What is Horizon 2020 ?
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract.
It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market
Funding available
Billion €
in years (2014 to 2020)
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Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global competitiveness.
Seen as a means to drive economic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 has the political backing of Europe’s leaders and the Members of the European Parliament. They agreed that research is an investment in our future and so put it at the heart of the EU’s blueprint for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs.
By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovationand makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.
Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important. This approach makes sure new projects get off the ground quickly – and achieve results faster.
The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will be complemented by further measures to complete and further develop the European Research Area. These measures will aim at breaking down barriers to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation.
History of Horizon 2020
In 2011 the EU Heads of State and Government called on the European Commission to bring together all of the previous EU’s research and innovation funding private investment that this money will attract.
It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.
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The European Commission has compiled all the feedback from stakeholders, and has taken into account recommendations from the European Parliament, as well as lessons learned from previous programmes.
The message was clear – make Horizon 2020 simpler for users – and it is!
Horizon 2020 statistics
Find out about the Horizon 2020 budget and also what we can tell you about the popularity of the programme, the success of SMEs, the degree to which the programme has attracted newcomers
– both as participants and as expert evaluators – and the proportion of women experts? Answers below!
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The brochure “Horizon 2020 In Full Swing -Three Years On – Key facts and figures 2014-2016” (PDF 3,9 MB) provides a snapshot of the programme’s main achievements, taking into account more than 300 calls for proposals. For the first time, some early trends can be glimpsed from the year-on-year evolution of key monitoring data such as success rates, SME participation, and project evaluation.
For further monitoring data, you can consult the Horizon 2020 interactive Dashboard.
After Horizon 2020 ?
Research & Innovation programme
Billion €
The Commission has published its proposal for Horizon Europe, an ambitious €100 billion research and innovation programme that will succeed Horizon 2020.
The proposal was made as part of the EU’s proposal for the next EU long-term budget, the multiannual financial framework (MFF).
Various building blocks were taken into account including the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020, the Lab-Fab-App report (informally the Lamy report), foresight studies and various other reports.
Legal texts, factsheets and video
- Legal texts and factsheets for Horizon Europe
- factsheet about research and innovation in the new EU budget (French and German versions also available)
- video explaining the aims of Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe will incorporate policy missions to ensure the effectiveness of research and innovation funding by pursuing clearly defined target
The Commission has engaged policy experts to develop studies, case studies and reports on how a mission-oriented policy approach will work.
Read more about the Commission’s mission-oriented approach and download the studies
Read more about the Commissio