varaut, Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

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