On Tuesday 2 July, the European Commission announced the final and most important investment tranche of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, worth 11 billion euros for 2020.
Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, insisted in a statement on the "strong economic impact" of the Horizon 2020 programme, whose every 100 euros of investment would generate 850 euros of GDP by 2030 by "creating millions of jobs for Europeans".
Some 2.8 billion euros of the final tranche of the Horizon 2020 plan will be devoted to "crucial" issues reflecting the Commission's political priorities: - climate change (1.4 billion euros); - clean energy and the circular economy - including plastics - (400.7 million); - cyber security (427.4 million); - the digital economy (649.1 million).
In addition, the Commission has announced the integration of the European Innovation Council (EIC) into the budgeting of the next Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Framework Programme. Described as the one-stop shop for innovation financing, the EIC aims to "transform science into new business and accelerate business development", according to the Commission.
Currently in a pilot phase, the European Innovation Council will have its budget increased to 1.2 billion euros in 2020. It should then be allocated a budget of 10 billion euros (see EUROPE 12018/5) under Horizon Europe, for which the Commission has proposed an increase to 100 billion euros in investment, compared with the 77 billion euros dedicated to Horizon 2020 for the period 2014-2020. (Original version in French by Martin Molko – intern)