Horizon Europe (HE) is the European Union’s (EU) key research and innovation funding programme running until 2027.
The programme’s main objectives are to tackle climate change, achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boost the EU’s competitiveness and growth. To achieve these, the EU developed an ambitious funding programme to support the diffusion of knowledge and technologies in public-private partnerships, potentiating collaboration and advancing research and innovation.
HE funds are distributed by the European Commission or by specific European agencies, depending on the part of the programme to which the project belongs. The HE is organised into 3 pillars and one transversal component.
Pillar I: includes programmes that fund research and development projects, directly supporting researchers (ERC, MSCA and Research Infrastructures). (More info)
Pillar II: fosters research and innovation actions (RIA) or innovation actions (IA) that aim to tackle societal challenges by boosting technologies and solutions for specific areas/clusters. (More Info)
Pillar III: focus on supporting the development of innovations and enhancing European innovation ecosystems (e.g. Pathfinder, Transition). (More info)
Transversal component: includes programmes that aim to support the development of research and innovation capabilities of member states that perform lower in research and innovation (e.g. Twining, COST Actions) (More info).
There are two additional programmes, the European Defence Fund, which focuses on defence research and development, and the Euratom Programme, a complementary programme on nuclear fusion and fission research and training.
Work Programmes
HE has been divided into Work Programmes (WP) that define the funding opportunities in a specific period. The main work programme covers part of Pillar I (MSCA and Research Infrastructures), all clusters of Pillar II, the European Innovation Ecosystems under Pillar III and the transversal component.
The WP for 2025 is currently being finalised and is expected to be released at the end of March or the beginning of April. (More info)
Missions
One of the novelties of HE was the introduction of the EU Missions. These were established by the EU to pool the necessary resources, in terms of funding programmes, regulations and policies, and tackle some of the greatest global challenges. By mobilising the general public and the private sector to create concrete solutions EU aims to boost societal uptake and enhance their impact.
- Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030
- Cancer: working with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure and solutions to live longer and better
- Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030
- 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030
- A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030
For each mission, a portfolio of actions, which includes policy measures, legislative initiatives, specific funding shemes and research projects, was created to achieve measurable goals.