The European Parliament adopted by 661 votes to 5, with 33 abstentions, following the consultation procedure, a legislative resolution approving the draft Council decision establishing the specific programme: implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
The proposal for a decision establishes the specific programme for the implementation of the research and innovation framework programme ‘Horizon Europe’.
Operational objectives
The Specific Programme has the following operational objectives, inter alia:
- strengthening excellent basic and frontier research; reinforcing and spreading excellence, including by fostering wider participation throughout the EU;
- reinforcing the link between research, innovation, and where appropriate, education and other policies, including complementarities with national and regional and EU research and innovation policies and activities;
- supporting the implementation of EU policy priorities including in particular the sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement;
- promoting responsible research and innovation, taking into account the precautionary principle;
- strengthening the gender dimension across the Programme;
- increasing collaboration links in European research and innovation and across sectors and disciplines, including social sciences and humanities;
- strengthening international cooperation;
- connecting and developing to research infrastructures across the European Research Area and providing transnational access;
- attracting talent, training and retaining researchers and innovators in the European Research Area, including through mobility;
- fostering open science and ensuring visibility to the public and open access to scientific publications and research data, including appropriate exceptions;
- encouraging exploitation of R&I results and actively disseminating and exploiting results, in particular for leveraging private investments and policy development;
- delivering, through R&I missions, on ambitious goals within a set timeframe;
- improving the relationship and interaction between science and society, including the visibility of science in society and science communication;
- accelerating industrial transformation, including through improved skills for innovation;
- stimulating R&I activities in SMEs and the creation and scale-up of innovative companies, in particular start-ups.
Main pillars
The Horizon 2020 programme has three main pillars:
- Pillar I: Excellent for Science (including the European Research Council, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions and research infrastructures);
- Pillar II: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness (including the Health, Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society, Civil Security for Society, Digital, Industry and Space, Climate, Energy and Mobility, Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment clusters, as well as the non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre);
- Pillar III: Innovative Europe (including the European Innovation Council and the European Innovation Ecosystems).
Part IV: Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area (ERA)’ aims at widening participation and spreading excellence and at reforming and consolidating the European R&I system.
Budget
The financial envelope for the implementation of the Specific Programme for the period 2021 to 2027 amounts to EUR 83 397 000 000 at 2018 prices, to which will be added an additional allocation of EUR 2 790 000 000 as a consequence of the programme-specific adjustment provided for in the Regulation establishing the multiannual financial framework (MFF).
Additional amounts from the EU Recovery Instrument should be exclusively allocated to research and innovation actions to address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis.
Implementation and programming
The proposal lays down specific provisions for the programming and implementation of the framework programme, in particular for:
(1) The strategic plan
The implementation of the specific programme should be facilitated by a multi-annual strategic plan for research and innovation activities, which should also promote coherence between the work programmes, EU priorities and national priorities.
(2) Research missions (under the Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness pillar)
A Mission Board, composed of up to 15 independent high-level members with high expertise from Europe and beyond, should be established for each mission area, and should advise the Commission on the identification and design of one or more missions in the mission area concerned.
(3) The European Research Council (ERC)
The Commission should establish a European Research Council (ERC) to implement the actions under Pillar I ‘Excellent Science’ that are relevant to the ERC. The ERC should consist of the independent Scientific Council and a dedicated structure responsible for the administrative implementation and execution of the programme. The President should be appointed by the Commission through a transparent recruitment process for a limited term of four years, renewable once.
(4) The European Innovation Council (EIC)
The EIC should advise the Commission on the overall strategy of the EIC under Pillar III ‘Innovative Europe’. It should act as a one-stop shop for all types of innovators, from individuals to universities, research organisations and companies (SMEs, including start-ups, and, in exceptional cases, small and mid-cap companies). Depending on its schemes, it will provide support to single beneficiaries and multidisciplinary consortia.
(5) The work programmes
The programme should be implemented through work programmes. The work programmes should set out the expected impacts and should be prepared in accordance with the strategic planning process.