The failure of European Union (EU) leaders to reach an agreement over the EU budget last week need not be a setback for research in the region, European Commissioner for Research Janez Potočnik said today (June 22).
Potočnik, speaking after a press conference by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Brussels, put a positive spin on the budget summit collapse, saying that it could now open up a new debate about EU spending.
"If a real discussion now starts about having a budget that looks forward to the future and spends more on science and research, then it could turn out to be a good thing," his spokeswoman Antonia Mochan told
Potočnik's comments may help reassure European scientists concerned that the collapse of the EU summit last week and the failure to agree on a budget could have negative consequences for research, delaying projects and...