What is happening with Horizon Europe ?

Horizon Europe : A reduced budget

On 23 July 2020, the European Parliament approved a European economic recovery plan with a budget of €750 billion. Horizon Europe, the framework programme for research and innovation (2021-2027), has seen its budget increase from €94 billion to €84.9 billion, a cut of €10 billion.

On 10 November 2020, while the budget of Horizon Europe was planned at €80.9 billion, and after tough negotiations, the European Parliament and the European Council finally increased this budget by €4 billion. It is now a question of deciding how the budget will be allocated between the different strands of the programme, how it could be used in coordination with other sources of EU funding and which countries outside the EU will be allowed to participate.

However, Horizon Europe is not the only framework programme to have revised its budget downwards since the InvestEU investment programme, the European defence funds, ERASMUS and EU4Health have also had a truncated envelope.

The consequences for the world of Research and Innovation

Among the sectors most affected by this decline are: health and climate initiatives. These two sectors were nevertheless considered priorities during the implementation of the Framework Programme. These 2 sectors are part of the second pillar “Global issues and European industrial competitiveness” which has a budget of more than €47 billion, or more than half of the total budget of Horizon Europe. We do not know, for the moment, what themes will be put forward by these sectors.

Despite everything, will this be enough to face societal challenges and establish Europe’s competitiveness?

The budget for the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (2014-2020) was €79 billion. With this cut, the new European framework programme Horizon Europe “only” benefits from a little less than €2 billion in additional budget than its predecessor, although with visions that are much more ambitious.

However, a reduction in the budget and a “post-pandemic” atmosphere could have serious consequences when Horizon Europe is launched in 2021:

• A framework programme that may not live up to the ambitious objectives it proposes (sustainable development, artificial intelligence, new health policies, etc.)
• This is a concern for SMEs, due to increased competitiveness between EU countries in the hope of winning a subsidy
• An impact on the willingness of European and third countries to make a financial commitment

The first drafts of the work programmes and public consultation were published in September 2020. Subject to the adoption of the new 2021-2027 budget, the first calls for projects should be published in the first half of 2021.

And the United Kingdom in all this…

Still undecided about the terms of the exit from Brexit, the United Kingdom will no longer be part of the European Union in 2021. While negotiations are dragging on for a future trade agreement, both London and Brussels want the UK to be part of the Horizon Europe adventure, without agreeing on its role within the framework programme.

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