Today, Maria da Graça Carvalho participated at a webcast conference organised by Science|Business in the European Parliament. The objective of the conference was to debate how much should Europe spend on R&D and how much will it be spent.
MEPs Maria da Graca Carvalho; James Ellies (ECR-UK) who sits on the Budget Committee; Philippe Lamberts (Greens-BE), Edit Herczog (S&D-HU) and Peter Skinner (S&D-UK), member of the Economic and Finance committee and the ITRE Committee, urged continued support for the European Commission's proposed budget increase.
Maria da Graça Carvalho championed an €80 billion-plus Horizon 2020 package as a vote for Europe's competitiveness. "Horizon 2020 is exactly the growth pact we need for Europe," she said, arguing against a delayed decision. "We need a European budget. For many countries, it's the only public budget available for R&D. We should have the courage to make a choice and select the right priorities."
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