Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is a seven-year European Union scientific research initiative, successor of the Horizon 2020 programme and the earlier Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. The European Commission drafted and approved a plan for Horizon Europe to raise EU science spending levels by 50% over the years 2021–2027.

The proposal called for €100 billion in research and innovation spending for years 2021–2027. Of that sum, €2.4 billion is earmarked for the Euratom nuclear research programme and €3.6 billion is put away for an umbrella investment fund, called InvestEU. After accounting for 2% annual inflation, in 2018 the funding for Horizon Europe amounted to €86.6 billion.[1][2]

Wealthier EU members have expressed opposition to the increase in funding, with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte saying the draft budget was "unacceptable".[3]

To pay for the €100 billion science spending, the Commission's plan calls for cuts to agriculture and cohesion funding by 5 per cent. Additionally, the plan seeks to tie funding to adherence to the rule of law in member states, including judicial independence.[3]

Compared to the previous framework programme Horizon 2020, some changes in terms of cost reporting have been implemented with the objective to simplify the grant management process.[4]

Horizon Europe adopts five missions:

  1. Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030
  2. Cancer: working with Europe's Beating Cancer Plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure and solutions to live longer and better
  3. Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030
  4. 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030
  5. A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030[5]
  1. ^ Kelly, Eanna (8 May 2018). "€100B? €86.6B? A Brussels puzzle: How big is the new research budget?". Science Business. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  2. ^ The European Commission. "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b "Blocking an increase in the research budget would put Europe on a 'loser's path' | Science|Business". sciencebusiness.net. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. ^ "EU Funds Simply Explained". EU Funds. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  5. ^ "EU Missions in Horizon Europe". research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu. 29 November 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.