Interest in the Horizon Europe framework programme remained strong, with 88,803 eligible proposals submitted between 2021 and 2024, according to the annual report on EU research and technological development activities, which was published by the European Commission on Friday 6 June.
Quality remained stable overall, with 54% of eligible proposals meeting the minimum evaluation score threshold. However, due to a lack of funds, only around 30% of these proposals are being financed. An additional envelope of around €81.7 billion would have been needed to finance all these proposals submitted over the period from 2021 until 2024. Following the evaluation of the proposals, €43.2 billion was awarded through 15,148 grants.
The problem of over-subscription to the programme was addressed by the European Research Ministers at their last EU Council meeting in May (see EUROPE 13647/1). They called for greater funding for the programme just a few days after the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gave assurances that it would remain autonomous (see EUROPE 13644/25).
In 2025, the European Commission plans to adopt the main Horizon Europe work programmes for 2025 and for the period 2026–2027, which will contribute to the European Commission’s simplification efforts, in particular by making the programme more accessible to applicants and simplifying reporting for beneficiaries. The European Commission is also set to propose the next Multiannual Financial Framework, incorporating insights learned from a wide-ranging public consultation to align research and innovation funding with future funding priorities.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/h8u (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)