Funding for Horizon 2020 is potentially under threat from the European Commission, which wants to create a strategic investment fund that will likely use money from existing programmes.

Science Europe warned that any cuts to Horizon 2020 would have a ¡°severe negative impact¡± on development.

The new president of the EC, Jean-Claude Juncker has called for the creation of a European Fund for Strategic Investment to boost public and private investment in the continent¡¯s economy over the next three years.

It is likely that the funding from this will come from a raid on the budgets of existing programmes, including Horizon 2020, according to Science Europe, an association of European research funding organisations.

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Science Europe has warned that economic growth is dependent on knowledge and it would be ¡°counter-productive¡± to cut funding for research that creates it.

¡°The damage caused by reducing funding for research, including basic research, will have a severe negative impact on future development, and private investment cannot compensate for this,¡± it said.

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¡°In contrast, spending on research now will help to make Europe globally competitive and resilient to crises. Investment in fundamental research is a vital and indispensable investment in the future of Europe,¡± it added.

holly.else@tesglobal.com