COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Horizon Europe: Research and Innovation at the heart of competitiveness
Date: 2025-04-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, Framework Programme for Research and Development, competitiveness, economic growth, innovation, investment, research and development, research expenditure (EU), scientific cooperation

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.4.2025  COM(2025) 189 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Horizon Europe: Research and Innovation at the heart of competitiveness {SWD(2025) 110 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction: research and innovation at the heart of competitiveness 
Research and innovation (R&I) is a key driver of competitiveness. R&I spurs productivity increases, 
economic  growth  and,  ultimately,  enhances  well-being,  as  the  Draghi 1  and  Letta 2  reports  recently 
highlighted. Now more than ever, R&I will  shape Europe’s future. Maintaining Europe’s capacity to 
come up with new ideas, bold research and innovations, and translating them into products and services 
will  boost  Europe’s  competitiveness.  President  von  der  Leyen  has  made  clear  that  “Europe’s 
competitiveness – and its position in the race to a clean and digital economy – will depend on starting a 
new  age  of  invention  and  ingenuity.  This  requires  putting  research  and  innovation,  science  and 
technology, at the centre of our economy”3.    

This is why the EU has invested in research and innovation for decades and aims to scale up and speed 
up R&I. Since 1984, the EU’s Framework Programmes for R&I have financed groundbreaking ideas 
and disruptive innovations designed to tackle long-term priorities while boosting the competitiveness 
and resilience of our industry. The EU Framework Programmes also contribute to advancements in areas 
such as health, security, and the environment, just to name a few.  

Innovation is not sparked overnight. Investment in science can take 20-25 years to reach the market, 
with  little  difference  between  scientific  fields.  But  this  type  of  long-term  investment  in  strategic 
priorities is what makes an impact: it enables the EU to build a broad knowledge base and a strong 
R&I pipeline, and therefore be able to promote the EU economic competitiveness in the technologies of 
the  present  and  of  the  future  as  well  as  to  respond  quickly  in  times  of  crises  supporting  EU  socio-
economic resilience. 

In this context, Horizon Europe, as one of the EU’s largest programmes, delivers clear value for 
money. The interim evaluation4 estimates that the programme has a significant positive impact on the 
EU’s economy, reaching a GDP multiplier of up to 11 over a 25-year period. In terms of benefit-cost 
ratio, the evaluation found that one euro of costs associated with the programme brings up to six euro 
of benefits for EU citizens over the period up to 2045. In its first three years of implementation, Horizon 
Europe funded over 15 000 projects with a budget of over EUR 43 billion. Only the best projects are 
selected for funding: the top 16% of all applications were successful. Nearly 7 out of 10 high-quality 
proposals did not receive funding due to a lack of sufficient budget. In the same period, to fund all the 
high-quality proposals, Horizon Europe would have needed nearly another EUR 82 billion. 

In  the  recent  public  consultation  on  the  past,  present,  and  future  of  the  Framework  Programme, 
stakeholders  highlighted  the  importance  of  Horizon  Europe  for  R&I  in  Europe.  Nearly  half  of 
respondents reported that their R&I project would not have gone ahead without Horizon Europe 
funding;  38%  of  projects  would  be  carried  out  with  a  smaller,  less  international  team;  and  35%  of 
projects would be substantially reduced in scope. In some research domains, most of the Member States 
do  not  have  their  own  R&I  programme,  and  therefore  rely  exclusively  on  the  EU’s  Framework 
Programmes. This is for example the case in civil security research.  

The importance of the Framework Programme for Europe is also illustrated by the range of different 
contributions  that  the  European  Commission  received  for  the  interim  evaluation.  These  include  the 
public  consultation  (1 600  responses  and  136  position  papers),  independent  evaluation  studies,  the 
‘Align, Act, Accelerate’ report of the Commission expert group5, and reports from the European Court 
of Auditors. In addition, the European Parliament’s Resolution on the assessment of the implementation 

1Draghi,  M.  (2024),  The  future  of  European  competitiveness,  Part  A  |  A  competitiveness  strategy  for  Europe. 
https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/draghi-report_en. 
2 Letta, E. (2024), Much more than a market, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ny3j24sm/much-more-
than-a-market-report-by-enrico-letta.pdf. 
3 European Commission, Political Guidelines for the 2024-2029 Commission, 2024. 
4 SWD number SWD(2025) 110 
5 Heitor,  M.  et  al.  (2024),  Align,  act,  accelerate  –  Research,  technology  and  innovation  to  boost  European 
competitiveness, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/9106236. 

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of Horizon Europe6, as well as the Council Conclusions on the  ex post evaluation of Horizon 20207, 
provided  further  insight.  The  evaluation  also  drew  on  opinions  provided  by  the  Committee  of  the 
Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. All this evidence fed into the evaluation of 
Horizon Europe and will shape its way forward in the three remaining years. 

