The European Commission presented the first Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe with four Key Strategic Orientations guiding the aspired impact of the programme.
After almost two years of work, the European Commission (EC) adopted the Strategic Plan 2021-2024 for Horizon Europe on 15 March 2021. The Strategic Plan is the first of its kind, and will be valid for the first four years of the EU’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, until 2024. The preparations for the plan involved an intense phase of co-design with several remote public and stakeholder consultations, discussions with the European Parliament (EP), and iterations with Member States’ experts. In addition, a face-to face exchange took place at the Research and Innovation Days 2019. Based on this input, the EC had first published ‘Orientations towards the Strategic Plan’ in January 2020; and now finally the present Strategic Plan. The plan will ensure that EU research and innovation actions contribute to the EU’s political priorities, namely a climate-neutral and green Europe, a Europe fit for the digital age, and an economy that works for people.
Four ‘Key Strategic Orientations’ (KSO) for research and innovation investment form the core of the Strategic Plan are:
- promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains
- restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural resources;
- making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy;
- creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society.
The KSO are supported by 15 impact areas, defining the wider effects on society, economy and society, which will guide the design of Horizon Europe work programmes for the coming four years. Examples of such impact areas include aspiring to ‘high quality digital services for all’, working towards ‘clean and healthy air, water and soil’, moving towards a ‘circular and clean economy’ or creating ‘a resilient EU, prepared for emerging threats’. The impact areas will provide a basis for developing synergies with other European programmes and funds as well as investments by Member States, and contain elements of international cooperation.
The Strategic Plan dedicates separate chapters to European Partnerships and Missions. The 16 co-funded and 12 co-programmed partnerships listed in the plan will complement the institutionalised public-private partnerships proposed by the EC in February, and cover areas including energy, transport, biodiversity, health, food and circularity. An additional partnership on ‘Pandemic Preparedness’ has no assigned form yet. The EU Missions will address global challenges like combating cancer, adapting to climate change, making cities greener and smarter, protecting our oceans and ensuring soil health and food. All five missions are still in a preparatory phase, and decisions on their implementation will fall in summer (see SwissCore article).
Additional chapters in the Strategic Plan address horizontal issues such as ethics, the integration of gender dimensions or social sciences and humanities into Horizon Europe, and Open Science practices. The plan also delineates ways to bridge between the different pillars of Horizon Europe and ensure that the clusters in the second pillar, which are mainly covered by the Strategic Plan, remain well connected to the European Research Council in the first or the European Innovation Council in the third pillar. This can happen e.g. by acknowledging that also basic research contributes to achieving the impacts described in the Strategic Plan. The first calls of Horizon Europe’s second pillar will most likely launch in May and figure on the agenda of the next Research and Innovation Days, which are taking place on 23/24 June.