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Universiteit Leiden

ULEI

•Leiden University is an internationally operating research-driven university with a wide range of academic disciplines and degree programmes.

Lobbying Activity

Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – EU funding for cross-border education, training and solidarity, youth, media, culture, and creative sectors, values, and civil society

11 Nov 2025

LU welcomes the ECs proposal to increase the Erasmus+ budget to EUR 40.8 billion for the 2028-2034 period. However, we share significant concerns about whether this increase will be sufficient to meet the programmes considerably expanded ambitions. While the absolute budget increase is positive, the programmes relative share within the overall EU budget decreases, which raises questions about the EUs commitment to education, training, and international cooperation at a time when these areas are more critical than ever. The proposed budget, though increased, appears insufficient given the programmes expanded scope, which now encompasses the existing E+ programme alongside the European Solidarity Corps, structured around learning opportunities for all and capacity building support. The lack of detailed budget breakdowns and allocation specifics makes it particularly difficult to assess the real impact on individual programme components. We strongly urge the Commission to provide clearer budget distributions and consider a significant increase of the proposed budget to genuinely meet the programmes ambitious goals for education, training, mobility, and skills development. Learning mobility must remain the cornerstone of E+, requiring increased funding to address the very high demand we observe across all educational sectors. Current programmes demonstrate overwhelming interest from students, staff, and institutions, yet many deserving candidates cannot be supported due to budget constraints. Enhanced funding is essential not only to expand opportunities but also to implement meaningful simplification measures that reduce administrative burdens for participating institutions. Continued and expanded support for strategic cooperation partnerships is crucial, with particular emphasis on providing more opportunities for participation from Partner countries beyond Europe. International partnership projects are vital for building global competencies and addressing worldwide challenges. We advocate for maintaining flexibility that allows institutions and students to define their own focus areas rather than restricting cooperation to sectors solely aimed at maximising employability, even while supporting the Union of Skills principles. The continuity and expansion of existing successful programmesincluding Erasmus Mundus, Jean Monnet actions, and Capacity Building projectsrequires guaranteed, long-term funding commitments. European University Alliances, in particular, need stable and predictable funding models that enable strategic planning and sustained development rather than remaining project-based initiatives. Additionally, the continuation of Teacher Academies is essential for strengthening teacher education quality across Europe, which is fundamental to building the Union of Skills and equipping citizens with capabilities needed in our rapidly evolving economy. Without clear investment pathways for these flagship programmes, they risk fragmentation and cannot fulfil their potential as permanent pillars of the EEA. Finally, we emphasise the critical need for structural funding to effectively integrate inclusion and diversity across all programme components. This requires targeted support for participants with fewer opportunities, backed by clear operational definitions and effective progress monitoring. Additionally, substantial investment in practical simplification measures is essential to improve accessibility and user experience for all participants, ensuring that administrative complexity does not become a barrier to participation. As a HEI committed to international cooperation and student mobility, we urge the EC and member states to reconsider the proposed budget levels to ensure that the next E+ programme can truly deliver on its expanded ambitions and continue serving as Europes flagship programme for education, training, and international collaboration.
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Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – EU funding for competitiveness