This communication summarises the findings of the interim evaluation of the current Horizon Europe 
Framework  Programme,  highlighting  its  strengths,  achievements,  and  areas  for improvement,  whilst 
looking  at  the  long-term  effects  of  the  Framework  Programme  as  required  by  Article  52  of  the 
Regulation of Horizon Europe.8 It looks at the scope to improve EU-wide coordination and the ongoing 
simplification effort. It then describes the focus for investment in research and innovation for the next 
three years and the European Commission’s goal to shape a simpler, more focused and even more 
impactful programme. 

2.  EU support throughout the research and innovation journey 
The  Framework  Programme  supports  researchers,  entrepreneurs,  scientific  organisations,  and 
companies throughout all stages of the research and innovation journey. This section describes progress 
towards the objectives of the Programme, and some examples of achievements. 

2.1.  Scientific and deep tech breakthroughs for future growth 

Over  the  years,  the  Framework  Programmes  have  contributed  to  scientific  breakthroughs  and 
advancements  to  enhance  the  EU’s  competitiveness.  The  Framework  Programme  has  invested  in 
strategic sectors and technologies, from healthcare, through civil security, to energy, while nurturing 
groundbreaking ideas to tackle global challenges and the needs of our society. 

The European Research Council (ERC) has been the main  instrument for excellent frontier research, 
helping researchers to explore ideas and research results across all fields of science. Since its creation 
in 2007, the ERC has funded a variety of projects that have contributed to solving significant social, 
environmental,  and  economic  challenges.  Over  80%  of  ERC  projects  have  led  to  a  scientific 
breakthrough  or  major  advances  in  their  field.  Stakeholders  overwhelmingly  agree  that  Horizon 
Europe  has  helped  to  develop,  promote,  and  advance  scientific  excellence  across  the  EU.  To  date, 
Horizon Europe’s beneficiaries have reported over 10 000 peer-reviewed and other publications, 79% 
of which are publicly available online. 

Through  the  European  Innovation  Council  (EIC),  the  EU  supports  deep  tech  innovators  with  an 
integrated set of instruments. So far, under Horizon Europe, the EIC has awarded nearly EUR 2 billion 
in grants, which is more than any other part of the programme, supporting over 700 startups and SMEs. 
Since  2020,  its  investment  arm,  the  EIC  Fund,  has  crowded  in  over  EUR  2.6  billion  of  additional 
investment into EIC-supported companies, with a leverage effect of over EUR 3 for every euro of equity 
invested by the EU.9,10  

6 European Parliament resolution of 11 March 2025 on the assessment of the implementation of Horizon Europe 
in  view  of  its  interim  evaluation  and  recommendations  for  the  10th  Research  Framework  Programme 
(2024/2109(INI)) 
7 Council conclusions on The ex-post evaluation of Horizon 2020 and future outlook (approved on 23 May 2024) 
8 REGULATION  (EU)  2021/695  establishing  Horizon  Europe  –  the  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and 
Innovation,  laying  down  its  rules  for  participation  and  dissemination,  and  repealing  Regulations  (EU)  No 
1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013. 
9 EISMEA (2025), Scaling Deep Tech in Europe - European Innovation Council - Impact Report 2025. Available 
https://eic.ec.europa.eu/document/download/7b947b36-66cb-4471-a2d0-158d5ae6770f_en?filename=EIC-
at: 
Impact-Report-2025.pdf 
10 Considering  Horizon  Europe  beneficiaries  only,  the  EIC  Fund  crowded  in  EUR  1.5  billion  in  additional 
investments, for a leverage factor of 3.2. 

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Space applications 

•  The  ERC-funded  project  BlackHoleCam,  part  of  the  global  Event  Horizon  Telescope 
collaboration, achieved  the  first-ever  image  of the  event  horizon  around  a  supermassive  black 
hole. The black hole is in the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), an elliptical galaxy located 53 million 
light-years from Earth. No single telescope on its own has the observational power to capture the 
supermassive  black  holes  believed  to  be  at  the  centre  of  all  galaxies.  This  project  created  an 
opportunity to measure the fabric of space and time with unprecedented precision. 

•  The EIC-funded E.T.PACK-F is developing a flight-ready deorbit device under Horizon Europe, 

building on a previous project funded under Horizon 2020. 

