Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| CALL FOR EVIDENCE  FOR AN EVALUATION / FITNESS CHECK | |
| Title of the evaluation | Horizon 2020 programme – final evaluation |
| Lead DG – responsible unit | DG RTD. Unit G2 - Common Programme Analysis & Regulatory Reform |
| Indicative timetable  (planned start date and completion date) | Q2 2022    Q4 2023 |
| Additional information | What was Horizon 2020? |
| A. Political context, purpose and scope of the evaluation | |
| Political context | |
| Horizon 2020 was the EU's research and innovation funding programme for 2014-2020, with a budget of nearly €80 billion.  Horizon 2020's overall objectives were:  ·to help the EU become a knowledge and innovation-based economy and society;  ·to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in line with Europe 2020 strategy and other EU policies; and  ·to complete and support the European single market for research, innovation and technology (the European Research Area).  It set out to do this by leveraging additional funding for research, development and innovation across the EU, with the target of increasing investment in research and development to 3% of gross domestic product by 2020.    More specifically, Horizon 2020 aimed to:  ·strengthen the EU’s science base;  ·support the technological leadership and innovation capability in the private sector;  ·ensure that societal challenges received more attention in research and innovation; and  ·boost the amount of cross-border coordination, which was too low.    The Commission intends to complete the final evaluation of Horizon 2020 by the end of 2023. | |
| Purpose and scope | |
| The final evaluation of Horizon 2020 will analyse the design and implementation, results and impacts of the programme from 2014 to 2020. It will cover all Horizon 2020 instruments, in every scientific fields supported. This evaluation will help with implementation of current EU research and innovation measures and with the design of future measures. It also fulfils the Commission’s legal obligation to explain how it has spent public funds (Article 32 of Regulation 1291/2013).    The evaluation will address the relevance, coherence, EU value added, the efficiency and the effectiveness of the Horizon 2020 programme. It will cover every component of the programme including partnerships, the European Institute of Technology and direct research actions by the Joint Research Centre. It will look into the rationale for the programme, its implementation and achievements, and its longer-term impacts and sustainability. It will also review the dissemination and exploitation of research results, open access policy and cross-cutting issues, among other aspects of the programme.    In particular, the efficiency analysis will review costs and benefits for applicants to the programme, and will include an assessment of potential unnecessary burdens and complexities for applicants and participants. | |
| B. Better regulation | |
| Consultation strategy | |
| Main stakeholders identified include researchers, business, academia, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, and EU-wide ‘umbrella’ organisations.    Planned consultations:  ·A 12-week public consultation to be published in English, French and German on the Have Your Say website in the fourth quarter of 2022. Responses may be submitted in any official EU language. Shortly after it has closed, a factual summary report will be published on the same website, along with the respondents’ replies. The same consultation will also cover Horizon Europe (interim evaluation and preparations for the 2025-27 Horizon Europe strategic plan).  ·Targeted consultations (e.g. workshops, interviews) for applicants, participants, national and regional authorities and business representatives. These have already started as part of external evaluation studies supporting this evaluation.  ·An online event, planned in the second quarter of 2023 to harvest more stakeholder views.    These consultations will help the Commission assess what the programme has done to move the EU closer to the general and specific objectives for research and innovation, as well as any possible adverse effects. The results will be presented in a synopsis report annexed to the Commissions main Horizon 2020 evaluation report. | |
| Data collection and methodology | |
| The evaluation will take account of the Horizon 2020 interim evaluation, the interim evaluation of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the independent High Level Group on maximising the impact of EU research & innovation programmes (Lamy Group), and it will build on existing monitoring data and programme analysis such as the Monitoring Flashes, macroeconomic modelling (e.g. QUEST, RHOMOLO), data from the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) and external datasets (e.g. Scopus, Orbis).  This evaluation will include data from previous Framework Programmes (FP7 and before where possible) for the analysis of the long-term impact of EU research and innovation investment.  Additional evidence and knowledge will be produced through 12 external evaluation studies, covering different aspects of Horizon 2020, including Horizon 2020 key performance indicators. Of the 12 studies:  3 have already been published:  ·Open access policy  ·Focus areas  ·Proposal evaluation system  9 are ongoing:  ·European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot  ·Cross-cutting issues  ·Relevance and internal coherence  ·External coherence and synergies  ·Excellence science  ·Green transition  ·Digital and industrial transition  ·Resilient Europe  ·Innovative Europe  The analysis conducted within these studies includes triangulation of evidence.. All studies will be completed by early 2023.  Simplification and burden reduction will be examined as part of the external evaluation studies, with the analysis of the proposal evaluation system and participation in Horizon 2020. A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods will be used, such as data analysis, interviews, surveys and counterfactual analysis. Stakeholders are invited to comment on simplification aspects in their feedback to this call for evidence or in the public consultation. | |

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