The European bloc claims this will be the “most ambitious” research and innovation “in the world”.
The European Council and the European Parliament, designed to represent the governments and citizens of European Union member states, have approved the European Commission’s new €95.5 billion Horizon Europe fund for the period to 2027.
Assuming they approve the deal, they claim this will be the world’s most ambitious innovation fund.
It will replace the Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, which spanned 2014-2020 and spent heavily on digital-change projects in member states.
30% more
Horizon Europe is expected to the end of 2027, and is 30% larger than its predecessor.
The €95.5 billion includes €5.4 billion from the Commission’s €750 billion NextGenerationEU recovery plan, announced after the first wave of Covid-19 in spring 2020. Another €4.5 billion will supplement the initial NextGenerationEU funding.
Eleven industrial 5G research projects were signed off under the old Horizon programme in 2020, which supported mobility, supply chains and manufacturing, and innovation around 5G hardware.
Rebuilding Europe
The combined Horizon Europe and NextGenerationEU initiatives represent by far the biggest stimulus package financed through the EU. It said a total of €1.8 trillion is going to rebuild a “post Covid-19 Europe.”
The Commission said, “It will be a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe.”
Europe is home to 7% of the world’s population, 20% of global R&D investment, and one third of all high-quality scientific publications, according to the Commission.