Excellence must be the focus in EU research package

Vicky Ford MEP, Conservative spokesman on industry and research, has called for a focus on excellence in a new package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe.

Horizon 2020, an €80 billion blueprint for investment, for the first time brings together all EU research and innovation funding under a single programme.

It aims to turn scientific breakthroughs into innovative products and services that provide business opportunities and change people's lives for the better. At the same time it sets out to cut red tape, with simplification of rules and procedures to attract more top researchers and a broader range of innovative businesses.

Mrs Ford said: "Research and innovation are at the heart of getting Europe back into business. The budget for this must be focused on excellence, on making sure that the best scientists for the jobs are the ones funded to undertake them.

"We have to strip out some of the hideous red tape which makes EU research-funding infamously bureaucratic. These will be my priorities when considering amendments to the Commission's Horizon 2020 proposal published today."

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