Furthermore, as part of Horizon Europe, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) have become 
the  main  instrument  to  promote  researchers’  careers  through  doctoral  and  postdoctoral  training  and 
mobility.  Under  Horizon  2020  alone,  the  MSCA  have  supported  65  000  researchers  and  Horizon 
Europe is on course to replicate this success. Looking ahead, the MSCA has the potential to further 
contribute to EU competitiveness through Choose Europe, a new pilot  initiative that builds on the 
recommendations from the ‘Align, Act, Accelerate’ report of the Commission expert group. This new 
co-funding initiative addresses the precarity and attractiveness of researchers’ careers and offers more 
favourable  and  stable  career  prospects  to  retain  most  promising  young  talents  in  Europe,  and  to 
provide an attractive perspective for top researchers from other parts of the world who want to 
move  to  the  EU. Through  the  selected  talent  recruitment  programmes  submitted  by  the  applicants, 
researchers  will  be  able  to  gain  a  deeper  and  more  diverse  set  of  research-related,  academic,  and 
transferable skills and competences, leading to greater autonomy in and outside academia. Alongside 
this, by offering excellent working conditions and career opportunities to researchers, participating host 
institutions will increase their global attractiveness, visibility, and reputation.  

This  contributes  to  the  ambition  of  building  a  Union  of  Skills  –  one  of  the  key  initiatives  of  this 
Commission’s mandate. In this context, the European institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and 
its EIT KICs are managing several EU Skills Academies in strategic sectors for EU competitiveness, in 
particular  those  covered  by  the  Net-Zero  Industry  Act,  i.e.  batteries, raw  materials,  solar,  wind,  and 
hydrogen.  

Horizon Europe aims to attract, nurture, and retain the best research talent in Europe. This goes hand in 
hand with the aim to promote gender equality. Women hold leading roles in Horizon Europe projects 
and over 50% of the experts in advisory and evaluation panels are women. The share of women-led 
consortia has risen from 24% to 31% in less than four years, indicating a positive trend for the future. 
In addition, 95 156 researchers are benefiting from upskilling activities; of these, 44% are women. 

In addition, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which undertakes the direct non-nuclear R&I actions of 
Horizon Europe, supports Union policy priorities with high-quality independent scientific evidence and 
research.  The  JRC’s  added  value  is  demonstrated  for  example  by,  e.g.,  its  interdisciplinary  research 
capacity  and  ability  to  translate  research  for  policymakers,  where  its  independence,  neutrality  and 
networks help achieving solutions at EU level and where it represents EU interests in international fora11. 

2.2.  Investing in and pooling resources for competitiveness through collaborative 

research and innovation 

Collaboration is at the core of the Framework Programme. The programme involves organisations from 
different countries, at a wider scale and with a larger scope than would be possible at national or regional 
level  in  any  Member  State.  For  participating  researchers,  scientific  organisations  and  companies, 
Horizon Europe offers unmatched collaboration benefits. International and cross-sectoral cooperation 
and mobility possibilities, access to world-class research infrastructures, an emphasis on excellence and 

11 Heuer, R.-D., et al., Interim evaluation of the activities of the Joint Research Centre under Horizon Europe and 
Euratom 2021-2025 - Final report of the evaluation panel, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023. 

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the variety of research topics are key aspects of the added value provided by the Framework Programme. 
The scale of collaboration fostered by the Framework Programme is unique in the EU – and in the 
world. 

Collaboration is a key driver of excellence. By creating EU-wide competition for research funding, the 
Framework  Programme  selects  the  most  promising  projects  from  the  largest  possible  pool  of 
applicants. In turn, this minimises the risk of duplication of research efforts within the EU. 

One  vehicle  of  collaboration  is  the  European  Partnerships.  They  align  and  pool  R&I  investments 
across  EU,  national  and  regional  institutions  and  between  industry  and  academia.  This  close 
collaboration  facilitates  market  uptake.  By  linking  up  with  the  Strategic  Research  and  Innovation 
Agendas, the European Partnerships promote a coordinated approach to the EU’s priorities.  

European  industries  need  collaborative  research  and  innovation  to  modernise.  The  automotive 
sector  is  a  prime  example.  In  the  recent  Automotive  Action  Plan12,  the  Commission  announced  the 
launch,  without  delay,  the  European  Connected  and  Autonomous  Vehicle  Alliance,  building  on  the 
preparatory  work  done  in  the  European  Vehicle  of  the  Future  Initiative,  and  three  Horizon  Europe 
automotive-related  European  Partnerships.  It  will  also  support  the  whole  EU  value  chain  of  next 
generation batteries in close cooperation with partnerships in advanced manufacturing and advanced 
materials. Horizon Europe will make available EUR 1 billion for the automotive sector for the period 
2025-2027. In the future, partnerships tailored to specific activities could be brought together in a joint 
undertaking  specific  to  the  automotive  sector,  bringing  together  Member  States  and  industry  and 
covering the entire innovation chain. This is without prejudice to the next MFF proposal’s package. 

