Brussels, Belgium · 1 January 2021 — The European Union's Horizon Europe programme officially became operational on 1 January 2021, with a total budget of €95.5 billion (in current prices) for the seven-year period spanning 2021–2027. As the ninth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP9), Horizon Europe succeeded Horizon 2020 and represented the EU's most ambitious research and innovation investment programme to date.
The programme's formal legal basis—Regulation (EU) 2021/695—was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 28 April 2021, applying retroactively to the start of the year. The political agreement on the budget was reached in December 2020, following years of negotiation that had seen initial proposals for funding levels around €100 billion reduced through the EU's multiannual financial framework negotiations.
Budget Composition and Post-Pandemic Recovery
The €95.5 billion total included approximately €5.4 billion from the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, the EU's landmark post-pandemic economic recovery package. This additional funding was specifically designed to support the EU's recovery and resilience in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, linking research and innovation investment directly to economic reconstruction.
The inclusion of NextGenerationEU funds reflected a recognition that the pandemic had demonstrated the strategic importance of scientific and technological sovereignty. The EU's experience during the early months of COVID-19—facing supply chain disruptions, dependence on external manufacturers for medical equipment, and the need to rapidly mobilise research capacity—reinforced the case for sustained, large-scale investment in domestic research and innovation capabilities.
Three Pillars of Structure
Horizon Europe was organised around three main pillars, each addressing a distinct dimension of the EU's research and innovation strategy:
Pillar 1: Excellent Science
This pillar supported frontier research and individual investigator-driven projects through the European Research Council (ERC), trained the next generation of scientists through Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and invested in research infrastructure through the Research Infrastructures programme. The ERC, established under Horizon 2020, had become one of the most prestigious and competitive research funding mechanisms globally, with a proven track record of supporting breakthrough discoveries.
Pillar 2: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
The largest pillar by budget, this component addressed societal challenges through cluster-based funding in areas including health; culture, creativity and inclusive society; civil security for society; digital, industry and space; climate, energy and mobility; and food, bioeconomy, agriculture, natural resources and environment. It also included joint research centre activities and funding for missions—ambitious, time-bound research initiatives designed to deliver concrete solutions to major societal challenges.
Pillar 3: Innovative Europe
This pillar aimed to boost market-creating innovation through the European Innovation Council (EIC), support innovation ecosystems across Europe, and invest in the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The EIC, a new instrument under Horizon Europe, was designed to bridge the "valley of death" between research and commercialisation by providing both grant and equity funding to high-risk, high-impact innovation projects.
The European Innovation Council: A New Instrument
The EIC represented one of the most significant structural innovations of Horizon Europe. Unlike traditional research grant programmes, the EIC combined grants for research and development with equity investments for scale-up, addressing a persistent gap in European innovation financing. The instrument was designed to support deep-tech startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) developing technologies with the potential to create entirely new markets.
The EIC operated through two main channels: the EIC Pathfinder (for early-stage research with potential for breakthrough innovation) and the EIC Accelerator (for individual SMEs and startups needing support to develop and scale high-risk innovations). The Accelerator's blended finance model—combining non-dilutive grants with equity investments—was particularly novel, reflecting a recognition that Europe's innovation ecosystem needed more patient, risk-tolerant capital to compete with the United States and China.
Missions: Ambition with Accountability
Horizon Europe introduced the concept of "missions"—large-scale, time-bound research initiatives inspired by the Apollo programme's ambition to put a man on the moon. Five missions were initially designated:
| Mission | Target |
|---|---|
| Adaptation to Climate Change | Support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030 |
| Cancer | Improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure, and support |
| Restore our Ocean and Waters | Protect 30% of EU's sea area and restore 25,000 km of rivers |
| Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities | Deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 |
| Soil Health and Food | Establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soil |
Each mission was designed with specific, measurable targets and a defined timeline, intended to focus research funding on outcomes rather than outputs. The mission approach represented a departure from traditional challenge-based funding, which typically supported individual projects without a unifying strategic framework.
International Collaboration and Association
Horizon Europe was designed as an open programme, with provisions for non-EU countries to associate with and participate in its funding calls. Association agreements allowed countries to participate in Horizon Europe on equal terms with EU Member States, contributing to the budget and receiving funding in return.
The programme's international dimension was particularly significant for research collaboration with African nations, through initiatives such as the Africa Initiative and partnerships on climate, health, and innovation. The EU's commitment to open science and open access—requiring all Horizon Europe-funded publications to be immediately open access—also positioned the programme as a global leader in research transparency.
However, the programme's launch was complicated by the United Kingdom's departure from the EU. After years of uncertainty, the UK formally associated with Horizon Europe in September 2023, but the delay had created significant disruption for UK-based researchers and EU-UK research collaborations during the programme's early years.
The Legacy of Horizon 2020
Horizon Europe inherited not only the budget but the institutional learning from its predecessor, Horizon 2020 (2014–2020). With a budget of approximately €77 billion, Horizon 2020 had funded over 35,000 projects, involved participants from more than 130 countries, and produced over 100,000 publications. Its evaluation identified both successes—particularly in leveraging private sector co-investment and supporting breakthrough research—and areas for improvement, including excessive administrative burden, low success rates for applicants, and insufficient support for innovation commercialisation.
Horizon Europe incorporated many of these lessons. The programme streamlined application procedures, introduced more two-stage calls to reduce the burden on unsuccessful applicants, and placed greater emphasis on impact and exploitation of results. The EIC and missions instruments were direct responses to the evaluation's finding that Horizon 2020 had been strong at supporting excellent science but less effective at converting that science into market impact.
Sources
- European Commission, Horizon Europe programme documentation, ec.europa.eu
- Official Journal of the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2021/695, 28 April 2021
- European Commission, Horizon Europe budget and structure overview
- Zabala Innovation, "Horizon Europe political agreement increases the budget to €95.5 billion"
- Wikipedia, "Horizon Europe," citing EU official documents
- Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe package documentation
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Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
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