EU ministers debated the Horizon Europe package for 2028-2034 at the Competitiveness Council on 29 May 2026, with four outstanding issues splitting delegations: strategic priority setting and links with the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), European Partnerships, widening provisions, and bottom-up collaborative research. The Cypriot Presidency, represented by Minister Nicodemus, stressed convergence on most text and urged timely agreement to avoid funding gaps. Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva backed the presidency’s direction, warning against adding complex layers such as Article 17, and called for genuine simplification, noting work programmes risk reaching 3000 pages.
The Netherlands (EPP) supported targeted widening but opposed anonymised proposals, insisting on excellence as the sole criterion. Denmark (Renew) strongly backed dual-use and defence research under the European Innovation Council (EIC), citing Russian drone attacks in Romania, and pushed for joint Horizon-ECF governance to end silos. Portugal (S&D) defended a transition pathway for widening countries and urged co-creation with member states. Luxembourg (Renew) called for early member-state involvement in priority setting and clear partnership closure procedures. Austria (EPP) insisted pure defence research be funded from the ECF, not Horizon, and supported limiting partnerships to strategic areas. Finland (EPP) stressed excellence and open competition.
widening remains contentious, with the Netherlands and Denmark opposing it as a horizontal principle, while Portugal and Luxembourg seek transitional support. Partnerships face pushback on central financial management from the Netherlands and Denmark. The presidency aims for a partial general approach by June, aligned with the ECF regulation. The outcome will affect researchers, industry, SMEs, and widening countries seeking capacity-building. A compromise may require trade-offs between excellence-driven allocation and transitional support for less research-intensive member states, as well as between dual-use expansion and preserving Horizon's civilian focus.