Flanders increases Einstein Telescope reserve to 500 million euros

In addition to the previously announced 200 million euros for the Einstein Telescope in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine, the Flemish government has announced that it will make an additional 300 million euros available for this project. This brings the total Flemish reserve to 500 million euros.

Profitable

This decision in the new budget is partly based on the Flemish study by Econopolis, which calculates that this investment will be profitable in every respect. Depending on the extent to which Flemish companies will be able to contribute to the construction and supply innovations for the Einstein Telescope, the final return is estimated at between 500 million euro and 1.5 billion euro.

Wallonia also recently announced a reservation of 200 million euros. The Dutch National Growth Fund has reserved 870 million euros for the construction of the underground telescope in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

Germany

The German partner North Rhine-Westphalia has already announced its intention to contribute substantially to the construction of the telescope, but has made this conditional on the Federal Government in Berlin also choosing the Euregio Meuse-Rhine as the location for the construction. The Federal Republic recently added the Einstein Telescope to the list of priority scientific construction projects, but without specifying an amount or location. From a German perspective, Saxony also wants to build the Einstein Telescope.

Strong candidacy

Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele: “With the Flemish contribution, more than half of the budget is secured, and the Euregio Meuse-Rhine’s candidacy is particularly strong. We are now reaching out to Germany to help write this future story. As with other large-scale international research infrastructures, such as CERN, we are also inviting other Member States and the European Commission to invest in this groundbreaking project. It will create thousands of jobs, stimulate patents and doctorates, and strengthen our position in strategic technologies.”