On 26 November, the European Commission announced a EUR 315 billion Investment Plan to combat the effects of the global economic and financial crisis in Europe.  Among the main pillars of the plan, there is the creation of a new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), guaranteed with public money, to mobilise at least € 315 billion of additional investments over the next three years (2015 - 2017) and stimulate additional infrastructure investments, including for internationally competitive research and information infrastructures.

However, a substantial portion of the EFSI guarantee should be taken from the budget of Horizon 2020 by affecting, among others, the budgets of the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Curie Actions. The European Commission hopes that the reallocation of research funding to an EU investment guarantee will enable Horizon 2020 to be of greater benefit to the real economy. 

The Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany has voiced concerns about these plans to divert money from the Horizon 2020 to the EFSI. In a press statement "EU Investment Plan must not come at expense of research in Europe", the Alliance welcomed the investment plan, but warns about negative effects that the use of parts of the Horizon2020 budget may have on European research funding.