Skip to content

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the EU's leading initiative for research and development. It fuels EU's scientific and technological excellence, boosts competitiveness and creates jobs.

What is Horizon Europe?

Europe's future growth and prosperity depend on its ability to remain a world leader in research and innovation. 

Horizon Europe is the European Union's framework programme for research and innovation (R&I) for 2021-2027. It is the continuation of the EU's earlier Horizon 2020 programme, which funded almost 35 000 projects involving 40 000 organisations.

Objectives 

The programme aims to:

  • strengthen the EU's scientific and technological basis, including by developing solutions for the green and digital transitions 
  • contribute to achieving sustainable development goals
  • boost competitiveness and growth, by supporting R&I from concept to market

Horizon Europe ensures that the EU's work in the areas of science and technology has an impact in terms of tackling major global challenges in critical areas such as health, ageing, security, pollution and climate change.

Horizon Europe is expected to:

  • create up to 100 000 jobs in R&I activities between 2021 and 2027
  • increase the EU's gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 0.19% over 25 years
  • generate up to six euros in benefits for EU citizens by 2045 for every euro invested

Pillars

Horizon Europe is made up of three pillars.

An additional part underpinning the entire programme supports the extension of excellence-based participation from all member states. This will serve to optimise national research and innovation potential across Europe, and thereby strengthen the European Research Area (ERA).

Budget

With a budget of €95.5 billion, including €5.4 billion from Next Generation EU, the programme complements national and regional funding in R&I.

Excellent science

The first Horizon Europe pillar reinforces the EU's scientific leadership, promoting the development of high-quality knowledge and skills.

It supports frontier research projects through the European Research Council and boosts investment in research infrastructures.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions fund researchers' mobility, training and career development activities. They aim to:

  • enhance researchers' careers
  • foster international collaboration
  • promote innovative and interdisciplinary research across various sectors

Global challenges and competitiveness 

The second pillar supports research and innovation that addresses societal challenges and industrial technologies in areas such as health, digital, climate, energy, mobility, civil security, food and natural resources.

Horizon Europe introduces research and innovation missions, designed to address a major societal challenge by setting specific, measurable goals to be achieved by 2030. 

The five EU missions areas:

  • adaptation to climate change
  • cancer
  • restore our oceans and waters
  • climate-neutral and smart cities
  • soil deal for Europe

This pillar also promotes a new approach to European partnerships and includes activities pursued by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), whose primary role is to provide independent, evidence-based scientific support to EU policy-making. 

Innovative Europe

The third Horizon Europe pillar focuses on promoting all forms of innovation, and in particular breakthrough and game-changing innovation, through the European Innovation Council (EIC).

The EIC offers a one-stop-shop for innovators, particularly startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), with high potential to create markets for the future. It aims to help them:

  • from early stage research 
  • scale up 
  • leverage private finance
  • bring their groundbreaking ideas to market

A mid-term evaluation of the programme showed that every euro invested in innovative companies through the EIC fund has attracted over three euros from private investors.

Horizon Europe package: framework programme for research and innovation 2028-2034

On 16 July 2025, as part of the EU's long-term budget (the ‘MFF’), the European Commission published its proposal for the next Horizon Europe framework programme for 2028-2034, which is to be closely linked to the European competitiveness fund (ECF).

The programme is built on four pillars:

  • excellent science: pillar I aims to expand the European Research Council, support excellent researchers, and strengthen the Joint Research Centre
  • competitiveness and society: pillar II is intended to boost collaborative research that supports EU competitiveness and addresses major societal challenges
  • innovation: pillar III aims to broaden the focus of the European Innovation Council to include support for high-risk, disruptive projects, and defence and dual-use startups
  • European Research Area: pillar IV seeks to make the ERA stronger, including a reformed component for widening participation, and new support for research and technology infrastructures

On 26 June 2026, the Council reached an agreement on its partial negotiating position on Horizon Europe.

The Council position strengthens the member states' involvement in Horizon Europe's strategic priority-setting and clarifies the close links with the ECF. It also introduces improvements and additional assurances related to European partnerships, research security and support for innovation, including for dual use and defence applications.

Topics

Last review: 26 June 2026