Horizon Europe Funding Boost Fuels R & I Agenda

The European Commission has announced a significant amendment to the 2023-24 Work Programme of Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research and innovation program. This update mobilises previously unallocated funding – adding nearly €1.4 billion to the 2024 budget – and totals nearly €7.3 billion. 

Background

The announcement, while not unexpected, highlights the EU's awareness that continued investment will be needed to ensure the Union does not fall behind - and that advances reach everyone, including areas that may currently be underperforming. Horizon Europe is the EU's research and innovation stream for 2021-27, originally having a budget of €95.5 billion from 2021-2027 - though was reduced by around €2 billion as part of a mid-term revision. Co-designed by stakeholders, the European Parliament and Member States, the current amendment rolls out projected investments that had been tabled in order to enable the implementation of the ‘EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way forward’ communication, adopted on 19 July 2023. 

The 2023-24 Horizon Europe work program is based on the program's Strategic Plan 2021-2024.

EU Missions

The EU will invest €648 million in 2024 to support research and innovation activities for the EU Missions. The investments will aim to build concrete solutions to some of Europe's greatest challenges – such as making more than 100 cities climate-neutral and restoring at least 25 000 km of ‘free-flowing’ rivers and waterways.

Growing green ideas for all

The New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative will receive a new multi-annual budget support for 2025-2027 through two pillars:

• Research and innovation – the initiative will provide direct investment to bring the best new ideas of the European Green Deal to the table, and;
• Scaling up solutions – after laying the foundation for green transition projects, the NEB will invest in dissemination, growing successful projects for cities, regions and communities.

Experimental Actions to Attract Newcomers

The amended Horizon Europe work program allocates €20 million to prepare for the implementation of the NEB Facility, and includes a package of new experimental actions to increase the openness of the program, support EU Missions, and foster young researchers' careers. With a budget of €76 million and a €15 million experimental action to make knowledge institutions focal points of local transdisciplinary research and innovation activities, including research in Health, Climate, energy and mobility and building the bioeconomy.

A bright future for culture

The amendment dedicates €48 million to the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage, a new digital collaborative space to support cultural heritage institutions, researchers, and cultural and creative industries. This investment will help preserve and showcase what it means to be European, making it more accessible to the public and enabling further research and innovation in this field.

Pandemic Preparedness

To help equip Europe for potential future pandemics, the amended work program includes an investment of €50 million for a European Partnership for pandemic preparedness. This partnership aims to enhance the EU's capacity to detect, prevent, and manage outbreaks of infectious diseases, building on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paving the Way for 2025

The amendment includes calls for 2025 to ensure continuity of successful programmes and recurring programmes, including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), and will fund initiatives supporting Horizon’s ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ and ‘Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I system’ streams.

This significant funding boost for Horizon Europe is welcome news for some of Europe's best and brightest, and underscores the EU's ongoing commitment to advancing research, innovation, and addressing the pressing challenges facing Europe and its citizens. The diverse range of initiatives, from the EU Missions to the New European Bauhaus Facility and experimental actions, demonstrate the EU's multifaceted approach to fostering innovation, broadening participation, and advancing real solutions, and will hopefully reflect an ongoing trend to increase financing across these fields.