The joint statement underlines the importance of science and innovation for Europe’s future. By the start of the new Framework Programme FP10, Europe should therefore remove concrete barriers to this “fifth freedom” in order to enable the free circulation of knowledge, talent, data, infrastructures, technologies, capital and ideas across Europe. Science must also be funded adequately. The statement points out that EU Member States should invest 3%3% of gross domestic product in research and innovation. It also stresses that there must be no budget cuts to the new Framework Programme FP10, which is currently under negotiation. In addition, the participating organisations propose that the future funding of research and innovation should involve less bureaucracy and greater flexibility.
The joint statement also broadens the perspective beyond Europe’s borders. Europe should become more attractive to researchers from around the world. Talent from outside the EU should be recruited, talent within the EU should be retained in Europe, and all should be offered a long-term perspective for research and innovation in Europe. Partnerships with non-EU countries associated with the Horizon programme should be consolidated and expanded. At the same time, the statement emphasises that an awareness of risk appropriate to global challenges must be developed in relation to security-relevant research, access to data and intellectual property. Research security and risk management must be taken seriously without preventing global scientific cooperation.
Brussels Messages is the final statement of the conference Towards the European Fifth Freedom and Global Competition: Voices from Science, which took place in Brussels on 29 June 2026. The statement was drafted by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Scientific Council of the European Research Council, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts.