Towards european science: An introduction

Abstract

This is the opening by the then European Commission president José Manuel Barroso in commenting on the report, “The Future of Europe is Science”, presented to him by his Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) in 2014. The report was presented and further discussed at a high-level conference with the same title, convened in Lisbon in early October 2014. It is part of the promotion and further elaboration of Horizon 2020, the new Framework Programme (FP) for research for the EU, guiding the EU research and innovation funding for the years 2014 to 2020. With nearly €80 billion of funding available over these seven years, it is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever (EC 2015a). At a time when the overall EU budget has shrunk slightly, this program provides an increase of the funding base for science, innovation and research by nearly 30 per cent compared to its precursor, the 7th Framework Programme (FP 7).