Building partnerships in key sectors for economic competitiveness: hydrogen 

Between 2007 and 2023, the EU allocated over EUR 2.9 billion to hydrogen research and 
development under the Framework Programme 7, Horizon 2020, and Horizon Europe. 

•  With  over  67  ‘hydrogen  valleys’  in  development,  Europe  is  leading  the  way  in  electrolyser 
capacity deployment across the whole value chain. When they become operational, the hydrogen 
valleys will have the combined potential to produce around 5 million tonnes of clean hydrogen, 
or 40% of all global installed capacity. 

•  The  Clean  Hydrogen  Joint  Undertaking  has  been  instrumental  in  advancing  electrolyser 
technology and scaling at capacity, from 100 kW in 2011 to 10 MW by 2017 and 30 MW in 2023. 
•  EU-funded projects such as JIVE and JIVE2, have already made it possible for fuel cell electric 
buses to be running in 22 European cities. This has enabled the EU to maintain its leading role 
in hydrogen fuel cell buses and refuelling infrastructure. 

Although the Framework Programme has achieved considerable results, the evaluation highlights that 
collaborative  activities  are  complex  to  navigate.  Under  Pillar  II,  there  are  currently  60  European 
Partnerships, six clusters and five EU Missions. The Horizon Europe ‘main’ work programme contains 
1 060 topics and actions described in over 3 000 pages. The priority for the coming years is to reduce 
this  complexity  and  promote  the  quality  of  collaborations,  as  described  below  in  the  relevant 
simplification section. 

To tap the full potential of collaboration under the Framework Programme, the Commission will launch 
cross-cutting calls for proposals. These will be a key measure to support the priority policy areas set 
out by the political guidelines. The calls for proposals will be essential to support the Clean Industrial 
Deal and other priorities where it is crucial to achieve critical mass. 

12 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, 
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 
Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector COM(2025) 95 final. 

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Horizon Europe mobilises investment in R&I from both the public and private sectors. To date, halfway 
through implementation of the Horizon Europe programme, participants have already mobilised over 
EUR 10 billion in co-investment. This is a considerable increase compared to the same stage of the 
Horizon  2020  programme,  when  participants  had  co-invested  just  over  EUR 5  billion.  Overall,  the 
economic effects are considerable due to the programme’s ability to aggregate investment in R&I at a 
much broader level than any national or regional programme could. 

The Framework Programme gives a significant boost to companies’ financial performance 

Companies that received Horizon 2020 funding saw an average increase of 30% in total assets and 
revenues in the three years following the grant, along with a 20% increase in employment compared 
to similar companies that did not receive EU R&I funding. Companies participating in the Framework 
Programme also showed a higher propensity to invest in intangible assets than applicants that did not 
receive funding. 

Valorisation measures 

In  order  to  truly  reap  the  benefits  of  R&I  investment  and  ensure  that  the  knowledge  generated  by 
research  flows through to  innovations,  there is a strong need  to improve  knowledge valorisation. 
Only about a third of the patented inventions registered by European universities or research institutions 
reach the market. The evaluation indicates that there is still room to improve the process of dissemination 
and  uptake  of  Horizon  Europe  outputs.  Bridging  instruments  such  as  Proof-of-Concept  grants  have 
helped bring ERC-funded ideas from the laboratory and academia to the business world. So far, nearly 
half the successful EIC Transition projects originate from these grants. 

Measures  will  be  implemented  under  the  ‘main’  work  programme  for  2026-2027  to  strengthen  the 
valorisation and market take-up of Horizon Europe results and translate research outputs into tangible 
societal and economic outcomes. This is essential to unlock the full potential of the programme, in 
particular under Pillar II. When relevant, this could take the form of a certain percentage of each research 
action  being  reserved  for  technology  transfer  measures;  and  by  fostering  contacts  between 
entrepreneurs and academia with a view to creating university spin-offs.  

International cooperation 

Alongside its economic impacts, the Framework Programme is a tool to forge international relations and 
has fostered science diplomacy and cooperation worldwide. Horizon Europe has received applications 
from 194 countries overall and brought in a new wave of associated countries, 19 to date. For the EU 
accession countries – all of which are associated to the programme – Horizon Europe offers a unique 
opportunity to strengthen their R&I ecosystems and build R&I capacity for the long-term. 

