European Commission Proposes €100 Billion for Research and Innovation

Photo source: European Commission

For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the European Commission is proposing for 100 billion euros to go towards research and innovation, through a new program named Horizon Europe.

An ambitious research and innovation program, Horizon Europe aims to keep the EU at the forefront of global research and innovation.

According to an announcement, Horizon Europe will introduce a number of new features, such as a European Innovation Council (EIC) to help the EU become a frontrunner in market-creating innovation.

The Commission’s proposal will establish a one-stop shop to bring the most promising high potential and breakthrough technologies from lab to market application, and help the most innovative start-ups and companies scale up their ideas. The new EIC will provide direct support to innovators through two main funding instruments, one for early stages and the other for development and market deployment. It will complement the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Also, new EU-wide research and innovation missions will focus on societal challenges and industrial competitiveness. Under Horizon Europe, the Commission will launch new missions with bold, ambitious goals and strong European added value to tackle issues that affect our daily lives. Examples could range from the fight against cancer, to clean transport or plastic-free oceans. These missions will be co-designed with citizens, stakeholders, the European Parliament and Member States.

Source: European Commission

Support will be doubled for Member States lagging behind in their efforts to make the most of their national research and innovation potential. Moreover, new synergies with Structural and Cohesion Funds will make it easy to coordinate and combine funding and help regions embrace innovation.

Moreover, the principle of “open science” will become the modus operandi of Horizon Europe, requiring open access to publications and data. This will assist market uptake and increase the innovation potential of results generated by EU funding.

Horizon Europe is also expected to streamline the number of partnerships that the EU co-programs or co-funds with partners like industry, civil society and funding foundations, in order to increase their effectiveness and impact in achieving Europe’s policy priorities. Horizon Europe will promote effective and operational links with other future EU programs, like Cohesion Policy, the European Defence Fund, the Digital Europe Program and the Connecting Europe Facility, as well as with the international fusion energy project ITER.

The proposed budget allocation of 100 billion euros for 2021-2027 includes 97.6 billion euros under Horizon Europe (3.5 billion euros of which will be allocated under the InvestEU Fund) and 2.4 billion euros for the Euratom Research and Training Program.