Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe budget

The new EU research and innovation programme will have a budget of around €95.5 billion for 2021-2027.

This includes €5.4 billion from Next Generation EU to foster recovery and make the EU more resilient for the future, as well as an additional reinforcement of €4.5 billion. The overall Horizon Europe budget represents a 30% increase comparing against Horizon 2020 and makes it the most ambitious research and innovation programme in the world.

Structure of the Programme

Horizon Europe supports an inclusive structure that widens collaboration and enhances research and innovation systems throughout the continent. The three pillars support the creation and diffusion of excellent knowledge, expected outcomes, including expanding access to research, improving economic opportunity, and innovating collaborative processes.

Mission boards propose and implement specific objectives, relating to areas of expertise, such as cancer prevention, climate change, and food resources. These proposals encourage engagement from citizens to ensure alignment with EU priorities. The overall impact aims to bridge the gap between citizens and the innovations that affect their daily lives.

Researchers expect to resolve global challenges and improve conditions worldwide by targeting ground-breaking initiatives. Sustainable goals address societal needs, as outlined in the proposal. Regional innovations also benefit Europe’s innovation ecosystems to ensure advantages for its citizens in technology, economics, science, and health.

Three pillars of Horizon Europe

• Excellent Science – this pillar supports researchers through fellowships, exchanges, and funding the projects defined and driven by researchers themselves. The pillar operates within European Research Council, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and Research Infrastructures.
• Global Challenges & Industrial Competitiveness – this pillar fosters directly research related to societal challenges around issues that worry us daily, such as health, climate change, clean energy, mobility, security, digital, materials, etc. For that the Joint Research Centre provides EU with independent scientific evidence and technical support. Within this pillar and throughout the programme as a whole the industrial leadership is supposed to get prominent.
• Innovative Europe – this is a new pillar that aims to make Europe a front runner in market-creating innovation. A new funding body, the European Innovation Council offers a one-stop shop for high potential and breakthrough technologies and innovative companies. The pillar includes as well the activities of European Innovation Ecosystems and European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
• Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area – the fourth component of Horizon Europe aimed to support European Member States in developing their national research and innovation capacities. A special focus is put on encouraging countries that perform lower in research and innovation to succeed in the Programme.

Horizon Europe strategy

The areas of funding priorities, partnerships, and missions of Horizon Europe are to be set in line with the strategic planning approach and take the form of a multiannual strategy. The European Comission stresses the importance of the planning to remain flexible in order to respond quickly to unexpected crisis or substantiated policy demands.

Thus, work has been ongoing on Horizon Europe’s Implementation Strategy, which presents the framework for carefully designed rules and effective processes throughout the life cycle of the programme and project. As the European Commission claims the Strategy focusses on the following objectives:

• Maximising impacts
• Ensuring greater transparency and further simplification
• Fostering synergies with other EU spending programmes
• Easing access through digital transformation and outreach

Horizon Europe's first strategic plan 2021-2024

The European Commission has adopted the first strategic plan for Horizon Europe, setting research and innovation priorities for 2021-2024. The strategic plan is one of the novelties in the new funding programme, which is developed to set the strategic orientations in the first four years of Horizon Europe and, thus, to ensure that EU research and innovation contribute to EU priorities: a European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, a stronger Europe in the world, promoting the European way of life, and a new push for European democracy.

Underpinned by international cooperation essential for facing global challenges, the strategic plan for 2021-2024 sets out the following four strategic orientations:

• Promoting an open strategic autonomy, by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains
• Restoring Europe's ecosystems and biodiversity, and sustainably managing natural resources
• Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral, and sustainable economy
• Creating a more resilient, inclusive, and democratic European society

To ensure the widest possible participation and optimize the overall impact of Horizon Europe, the strategic plan was prepared following a joint development process involving Member States, EEA members, the European Parliament, stakeholders, and the public at large.

What is new in Horizon Europe

The new framework funding programme has a number of remarkable novelties:

• The European Innovation Council (EIC): established as a one-stop shop to support breakthrough innovation.
• Research & Innovation (R&I) missions: mission-orientation is one of the great innovations under Horizon Europe aimed to address important societal challenges, such as cancer and climate change.
• Open Science policy: meaning open access to publications, data, and research data management plans.
• New approach to Partnerships: the European Partnership Instrument is simplified in order to rationnalize the funding landscape.
• Simpler rules: administrative burden is reduced in order to streamline the number of co-funded partnerships with partners like industry, civil society, and funding foundations.

Missions of the Programme

One of the main novelties in Horizon Europe is the mission-orientation – a set of certain objectives connected with the key societal challenges aimed to be achieved with project portfolios. The missions relevant to a broad range of stakeholders and to citizens should be completed using a bottom-up approach.

There are five mission areas aimed to address some of the world's biggest challenges:

• Conquering Cancer – the Mission’s goal is “By 2030, more than 3 million lives saved, living longer and better”
• Accelerating the transition to a climate-ready and climate-resilient Europe – "By 2030, the Mission will prepare Europe to deal with climate disruptions"
• Regenerating our oceans and waters – the Mission’s goal is to reach "full recovery and regeneration of European marine and freshwater ecosystems by 2030"
• 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030 - by and for citizens – the Mission’s goal is to "support, promote and showcase 100 European cities in their systemic transformation towards climate neutrality by 2030”
• Caring for the soil is caring for life – the Mission’s goal is to “ensure that 75% of soils are healthy by 2030 and are able to provide essential ecosystem services”

3 steps to get the Horizon Europe programme off to a good start

How one can get ready for the Horizon Europe programme? What are the keys for creating a competitive consortium? When is it better to start developing your Horizon Europe project? Take a look at the three steps to get the programme off to a good start.

Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-24 Guide

This article gives you an overview of all Horizon Europe Work Programmes for 2023-24, that will provide some €13.5 billion in funding to foster excellence in European research and innovation.

Finding the right Horizon Europe call

This article provides an overview of the Horizon Europe work programmes to help you choose the most relevant Horizon Europe call for your research project. Here, you'll also find a quick checklist on how to apply to the Programme.

The best project management software for Horizon Europe projects in 2022

How long do you spend on managing tasks and resources? What amount of time do you use for reporting over the lifecycle of your research projects? In this article, we outline the top 5 most popular project management software for Horizon Europe that help you streamline project collaboration.

3 steps to build winning Horizon Europe partnerships

This article is an expert guidance on how to build a winning consortium for a Horizon Europe project – from tips on devising the proper strategy and using the right tools for finding Horizon Europe partnerships to recommendations on considering different types of partners.

The comprehensive Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement guide

In this article, we will make a brief but substantial introduction about the new Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement that was officially announced by the European Commission in June 2021.

Navigating through Horizon Europe financial guidelines

In this article, you'll find an overview of the financial regulation applicable to the general budget of the EU, highlighting Horizon Europe financial guidelines and participation rules, as well as the legal framework for individual projects.

Horizon Europe budget preparation: A step-by-step guide

This Horizon Europe budget preparation guide will help you understand the budget sections and show you how to create an effective and compelling budget for your Horizon Europe project proposal.

Introduction to Horizon Europe proposal development

How can one apply to the Horizon EU Programme? What’s the ideal time to start developing a Horizon Europe proposal? What are the main steps to make and the core evaluation criteria to keep in mind while creating your proposal? Read this article for expert guidance on the proposal development process.

How to successfully manage a collaborative Horizon Europe project

What do you and your teams need to know about managing a Horizon Europe project with numerous partners? Find out the 4 criteria for successful project management, as well as a list of must-haves a project management tool needs to fully support your projects.