Horizon Europe at a Glance

Horizon Europe - The most ambitious EU Research & Innovation Programme ever

Horizon Europe has a budget of EUR 95.5 billion for the period from 2021-2027. This includes EUR 5.4 billion from the Next Generation EU instrument, particularly to support the green and digital recovery from the COVID crisis. The budget is divided amongst four pillars and 15 components to create a programme that will support all the areas of Research and Innovation: Excellent science, global challenges and industrial competitiveness, innovative Europe and widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area.

Horizon Europe is complemented by the Euratom 2021-2025 research and training programme. The Euratom Programme will pursue nuclear research and training activities with an emphasis on the continuous improvement of nuclear safety, security and radiation protection, as well as to complement the achievement of Horizon Europe’s objectives. This programme has a budget of EUR 1.4 billion over the period 2021-2025, bringing the total budget available to EUR 96.9 billion.

How will the budget be invested?

The budget will be used to support research and innovation across the European Union and Associated Countries, being paid directly to researchers, innovators and research institutions in the Member States and Associated Countries. Funding will mostly be through grants. The selection of projects to fund will mainly be through open calls for proposals, selected according to excellence, impact and the quality and efficiency of implementation. There is no fixed distribution by country or region. The programme will be administered by the European Commission, its Executive Agencies, and a range of legal entities established as Union Bodies. Whilst grants under pillars 1 and 3 will mostly be to one beneficiary (monobeneficiary schemes), grants under pillar 2 will be mostly to a transnational consortium of beneficiaries, thus ensuring that researchers and research organisations from different countries collaborate with each other.

The Horizon Europe Regulation establishes a range of targets with respect to the use of the budget:

  • 35% of the budget will contribute to climate objectives;
  • There will be a substantial increase of spending in main digital research and innovation activities compared to Horizon 2020.
  • 70% of the budget of the European Innovation Council will be allocated to small and medium size enterprises.
  • At least 3.3% of the budget will be committed to the programme part widening participation and spreading excellence.
  • Investments in Space should also be commensurate with those under Horizon 2020.
  • the participation of industry in the actions should be supported at levels at least commensurate with those under Horizon 2020.
  • The budget should contribute to the overall ambition of providing 7.5 % of annual spending under the MFF to biodiversity objectives in 2024 and 10 % of annual spending under the MFF to biodiversity objectives in 2026 and 2027.

New elements in Horizon Europe

  • European Innovation Council: Support for innovations with potential breakthrough and disruptive nature with scale-up potential that may be too risky for private investors. This is 70% of the budget earmarked for SMEs.
  • Missions: Sets of measures to achieve bold, inspirational and measurable goals within a set timeframe. There are 5 main mission areas as part of Horizon Europe.
  • Open science policy: Mandatory open access to publications and open science principles are applied throughout the programme
    Factsheet: Open science in Horizon Europe
  • New approach to partnerships: Objective-driven and more ambitious partnerships with industry in support of EU policy objectives

Get Support from National Contact Points

The network of National Contact Points (NCPs) is the main structure to provide guidance, practical information and assistance on all aspects of participation in Horizon Europe. NCPs are appointed for each domain of Horizon Europe, one (or more) of which is NCP for Cluster 4 Digital, Industry and Space. They are established and financed by the governments of the 28 EU Member States, the states associated to Horizon and many non-EU and non-associated countries (“third countries”).

The National Contact Points:

  • Give support to organisations interested or involved in Horizon Europe
  • Provide guidance on the relevant Horizon Europe topics and types of action
  • Advice on administrative procedures and contractual issues
  • Offer training and assistance on proposal writing
  • Distribute documentation (forms, guidelines, manuals etc.)
  • Assist in partner search

Find Your NCP ↗
Horizon Europe Website ↗