Research and innovation are at the top of the EU's agenda for growth and jobs (EU 2020), with the Innovation Union as its flagship. The 3 % R&D intensity target set by the Barcelona Council in 2002 has been included in the Europe 2020 strategy. Yet, according to a recently published Commission Staff Working Paper only 43% of the current EU spending is devoted to initiatives supporting the Europe 2020 objectives.
It is a widely accepted fact that there are considerable advantages in funding research at the EU level, given that research becomes more efficient when it is undertaken on a larger scale. A particular need for the EU assumes leadership in the case of R&D with important cross-border or with EU-wide implication and to decrease the fragmentation of research efforts along national and institutional lines.
To ensure that all Member states and regions are involved, as well as to fight against an increasing ‘technological divide’ among European regions the MFF 2014-2020 has set up to contribute to key policy priorities, above all, those of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
In my paper would like to analyse both the negotiation process but also the design of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 asking: how the Europe 2020 Strategy 2020 was reflected in the original proposal made by the Commission and how this policy played a role in the subsequent negotiation as well as final agreement.
