The vote draws a line under nearly three year of negotiations on the content and budget of the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe programme. The launch is however bitter-sweet, since members of parliament were aiming at €120 billion, but the member states were not convinced. But never the last the world’s biggest civilian research programme is a European success.
“We achieved an ambitious and balanced budget that strongly supports fundamental research as well as thematic research, including for the first time a specific budget for Europe’s cultural and creative industries. Horizon Europe will be a crucial part of Europe’s recovery”, said Christian Ehler, rapporteur for the Horizon Europe specific programme. “With this programme, the EU has also committed legally to defend academic freedom across the continent”, he said.
Horizon Europe is therefore designed to address societal challenges through six different funding clusters, from health to democracy and will help the EU’s health systems prepare for future pandemics, and its industry to decarbonise, digitalise and innovate. It supports the public - private R&D partnerships and introduces the research missions, which are intended to advance breakthrough discoveries and innovations in strategic sectors.
With the parliament vote now finally in the bag, the Commission can go ahead and implement the whole programme. Some calls have been already launched by the European Research Council and the EIC, for the other parts of the programme, the Commission is still finalising detailed roadmaps for all calls scheduled for the next two years. “The final work is being done and will be published in the coming weeks,” said Gabriel.