16 Oct 2025

Leiden University (LU) welcomes that there will be a self-standing FP10. We recognise that the proposed budget represents a meaningful step toward a more ambitious FP10. The structure of the new proposal built around four pillars is clear, offering similarities with FP9. We strongly welcome the confirmation that the ERC will be further strengthened under FP10, and that its funding will continue to be awarded solely on the basis of scientific excellence. The ERC holds particular significance for LU, which has a notably high number of ERC laureates (59) awarded under the HEU. We particularly appreciate the continued inclusion of the MSCA within Pillar I, and we welcome the explicit reference to the continuation of funding for existing actions, notably the PF scheme. This consistency with FP9 is highly valued. Similarly to ERC, LU has a strong track record of MSCA projects (69 in HEU). It must be mentioned that LU believes that directionality within MSCA must be avoided, as it may limit the openness and bottom-up nature that has been central to its success. We wish to point out that the budgetary breakdown within the proposed regulation lacks clarity. LU calls for greater transparency and precision in budgetary provisions to avoid ambiguity and ensure effective implementation. LU commends the inclusion of a dedicated article in the draft FP10 regulation that emphasises collaborative research. We strongly support its stated objective to foster transnational, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral collaboration. LU highly values the international cooperation with the Global South. Collaborative research plays a vital role in advancing our universities academic and societal mission. LU notes that the ECs proposal for FP10 provides significantly a less detailed proposal than FP9. While brevity may enhance the aimed simplification of the EC however, the current draft omits several important details that are essential for LU to fully assess the programmes scope and impact. We believe that regulatory ambiguity should be minimized to ensure clarity, and effective implementation. LU urges the EC to provide further details and more comprehensive information in the final proposal. One of our primary concerns is the lack of clarity regarding the governance mechanisms and strategic alignment between FP10 and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) within Pillar II. We believe this aspect requires further specification and elaboration to ensure effective coordination and implementation. In particular, we emphasize the need for stronger and more consistent support and integration of SSH research, which remains underfunded. We hope that FP10 will achieve more effective integration of SSH than was realized under HEU. The SSH domain provide indispensable expertise to address major societal challenges, such as security, digitization, energy transition, the circular economy and sustainability, social inequality, (mental) health, education, prosperity and earning capacity. Moreover, the SSH domain is a generator of prosperity and a prerequisite for well-being. According to LU this support and integration should especially be directed towards: a) Inequalities, generation of the future, social transitions; b) Security, safety and cyber security, trust in polarized times, geopolitics in Europe and the world; c) Languages, cultures and worldviews, heritage and migration; d) Health and wellbeing. Within Pillar II the proposed allocation to the Societies component appears disproportionately low in comparison to the Competitiveness component. LU strongly advocates for a more equitable distribution of funding within this pillar. Collaborative research should not be limited to projects close to market.Further clarification is needed regarding the planned moonshot initiatives. LU does not support the use of lump sum budgeting as the default. Dual Use is unavoidable, incorporating dual use requires additional regulations. Sole military use should be excluded.
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Meeting with Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Oct 2025 · Innovation ecosystems

Meeting with Henriette Van Eijl (Head of Unit Research and Innovation), Philippe Cupers (Seconded Head of Unit Research and Innovation) and

20 Mar 2025 · Invitation Netherlands Federation University Medical Centres

Meeting with Laurent Muschel (Acting Director-General Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority)

4 Mar 2025 · Discussion on pandemic preparedness, exchange of views on controlled human infection models.

Meeting with Nienke Buisman (Head of Unit Research and Innovation)

23 Jan 2025 · Role of IIAS as a knowledge broker, facilitating collaboration between institutions in South-East Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe

Meeting with Eszter Lakos (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Oct 2024 · Research and Innovation

Meeting with Anthony Agotha (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans), Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

22 Jun 2023 · Critical raw materials act

Meeting with Samira Rafaela (Member of the European Parliament)

7 Oct 2022 · Forced Labour Ban

Meeting with Alvaro De Elera (Cabinet of Vice-President Věra Jourová)

17 Feb 2021 · online lecture on the rule of law mechanism

Meeting with Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

6 Nov 2020 · Lecture on the European Green Deal

Meeting with Anthony Whelan (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Bjoern Seibert (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Fernando Sampedro Marcos (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Nicole Dewandre (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Olivier Smith (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Per Haugaard (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Sonia Vila Nunez (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen), Valeria Miceli (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen) and

29 Jul 2020 · Brainstorming Session on "The State of the Union on 2020 and the Recovery of Europe's Economy" [Via Webex]

Meeting with Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

17 Jul 2020 · The European Green Deal

Meeting with Jean-Eric Paquet (Director-General Research and Innovation)

29 Jan 2020 · ESOF 2022