The European Commission drafted and approved a plan for Horizon Europe to raise EU science spending levels by 50% over the years 2021–2027.
[1][2] Wealthier EU members have expressed opposition to the increase in funding, with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte saying the draft budget was "unacceptable".
[3] Compared to the previous framework programme Horizon 2020, some changes in terms of cost reporting have been implemented with the objective to simplify the grant management process.
[6][7][8] Independent observers had predicted the final approved funding to be much lower after completion of the lengthy negotiations with the European Parliament and EU member states.
In order to build political support for the budget increase, he used American originated ideas of "moonshots" to focus research efforts and boost the public interest.