Raad stemt in met Horizon 2020: het nieuwe onderzoeks- en innovatieprogramma van de EU (en)

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 3 December 2013 (OR. en) PRESSE 510

Council adopts "Horizon 2020": the EU's research and innovation programme for 2014-2020

The Council today adopted the "Horizon 2020" programme for research and innovation for the years 2014 to 2020 (PE-CON).

Horizon 2020 will replace the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7), which runs until the end of 2013. Compared with FP7, the new programme is expected to further eliminate fragmentation in the fields of scientific research and innovation

Horizon 2020, which has a budget of around 77 billion euros, will underpin the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs, as well as the goal of strengthening the scientific and technological bases by contributing to achieving a European Research Area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely

Horizon 2020 focuses on three priorities, namely generating excellent science in order to strengthen the Union's world-class scientific excellence and make the Union research and innovation system more competitive, fostering industrial leadership to speed up the development of technologies that will support businesses and innovation, including for small companies, and tackling societal challenges in order to respond to the priorities identified in the Europe 2020 strategy by supporting activities covering the entire chain from research to market

These priorities are to be implemented by means of a specific programme ().

Some of the main features of the Horizon 2020 programme include:

Simplification

Simplification is a central aim of Horizon 2020. It is to be reflected in its design, rules, financial management and implementation in order to attract a strong participation of universities, research centres, industry and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Simpler funding rules will reduce administrative costs for participants and decrease financial errors

A simplified funding model will be used for the reimbursement of activities. It will be based on a single reimbursement rate for eligible costs that will be applied to all activities within an action. The reimbursement would reach a maximum of 100 % of the total eligible costs of an action, with a ceiling of 70 % for those innovation actions closer to the market and for programme co-funded actions. Non-profit organisations will benefit a reimbursement of maximum 100% also in innovation actions. A flat rate of 25% of the total direct eligible costs will be reimbursed to cover indirect costs

Furthermore, the period between the deadline for the submission of project proposals and the conclusion of a grant agreement will be significantly shortened

European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

The EIT will be integrated into Horizon 2020 in order to continue to reinforce the innovation capacity of the EU and its member states and contribute to the objectives of Horizon 2020, mainly by integrating the "knowledge triangle" of higher education, research and innovation. This integration takes place primarily via the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), which bring together organisations on a long-term basis in order to respond to major societal challenges (PE-CON).

Five new KICs will be launched over the programme period in three waves. The themes for the first two KICs to be launched in 2014 will be 'Healthy living and active ageing' and 'Raw materials'. The themes for the second two KICs in 2016 will be 'Food4future' and 'Added value manufacturing' and the final theme for 2018 will be 'Urban mobility'. The priority fields and the long-term strategy for the EIT are detailed in the EIT's strategic innovation agenda (PE-CON).

Small and medium-sized enterprises

Horizon 2020 will provide a range of means to support the research and innovation activities and capacities of SMEs along the different stages of the innovation cycle.The creation of a dedicated SME instrument will help to increase the participation of SMEs under Horizon 2020 funded projects

In addition, a "Fast Track to Innovation" pilot scheme will be implemented in order to speed up the time from idea to market, and to increase the participation of industry, SMEs and first time applicants in Horizon 2020. It will seek to stimulate private sector investment, promote research and innovation with a focus on value creation and accelerate the development of technologies into innovative products, processes and services

Science with and for society

Building on the efforts already in place under the FP7, a separate structure and budget line will contribute to the harmonious integration of scientific and technological endeavour into European society. In addition, it will be used to increase the atractiveness of scientific and technological careers, in particular for young people, as well as to address the existing gender imbalance in these fields

Spreading excellence and widening participation

Those regions with weaker structural research conditions will benefit from targeted measures under Horizon 2020, in addition to the support provided by other EU regional instruments, in order to promote a high quality research capacity across Europe

Teaming of institutions and twinning of research staff as well as exchange of best practices will be at the heart of widening excellence and participation. Moreover, Horizon 2020 will promote synergies with the European Structural and Investment Funds

Ethical principles

The ethical principles aplying to FP7 will be maintained. Therefore, research activities carried out under Horizon 2020 shall comply with ethical principles and relevant national, Union and international legislation

All research activities willl have an exclusive focus on civil applications

Research on human stem cells, both adult and embryonic, may be financed, depending both on the contents of the scientific proposal and the legal framework of the member states involved. However, no funding shall be granted for research activities that are prohibited in all the member states and no activity shall be funded in a member state where such activity is forbidden

Partnerships for research and innovation

Horizon 2020 will support the development and implementation of public-private and public-public partnerships, including the European Technology Platforms, the Joint Programming Initiatives and the European Innovation Partnerships

Similarly to the FP7, the new framework programme will also promote, and will be opened to, cooperation with third countries and international organisations

Open access to results

To increase the circulation and exploitation of knowledge, open access to scientific publications will be ensured. Furthermore, open access to research data resulting from publicly funded research under Horizon 2020 will be promoted

Mid-term evaluation

The Commission will carry out, with the assistance of independent experts, a review of the Horizon 2020 programme not later than end 2017

Budget

The new funding programme will have a budget of EUR 77 billion in current prices for the seven-year period, thus making Horizon 2020 the world's largest research programme. The previous multi-annual programme FP7 had a financial allocation of 53 billion euros

The budget distribution (in percentage) for Horizon 2020 is foreseen as follows:

Background

Today's final adoption by the Council of Horizon 2020 follows an agreement at first reading with the European Parliament. The Parliament voted at its plenary session of 21 November 2013

The Commission presented the several components of the Horizon 2020 legislative package in November 2011: http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm