Abuse of SME subsidies

BRUSSELS - A maze of European subsidy rules has created a lucrative niche: grant consultants. These consultancy firms earn substantial sums by assisting researchers with their subsidy applications. This raises a fundamental question: does current research policy steer science too much towards competition and market value, at the expense of an open, societal approach to research?

ANKARA - When you think of development aid, you think of poor countries. But the biggest receiver of EU development aid happens to be the 18th biggest economy of the world: Turkey. In 2013, Turkey received 2.4 billion Euros...

BRUSSELS / LILONGWE – In September 2025, the Flemish Government abruptly pulled the plug on its bilateral development cooperation with Malawi. For twenty years, Flanders had been investing in agriculture and food security there, but the cooperation fell victim to a round of budget cuts.