Adaptation to climate change, the fight against cancer, clean oceans and rivers, carbon-neutral cities and healthy soil for sustainable food are the five research and innovation missions that Member States are working on in the context of the Council negotiations on the specific programme implementing the Horizon Europe Framework Programme after 2020.
The missions, which are part of the main innovations for the future Horizon Europe programme, will have a clear and measurable objective and will aim to include a large number of stakeholders related to societal issues (see EUROPE 12036).
The list of these tasks, as well as those of the eight European Partnerships, should be included in the Annex to the Specific Programme. This is one of the positions of the Member States that the Competitiveness Council will be called upon to confirm on 19 February, according to a document from the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU dated 4 February.
On the contrary, the European Parliament and the Commission are of the opinion that the missions should be included in the strategic planning document of the Horizon Europe Specific Programme (see EUROPE 12158).
Legal basis. European Competitiveness Ministers will also be invited to confirm that the Specific Programme will be based only on Article 182(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU in accordance with the opinion of the Council's legal experts. However, the Commission suggests that the legislative text should also be based on Article 173 TFEU so that the European Parliament has co-decision powers (see EUROPE 12106).
This dispute slows down the ongoing inter-institutional negotiations on the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (see EUROPE 12183). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)