PoliSCI

Final Horizon 2020 funding to be used for innovation-led growth

The last portion of funding for the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme will see €11bn committed to innovation-led sustainable growth that will solve the most ‘crucial’ societal challenges. To ensure greater impact from Horizon 2020, the European Commission is focusing €11bn on fewer, but more ‘crucial’ projects, such as climate change, plastics and the digital economy.

The political priorities of the Commission are: a low-carbon, climate resilient future (€3.7bn); a circular economy (€1bn); digitising and transforming European industry and services (€1.8bn); and the Security Union (€1bn).

Read the full article, here.

Government Waste Strategy does not meet recycling targets, says committee

In a letter written to Minister for Local Government Rishi Sunack, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has criticised the UK government’s current approach to meeting challenging recycling targets in its December 2018 Waste Strategy. The letter suggests that initial funding should be followed by long-term commitments to cover the ongoing costs of extra resourcing absorbed by local government.

Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts MP said: ‘We believe that the government has set out the wrong approach for achieving these objectives. Local authorities understand what the challenges are in their areas and should be given the freedom to tailor their approach to meet them. Equally, the government must ensure that the funding is there that will allow local authorities to rise to the challenge.’

Skidmore: EU should ‘depoliticise’ research partnerships

Science Minister Chris Skidmore has told the Science & Technology Select Committee that the government should ‘depoliticise’ EU R&D and student mobility schemes, and that they should be negotiated separately from a withdrawal agreement. Speaking at a hearing on the role of the Science Minister, Skidmore added that he was working on meeting the European Commission’s taskforce on Article 50 negotiations.

His proposal includes the UK committing to a participation fee to Horizon 2020 and Eramus+ for the remainder of the programmes, and then negotiating a role in Horizon Europe separately from withdrawal negotiations. ‘[I’ve] got to get around the table with Taskforce 50 to look at the issue of the withdrawal agreement and its principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’ he said.