The European Commission adopted today the first strategic plan for Horizon Europe, the EU’s new research and innovation programme worth 95.5 billion euros in current prices. The strategic plan is new to Horizon Europe and sets out the strategic guidelines for investment guidance in the first four years of the programme. It ensures that EU research and innovation actions contribute to the EU’s priorities, including a climate-neutral and green Europe, a Europe suited to the digital age, and an economy that works for people.
The strategic plan sets out four strategic guidelines for investment in research and innovation under Horizon Europe for the next four years:
- Promote an open strategic autonomy by guiding the development of digital technologies, enabling and emerging, key value sectors and chains;
- Restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity and sustainably managing natural resources;
- Making Europe the first circular economy, climate neutral and sustainable enabled by digital;
- Create a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society.
International cooperation is the basis of all four guidelines, as it is essential to address many global challenges.
The strategic plan also identifies the co-funded and co-programmed European partnerships and EU missions to be supported through Horizon Europe. The partnerships will cover critical areas such as energy, transport, biodiversity, health, food and circularity, and will complement the ten institutionalised European partnerships proposed by the Commission in February. EU missions will address the global challenges facing our daily lives, setting ambitious and challenging but achievable targets, such as fighting cancer, adapting to climate change, protecting our oceans, make cities greener and ensure the health of the soil and food. By using a broad portfolio of instruments in different disciplines and policy areas, EU missions will address complex issues through research projects, policy measures or even legislative initiatives.
The Plan’s guidelines also address a number of horizontal issues, such as gender. Gender mainstreaming will be a default requirement in research and innovation content throughout the programme, unless it is specified that gender or gender may not be relevant to the topic in question.