On 5 August, the European Commission published the annual report on the European Union’s research and innovation activities and the follow-up of the “Horizon 2020” programme in 2021.
The Commission underlines that the EU’s activities in 2021 took place in the context of the fight against Covid-19 and the European response to the consequences of this pandemic. As part of the European response to the pandemic, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the main instrument of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, was able to boost the initial budget of the Horizon Europe programme for 2021 to €95.5 billion, with an additional contribution of €5.4 billion.
The report presents the investments made at the end of the previous research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, in the fight against the pandemic: €872.18 million had been mobilised to fund research on the coronavirus.
The report also highlights the contributions of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe and the importance of R&I for European policies relating to the ecological and digital transition, for industrial policies, security, and space, as well as for partnerships with Member States and international cooperation.
Regarding the implementation of Horizon Europe in 2021, the report details the funding opportunities available through calls for participation.
The report looks at the establishment of new R&I instruments in Horizon Europe: the European Innovation Council, the new generation of European partnerships and European missions, and the consolidation of the legal basis of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
Finally, the report provides an assessment of the monitoring data and a first evaluation of the contribution of Horizon Europe to the European priorities for 2019-2024 based on the calls for proposals. The report also looks at activities supporting the dissemination and exploitation of R&I project results.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/2s3 (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)