Commission boosts Horizon Europe budget to support green, health and digital innovations and displaced researchers of Ukraine

Today, the Commission has adopted the amendment to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022, increasing the budget by nearly €562 million to further support EU Missions towards innovative solutions to green, health and digital challenges and more actions to boost the European innovation ecosystem. The programme’s budget for 2021 and 2022 now reaches a total of nearly €16 billion.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said: “These additional investments in research and innovation will help us to deliver on key policies. Horizon Europe shows not only its forward looking vision to create a healthier, greener and digital Europe but also its solidarity to support displaced researchers of Ukraine”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “With this revision of the Work Programme we reinforce the impetus to address, through research and innovation, our greatest societal challenges with new and innovative tools, such as the EU Missions.  In addition, we will support the displaced researchers of Ukraine to continue their research and innovation work.”

Of this additional amount €507.1 million is dedicated to the five EU Missions, a new and innovative way to bring solutions to some of our greatest challenges working together with people in Europe and beyond. Launched in September 2021, they aim to achieve ambitious goals in health, climate and the environment by 2030. There will be 17 new calls covering Mission Cancer, Mission A Soil Deal for Europe, Mission Adaptation to Climate Change and Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030. This includes a joint call comprising the latter two Missions, as well as additional actions supporting all five Missions, including the Cities Mission.

HORIZON EUROPE: A sustainable and green rail system

 

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the amendment also includes actions to support researchers previously active in Ukraine. Under the new MSCA4Ukraine scheme, part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), €25 million will allow displaced researchers to continue their work at an academic or non-academic host organisation in the EU Member States or in countries associated to Horizon Europe, and support them re-establishing themselves in Ukraine when that becomes possible to rebuild the country’s research and innovation capacity (see here the press release). Hundreds of Ukrainian scientists will also be able to benefit from an increased budget of €1 million to the Human Frontier Science Programme for the initiative of “scientists help scientists”, as part of Horizon Europe’s Cluster 1 ‘Health’. A blanket provision was also added encouraging all applicants to offer opportunities, where possible, to researchers and innovators of Ukraine.

Moreover, the amendment specifies that legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine are not eligible to participate in actions supported by Horizon Europe in any capacity. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.

Furthermore, the amendment adds several new actions to support Europe’s innovation potential. For Horizon Europe, European Innovation Ecosystems, there will be a continuation of WomenTechEU with a tripling of the budget (€10 million) to support more than 100 women-led start-ups this year and a new action on creating and nurturing angel investing in the EU (€2 million). For Cluster 2 ‘Culture, creativity and inclusive society’, this includes the support to  create  collaborative platforms and networks for  the culture and creative industries (€6 million), the social impact assessment of green transition policies (€3 million), and innovative solutions for the future of democracy (€3 million) as well as supporting the Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (€1.5 million). Other minor adjustments to the Work Programme have also been added for a total of €3.2 million.

The first round of the upcoming calls will open on 12 May 2022 and the second will open on 24 May 2022.

For further information: Press release — European Commission