The programme also attracts non-EU countries with strong R&I ecosystems. Horizon Europe is, together 
with Copernicus, one of the first two EU programmes for which the United Kingdom sought associated 
country status after Brexit. Switzerland will become an associated country to Horizon Europe in 2025. 
Canada,  the  Republic  of  Korea,  and  other  countries  with  strong  R&I  systems  have  also  concluded 
association agreements, creating opportunities for European researchers to expand their collaboration 
networks beyond the EU. The combined  operational contribution of  associated countries over 2021-
2024 is over EUR 4 billion, resulting in a substantial increase in the funding for R&I activities under 
Horizon Europe. Importantly, association to Horizon Europe can be based on the criterion of restricted 
or conditional participation, should economic and research security concerns occur. 

In this regard, R&I is vulnerable to foreign interference, security risks and hybrid threats. Therefore, in 
line  with  the  Council  recommendation  on  enhancing  research  security 13 and  as  announced  in  the 

13

 Council 

Recommendation 
lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202403510. 

on 

enhancing 

research 

security: 

https://eur-

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European Preparedness Union Strategy14, the Commission will establish a European Centre of Expertise 
on Research Security that collects evidence and provides support to Member States and R&I actors. 

2.3. 

 Tackling global challenges 

Some of the challenges  that  Europe  faces are  so vast  and  complex that  solutions  can  only  be  found 
through large-scale investment in R&I. The Framework Programme’s strong strategic vision makes it 
possible to focus efforts on the challenges that matter the most. 

Climate and environment 

One  of  the  clearest  examples  of  the  EU’s  leading  role  in  addressing  global  challenges  are  R&I 
investments to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing levels of pollution, and the circular 
economy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified the EU’s previous two Framework 
Programmes  –  Framework  Programme  7  and  Horizon  2020  –  as  the  second  most  frequently 
acknowledged funding sources (after the US National Science Foundation) of the research referenced 
in the 6th Assessment Cycle reports, with over 4 500 publications cited. Horizon Europe is on course to 
achieve  similar  results.  The  Framework  Programmes  similarly  supported  the  Intergovernmental 
Science-Policy  Platform  on  Biodiversity  and  Ecosystem  Services  (IPBES)  and  the  International 
Resource Panel (IRP). 

On top of this, the EU is a world leader in green infrastructures in the fields of climate change, energy 
and environment. Sustained R&I support is key to maintain this leadership and ensure that new clean 
technologies and solutions reach the markets. The EU’s role is becoming even more important at a time 
when other world powers are scaling back environmental commitments and research.  

Supporting the European Green Deal and the Clean Industrial Deal 

•  The project CONSTRAIN focused on reducing uncertainty in climate projections by improving 
understanding of how natural and human factors affect regional climate change over the decades. 
These insights produced better near-term climate projections to feed into policy decisions.  

•  CISUTAC is increasing circularity and sustainability in the textiles and clothing sector. It does so 
by demonstrating the feasibility and value of repair and disassembly, as well as sorting for reuse 
and recycling, and the creation of circular garments through ‘fibre-to-fibre’ recycling and design 
for circularity (polyester and cotton). 

•  REVaMP generated retrofitting technologies that enable older industrial plants – such as those in 
the  metal,  cement  and  ceramics  industries  –  to  operate  more  efficiently  using  new,  circular 
materials. By upgrading existing infrastructure, the project demonstrated how industries can cut 
energy use, reduce emissions and modernise production without building entirely new facilities. 
This approach supports a more sustainable and cost-effective transition to greener manufacturing. 

Health 

Long-term  investments  in  R&I  under  successive  Framework  Programmes  have  led  to  life-changing 
innovations, which are now delivering tangible impacts. 

14 JOIN(2025) 130 final 

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Treating deadly bacteria and viruses 

•  A prime example is a new drug combination for fighting infections caused by multidrug-resistant 
Gram-negative bacteria, which causes 25 000 deaths in the EU every year. This product, which is 
available as of 2025, was funded by Framework Programme 7 through COMBACTE-CARE in 
2015,  and  is  one  of  the  very  few  new  antibiotics  that  is  effective  against  these  hard-to-treat 
infections to reach the market in three decades. 

•  One of the key achievements is the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking, which contributes 
to the response to the spread of mpox by funding research into the virus and potential treatments. 

By setting out a strong long-term vision, the Framework Programme is equipped to respond to sudden 
crises.  Horizon  Europe  and  its  predecessor  Horizon  2020  funded  research  into  understanding 
COVID-19,  containing  its  spread  and  treating  infections.  The  EU  rapidly  became  the  third  most 
frequently acknowledged funding source for COVID-19 research in the world, after the US Department 
of Health & Human Services and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Research funded 
through the Framework Programme has helped to understand more clearly the link between the various 
types of pollution and health and to find innovative solutions to prevent and fight against pollution. 

