November 2011: European Commission presents Horizon 2020
On 30th November, 2011, the European Commission presented its €80 billion research funding programme for the decade – Horizon 2020 – aimed at boosting research, stimulating innovation and simplifying the way scientists and smaller businesses can obtain funding for EU-backed projects.
The Horizon 2020 programme brings together all EU research and innovation funding under a single scheme running from 2014 to 2020 and it replaces the Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7), which expires in 2013.
Horizon 2020 is divided into three major pillars. The first aims to establish the EU as one of the leaders of cutting-edge projects using a €24.5-billion budget, including funding for the European Research Council (ERC). A second allocation is targeted at industrial innovation with a budget of €17.9 billion, including €13.7 billion for key technologies.The third and biggest tranche, worth €31.7 billion, goes to so-called “societal challenges” divided into six themes:
- Health, demographic change and well-being;
- Food security, sustainable agriculture, marine and maritime research and the bio-economy;
- Secure, clean and efficient energy;
- Smart, green and integrated transport;
- Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials; and inclusive, innovative and secure societies.
The remaining €5.9 billion is set aside for the Joint Research Centre – the Commission’s in-house research institution – which works on issues that include the environment, nanotechnology and nuclear safety.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Horizon 2020 – The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation