EU project proposals have become a bureaucratic endurance test.
The application process is painfully long, the evaluations often opaque, and rejection letters can feel almost dismissive. Even when a proposal succeeds, far too much of the budget disappears into compliance, coordination, reporting, controls, and audits.
When roughly 60% of resources go to administration rather than impact, something is fundamentally broken.
Europe cannot afford to turn innovation into paperwork. We need a serious reform of EU funding: simpler applications, transparent evaluations, proportionate controls, and more funding directed to actual delivery.
