The Horizon 2020 (European Framework Programme 8 for Research and Innovation) ran under the seven year Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 and ended with final calls (Green Deal) closing in January 2021. Projects funded under Horizon 2020, some only commencing later this year, may run for up to 5 years and projects should be unaffected by the UK leaving the EU, apart perhaps from minor changes in relation to how data is handled.
There were important shifts in thinking behind the Green Deal and this paved the way for Horizon Europe. The results for the Green Deal Call should be available before the end of June at the latest with projects starting in November or December. It will fund a small number of large and highly visible projects demonstrating the feasibility of new technologies and solutions and paving the way to their commercialization, as well as critical experimentation, social innovation and citizen engagement. The emphasis is on achieving impact for society through scaling up, dissemination and uptake.
Horizon Europe is expected to build on this with a more holistic systems approach within and across different programme areas and the involvement and consultation of external stakeholders/citizens as well as impact-driven programming.
NI Performance under Horizon 2020
The Northern Ireland Executive set a target to secure at least €145m from Horizon 2020. Despite the uncertainty from Brexit, which did reduce numbers of applications, 296 successful NI participants across academia, the private and public sectors have, so far, secured a total of €95.7 million through competitive open calls under Horizon 2020.
Horizon Europe Soft Launch
On 2 February the European Commission together with the Portuguese EU Council Presidency held a virtual launch event for Horizon Europe. The event brought together speakers from across Europe and featured contributions by researchers, business leaders as well as political and governmental officials with the aim of promoting “Horizon Europe” and its association with national programmes of recovery and resilience.
You can watch a recording of the event here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyjoJv-Kqe4
UK Participation in Horizon Europe
Following the signature of the EU UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (EU-UK TCA) in December, UK will associate to the Horizon Europe programme, subject to the finalisation of the Horizon Europe Programme regulations and adoption of the protocols agreed under the EU-UK TCA.
Following formal association to the programme, UK will be able to participate in the first work programme and calls. Association agreements with all countries (e.g. Norway, Switzerland) are still to be signed, and statements about association are expected in the work programmes, if agreements are not finalised before publication. UK organisations will have equivalent rights to those from Member States and will be able to access funding from all parts of the programme. UK partners will count towards the minimum eligible consortium numbers, and UK partners can still coordinate projects and influence key collaborative projects.
Horizon Europe – What do we know so far?
The European budget for approved Horizon Europe was approved before Christmas, with €95.5 billion funding available over the 7 year programme. Horizon Europe regulations have yet to be signed. Overall the application process is unchanged, and for the most part funding rates remain the same. There have been some changes to the financial rules, mostly simplifying them, and there is an updated proposal template. The publication of the work programmes is expected in April, with call openings to follow soon after.