Horizon Europe
The EU Framework Programmes are instruments of the EU designed to support the development of scientific research at the international level and the subsequent transfer of scientific knowledge into practice. Horizon Europe (hereinafter "HEU"), which runs during the 2021–2027 period, is already the 9th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
At the beginning of December 2020, the European institutions (the European Commission, the EU Council and the European Parliament) reached a political agreement on the legislative document establishing the HEU and on the internal distribution of the funds allocated to the framework programme. The first Strategic Plan setting out the strategic goals that should be financed in the 2021-2024 period and providing the guidelines for the completion of the work programmes and calls in this period was prepared in parallel. The document sets out the goals that should be achieved within the framework of the so-called clusters in the HEU’s second pillar on “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” where the priorities will be determined top-down and will reflect the wider political goals of the EU. A new feature of the HEU will be the so-called missions. Another part will be the European Innovation Council (EIC), piloted during the previous Horizon 2020 programme. European partnerships and international cooperation with third countries will be reinforced.
The ERC, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and support for research infrastructures remains a stable part of the programme.
As far as the budget is concerned, a total of 95.5 billion EUR at current prices was approved in December 2020 (including 5 billion EUR from the temporary Next Generation EU recovery fund established to help member states deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic), meaning that the HEU is the most ambitious framework programme to date. Researchers and representatives of companies, public institutions, the non-profit sector and civil society can apply for funding under this programme. The European Commission regularly calls for the submission of project proposals and work programmes on the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal website.
Structure of Horizon Europe
The Horizon Europe programme is divided into three main parts, the so-called “pillars”: