The future EU research and innovation framework program takes shape. The Ambassadors of the Member States, meeting in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Council, confirmed on March 27, 2019 the common agreement reached by the Romanian Presidency of the Council and by the European Parliament last March 20 on most of Horizon Europe’s operational provisions , the next EU research and innovation framework program for the period 2021-2027.
The Horizon Europe framework program sets the objectives and the structure of the program, the methods of financing and the rules for the provision of funding. This is the Union’s flagship program that supports R&I, from concept to market diffusion, and integrates national and regional funding.
Structure, names of pillars and clusters – The agreement confirms the three-pillar structure proposed by the Commission, but changes its names. The three pillars of Horizon Europe will be: “Excellent Science”, “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” and “Innovative Europe”. The clusters of the second pillar go instead from five to six, with the splitting of ‘Inclusive and Secure Society’ into ‘Culture, creativity and inclusive society’ and ‘Civil Security for Society’ – while the unity of the cluster is confirmed ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility ‘. Finally, two clusters undergo changes in the names: the third cluster will be ‘Digital, Industry and Space’, the fifth ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’.
The European Innovation Council – The most important “structural” change introduced by the Commission in Horizon Europe does not change the basic approach, but undergoes significant changes. First of all, the agreement provides that at least 70% of the EIC’s budget will go to SMEs (including start-ups). The marked emphasis on supporting revolutionary innovation at the expense of innovation of different types (ie incremental innovation) is attenuated and elements of the Horizon 2020 SME tool are recovered (within the European Innovation Council Accelerator). example – that a budget share equivalent to the SME Facility’s financial allocation is only paid through grants (grant-only support).
The missions – The agreement introduces in the legislative text – in the new annex Go to the regulation on the framework program – five possible areas for missions: Adapting to climate change, including societal transformation; Cancer; Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters; Climate-neutral and smart cities; Soil health and food. The new text then broadens the criteria for selecting the missions and plans to assign them a maximum of 10% of the budget of the second pillar for the first three years of the program.
The new partnerships – Again, the most important changes compared to the Commission proposal concern the definition of the thematic areas and the financial allocation. The text of the agreement establishes (still in Annex Va) eight possible areas for institutionalized partnerships, from which the new Joint Undertakings will emerge – the EU-industry partnerships established on the basis of Article 187 of the TFEU – and the new Public -Public Parternships – partnerships between the EU and member states based on Article 185. A budget ceiling (49.9% of the second pillar) is then set for all the partnerships: it is established that more than half of the financial budget of the second pillar should be allocated to instruments other than partnerships.
Strategic planning – The agreement reiterates the importance of the strategic planning process, which will directly involve the Member States (Shadow Program Committee), take into account the opinion of the European Parliament and include a mandatory consultation of stakeholders. The R&I strategic plan, which will be adopted at the end of the process, will outline in detail – for a maximum of four years – the Union’s research and innovation priorities, providing the political guidelines for Horizon Europe’s work programs. Finally, the document will contain both R&I missions and new institutionalized partnerships.