(20 March 2019) – The EU institutions have reached a partial political agreement, subject to formal approval by the European Parliament and Council, on Horizon Europe, the future EU research and innovation programme.
Horizon Europe will build on the achievements and success of the current research and innovation programme (Horizon 2020).
It will continue to drive scientific excellence through the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships and exchanges, and will benefit from the scientific advice, technical support and dedicated research of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Commission’s science and knowledge service. It will introduce new features including the European Innovation Council (EIC).
The EIC, which is already running now in a pilot phase, will be a one-stop shop to bring disruptive and breakthrough innovations from lab to market application, and help start-ups and SMEs scale up their ideas.
It will provide direct support to innovators through two main funding instruments, one for early stages and the other for development and market deployment. It will complement the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).