Horizon Europe: the most ambitious European Programme for Research and Innovation

Building on the success of Horizon 2020, the new programme, Horizon Europe will maintain the EU’s leading position in global research and innovation. It is the most ambitious research and innovation programme to date with a proposed budget allocation of 100 billion euros for 2021-2027.

• It will continue to drive scientific excellence through the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowships and exchanges, introducing the following main new features:
• European Innovation Council (EIC) to help the EU become a frontrunner in market-creating innovation
• new EU-wide research and innovation missions focusing on societal challenges and industrial competitiveness
• maximizing the innovation potential across the EU
• more openness
• new generation of European  Partnerships and increased collaboration with other EU programmes

The interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 showed that the programme has clear European added value, producing demonstrable benefits compared to national and regional-level support. As of May 2018, it has supported 18,000 projects with over 31 billion euros awarded. It has been a real help in creating jobs and growth, tackling societal challenges and improving people’s lives. It is foreseen that Horizon Europe will not only continue this trend but also support the needed steps to ensure Europe’s global competitiveness.

Innovation has driven about two-thirds of Europe’s economic growth over the last decades. Horizon Europe will generate new knowledge and technologies which will promote scientific excellence and have a positive impact on growth; trade and investment and society and the environment. Union investments are expected to directly generate an estimated gain of up to 100,000 jobs in R&I activities in the ‘investment phase’ 2021-2027.

Since 1992, the National Documentation Centre (EKT) has been National Contact Point for European research, technology and innovation programmes. As National Contact Point, EKT covers every stage of the research project, from proposal preparation to implementation and exploitation of research results. EKT’s services include: operation helpdesk, development and circulation of informative material, organisation of events and seminars, partner search for joint ventures and proposals, documentation of national participation and publication of statistics and performance indicators.