Civil security 

In  times  of  increasing  climate-extreme  events  and  hybrid  threats,  EU  investment  in  civil  security 
research has been crucial to making the EU prepared for crises. For example, in their efforts to counter 
both accidental damages to and deliberate hostile acts against energy and telecoms cables, authorities 
can draw on innovative technologies developed under by Horizon projects, including technologies for 
underwater sensing, automatic detection of abnormal vessel behaviour, and real-time awareness. In this 
domain in particular, it is paramount to ensure that economic and research security are upheld at all 
times. 

Protecting undersea infrastructure 

•  PROMENADE  will  develop  new  technologies  to  provide  national  border  management 
authorities with a toolkit for automatic vessel detection, tracking and behavioural analysis. These 
technologies will be based on AI and machine learning applied to maritime surveillance reporting 
systems, databases, and other information sources. 

•  Projects SMAUG and UNDERSEC will improve the security of ports and their entrance routes 
by utilising AI and an integrated system that can provide data on threat detection and analysis 
between ports security infrastructure, advanced underwater detection, and systems surveillance 
vessels. 

Digital and artificial intelligence 

Artificial  intelligence  (AI)  is  another  focus  area  for  EU  R&I,  since  it  is  a  crucial  driver  of 
competitiveness  and  one  of  the  fields  with  vast  untapped  potential  for  innovation.  So  far,  Horizon 
Europe has allocated EUR 6.4 billion of funding to AI. 

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Expanding the frontier of digitalisation 

•  AI4LIFE is creating user-friendly platforms that make AI tools and data sets accessible even to 
those with no expertise in computational sciences. These platforms will facilitate the analysis of 
biological images such as microscopy scans of tissue samples. The project particularly focuses 
on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles for AI-ready image data 
sets and models. 

•  DataPorts  brought  together  the  expertise  of  15  partners  from  across  Europe  to  set  up  the 
Cognitive  Ports  Data  Platform.  This  single  connected  system  enables  safe  and  seamless  data 
exchange across European seaports. Using AI modelling, the platform was also able to predict 
vessel arrival, departure, and berth times, optimise logistics, and track containers within ports.  

AI will fundamentally change the way research is conducted. The European Commission will propose 
a Strategy for AI in Science in 2025 to empower the scientific community to adopt AI in their research. 
The European Commission has also launched the InvestAI initiative to mobilise EUR 200 billion for 
investment  in  AI,  including  a  new  European  fund  of  EUR 20  billion  for  AI  gigafactories.  The 
Commission’s initial funding for InvestAI will come from existing EU funding programmes that have 
a digital component, such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU. 

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) also demonstrates 
the strength of collaboration in Horizon Europe by pooling action by the European Commission with 
Member States, associated countries, and the private sector. EuroHPC, which has also received support 
from Connecting Europe Facility and the Digital Europe Programme, has been instrumental in helping 
the EU gain a prominent position as a world power in supercomputing. With EuroHPC, the EU has 
adopted a coordinated strategy and has pooled together resources to develop state-of-the-art exascale 
supercomputers. This is another step in the direction of technological sovereignty. 

EU Missions 

EU Missions are a new feature in Horizon Europe. They provide support for Europe’s transition to a 
greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent, including action to tackle the UN Sustainable 
Development Goals and other major social challenges. 

The evaluation found positive public support for EU Mission projects, but also an overly cumbersome 
and complex governance system, lack of coherence with the European Partnerships and an incomplete 
monitoring system. Systematic reporting on the funding leveraged by EU Missions was not available 
for the evaluation and it noted a limited degree of distinctiveness compared with other parts of the of 
the ‘main’ work programme.  

The Commission takes note of the new approaches suggested in the European Parliament’s Resolution 
and the ‘Align, Act, Accelerate’ report, which both call for further examination of the EU Missions. In 
particular,  the  ‘Align,  Act,  Accelerate’  report  suggested  that  EU  Missions  should  be  placed  under a 
suitable level of political ownership, and only their R&D&I component should be part of the Framework 
Programme. For the last three years of Horizon Europe, further actions on EU Missions will be included 
in the work programmes.   

2.4.  Closing the innovation gap 

To overcome the EU’s longstanding weakness in bringing its excellent research to the market, Horizon 
Europe set up the European Innovation Council (EIC). The EIC supports disruptive innovation to Proof-
of-Concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scaling up of start-ups and SMEs.  

To avoid high-risk research and innovation getting lost in the ‘valley of death’ between innovation and 
commercialisation, Horizon Europe actively supports market deployment. In the short time since it was 
created, the EIC Fund has become one of the EU’s biggest venture capital investors in deep tech start-
ups and SMEs. This has the potential leverage investments up to EUR 20 billion until 2027. The next 

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step is to extend the success to support scale-ups, to help companies grow on the EU market and become 
global champions. 

