Following the situation in Gaza: European Commission proposes to deny Israel access to acceleration grants in the Horizon Europe program
The European Union is considering suspending Israel's access to part of the Horizon Europe research and development program, following growing anger over Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is causing a widening famine. This is what the Science Business website publishes.
The European Commission has proposed preventing Israeli startups from participating in the European Innovation Council's accelerator grant track – grants intended for the development of close-to-market technologies, which may be worth up to €2.5 million per company.
According to the Commission's announcement of July 28, the move comes in response to a report by the EU's External Action Service, which determined that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, including attacks on hospitals and the mass displacement of civilians. The report examines whether Israel has violated the human rights clause in the partnership agreement with the EU – an agreement that grants it, among other things, access to the Horizon Europe program.
The suspension proposal still requires the approval of a majority of EU member states. In the past, Germany, Hungary and Austria have expressed reservations about imposing sanctions, but their position appears to be softening. A joint statement by Germany, France and Britain last week called for an end to the humanitarian crisis: "Depriving the civilian population of vital humanitarian aid is unacceptable."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz even announced a humanitarian aid airdrop operation into Gaza. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "The images from Gaza are intolerable."
The Commission stressed that the proposed suspension is "targeted and reversible", and does not affect the participation of Israeli universities and researchers in other collaborative projects under Horizon Europe, such as European Research Council (ERC) grants and broad international projects.
A sharp debate is raging in the European academic community: Universities in Spain and Belgium have already called for the suspension of the agreement with Israel, while German universities continue to oppose the boycott of Israeli research institutions, claiming that they constitute a "democratic and liberal force" in the country.
If the proposal is approved, it will be the first time that the EU has used the Horizon Europe program, which allocates approximately €93.5 billion, as a tool for political pressure against Israel.