Under Horizon Europe, the EIC Transition calls allow the EIC to cover the entire spectrum of technology 
readiness, from research to commercialisation. Alongside this, the EIC Accelerator provides companies 
with grants, equity or blended finance (a combination of the two). This is where the EIC is unique in the 
Framework Programme and in the wider EU programme landscape.  

In the period 2018-2024, the EIC and EIC Pilot supported over 70 companies that achieved ‘centaur’ 
status (companies valued at above EUR 100 million). Of these, 6 are valued at over EUR 500 million. 
Some  of  the  main  projects  that  received  EIC  funding  are  in  key  areas  such  as  AI,  quantum 
technologies and semiconductors, advanced materials, biotechnology and biomanufacturing, energy 
generation and storage solutions. 

•  The SER project developed a tool for conducting endovascular surgeries remotely and without X-

rays. 

•  The  CatQubit  project  is  developing  a  new  type  of  self-correcting  quantum  hardware.  The 

company behind the project recently raised a EUR 100 million Series B investment round. 

There has been an increasing focus on streamlining the path for results achieved in Pillar II with the 
innovation support available under Pillar III of Horizon Europe, especially with the EIC Transition calls. 
The  evaluation  found  that  there  is  potential  to  further  streamline  support  under  the  remaining  work 
programmes of Horizon Europe. 

In  the  meantime,  demand  for  funding  under  the  main  EIC  calls  for  proposals  (Pathfinder  and 
Accelerator)  has  increased  significantly  since  the  start  of  Horizon  Europe. This has  led  to  a  drop in 
success rates, which were approximately 5% in 2024. Therefore, there is a need to fund more of the 
excellent projects submitted as proposals, including through the uptake of the Seal of Excellence scheme 
by Member States. 

The EIT KICs also contribute to generating innovation-based growth through development of innovative 
products  and  services,  starting  and  supporting  new  companies,  and  training  a  new  generation  of 
entrepreneurs.  

Venture capital funding for start-ups  

Although the EIC has been very effective in attracting additional investment into companies selected 
under the Accelerator scheme, there is still a major gap in venture capital funding for technology-based 
start-ups in Europe. The EIC Trusted Investor Network was inaugurated in 2024 and today includes 100 
European investment funds pledging to further co-invest with the EIC Fund in European companies. 
The  EIC  has  also  launched  a  new  STEP  call  under  which  it  will  provide  up  to  EUR 30  million  in 
investment for scale-ups in critical technology areas. The aim is to catalyse investment rounds of up 
to EUR 150 million. This is only a first step in closing the market gap in financing scale-ups in Europe, 
where Horizon Europe can play a key role.  

Further measures will be put forward under the Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, the European Innovation 
Act, and under the remaining EIC  work programmes. These will complement the positive impact of 
InvestEU on developing a well-functioning venture capital ecosystem in Europe by providing indirect 
support to private venture capital funds. 

3.  Creating a Research and Innovation Union 
In line with the ERA objectives, the Framework Programme plays a role in closing the investment gap 
between Member States and in ensuring that all EU Member States have strong R&I systems. Horizon 
Europe is working towards this goal by targeting Widening Member States.  

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The success rate of Widening Member States has improved since Horizon 2020 and their share of the 
overall programme funding has increased from 9% to 14%. Five Widening Member States now have 
success  rates  similar  to  the  EU  average  (20%).  The  share  of  collaborative  projects  involving 
Widening  Member  States  has  increased  since  Horizon  2020  from  47%  to  58%  at  this  stage  of  the 
programme. 

Building centres of excellence and promoting long-term collaboration 

The  project  FunGlass  is  developing  novel  glass  and  ceramic-based  materials  as  well  as  other 
advanced technologies crucial for the green transition. By teaming up excellent research institution 
actions, the project secured Horizon 2020 investment of EUR 10 million in premises and state-of-
the-art research infrastructure in Trenčín, Slovakia, to create the Centre for Functional and Surface 
Functionalised Glass.  

With partners from Germany, Italy and Spain, the Centre focuses on cutting-edge research in glass 
with special functional properties. The investment has helped increase scientific output, with over 
50  publications  annually,  new  competitive  funding  for  30  national  and  9  transnational  research 
projects, and several patent applications. 

The Framework Programme can also play a key role in aligning research and innovation policies at EU 
and national level by showing a clear direction for strategic investments. For this reason, the new 
work  programmes  will  have  a  clearer  focus  on  key  policy  priorities.  This  means  that  the  work 
programmes will contain fewer but more strategic topics, with the aim to achieve critical mass in the 
most strategic areas by focusing resources on substantially fewer topics. Topics will also be described 
in a less prescriptive way with more ‘open’ topics, to encourage the widest range of creative proposals. 

Coherence between EU and national investment 

Nevertheless,  there  are  limits  to  what  the  Framework  Programme  can  do  alone.  Horizon  Europe 
represents around one tenth of public funding for R&I in the EU. The remainder of R&I public 
funding comes from the Member States. This results in a fragmented and  insufficiently targeted R&I 
investment landscape, which hinders the EU’s ability to focus on strategic priorities.  

It  is  crucial to  improve the  coordination  of  public  R&D  expenditure  across  Member  States  to  boost 
innovation in the EU and to reach the 3% target for R&D expenditure.  

4.  Simplification 

While  much  has  already  been  done  to  simplify  the  Framework  Programme,  the  European 
Commission is committed to going further. Far-reaching simplification work will begin immediately 
and will tangibly improve the experience of applicants and beneficiaries. 

In the evaluation survey, applicants and beneficiaries indicated that time and efforts to prepare a proposal 
were not always proportionate to the level of funding, number of partners or complexity of the project. 

The expert group’s ‘Align, Act, Accelerate’ Report also considered excessive the ‘time-to-grant’, i.e. the 
time  between  the  deadline  for  a  call for  proposals  and  the  European  Commission  signing  the  grant. 
However, recent Horizon Europe data shows that the time-to-grant is in line with its target of 245 days. 
This  aspect  improved  significantly  over  the  previous  financial  period:  under  Horizon  2020,  90%  of 
grants were signed on time, compared to 41% under Framework Programme 7. 

Yet, the European Commission remains committed to facilitate quicker support to beneficiaries. In this 
context, it will take further action to make the process even simpler and faster. It will assess the process 
leading  up  to  grant  signature  to  identify  whether  it  can  be  simplified,  for  example  by  shortening 
proposal  forms  and  reducing  even  further  the  overall  time-to-grant.  The  ‘main’  2025  work 
programme will feature 29 two-stage calls for proposals. These will allow applicants to first submit a 

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shorter summary proposal and only submit a full proposal if successful at the initial stage. Around 20 of 
these two-stage calls will be evaluated blindly to collect additional evidence for a sound assessment of 
the blind evaluation methodology. In addition, it will revise several non-financial obligations (such 
as the approach to the ‘do no significant harm’ principle and the check on the robustness of AI tools), 
to produce a shorter proposal form. 

Lastly,  lump  sum funding  has  been thoroughly  assessed  as  part  of this  interim evaluation.  The 
findings revealed that this type of support reduces the reporting burden on beneficiaries (saving them 
administrative costs). Lump sum grants help avoid financial errors while safeguarding the EU’s financial 
interest, and help shift the focus during the implementation stage from financial controls to the project’s 
content. Lump sum funding is particularly attractive to SMEs and newcomers who have less experience 
with the programme and fewer resources to navigate the complexity of financial reporting.  

At this stage of  interim programme evaluation, lump sum funding is estimated to  have generated 
savings for beneficiaries of between EUR 49.8 and 63.4 million over  the project lifetime. In the 
‘main’ 2025 work programme, lump sum grants will form over 35% of the budget. By 2027, the intention 
is to fund at least 50% of the budget through lump sum funding, depending on the suitability of the 
funded projects. The European Commission is committed to continuously monitoring and evaluating 
the use of lump sums to uphold quality and integrity. 

5.  Conclusion 

The EU’s Framework Programme has built a strong project pipeline that, through collaboration and 
scientific excellence, has proven able to generate solutions to tackle some of the most pressing global 
challenges  and  bring  about  impactful  disruptive  innovation.  R&I  is  at  the  core  of  the  EU’s 
competitiveness drive. 

Over the coming months, the European Commission will work to make R&I funding simpler, more 
focused and even more impactful. Immediate measures in the upcoming work programmes will make 
the application and project implementation process more user-friendly. 

Targeted investment will provide even more support for researchers and entrepreneurs designed to attract, 
nurture and retain talent in the EU. Collaboration will be enhanced to foster links between  different 
stakeholders, including businesses, and to boost knowledge valorisation. 

As part of the work on the forthcoming start-up and scale-up strategy, the Commission will look into 
options to expand Horizon Europe’s Pillar III given its potential to help bridge the innovation gap, 
including  in  the  scale-up  of  innovative  companies,  by  optimising  the  resources  available  under  the 
programme.  

The Commission will continue to create the conditions for researchers and innovators to thrive. To this 
end it will work to expand the ERC and the EIC. In this context, in line with the White Paper for 
European Defence – Readiness 2030, the Commission will also ensure that the EIC will invest in dual-
use technologies. 

Lastly,  the  European  Commission  will  tackle  the  barriers  for  startup  and  the  scale-up  of  innovative 
companies that require regulatory action by bringing in changes via the European Innovation Act. 

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