Tuesday 14 January 2026
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly 80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.
Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.
Seen as a means to driveeconomic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 has the political backing of Europes leaders and the Members of the European Parliament. They agreed that research is an investment in our future and so put it at the heart of the EUs blueprint for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs.
By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.
Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important. This approach makes sure new projects get off the ground quickly and achieve results faster.
The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovationwill be complemented by further measures to complete and further develop the European Research Area. These measures will aim at breaking down barriers to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation.
Aside from the increase in budget, Horizon 2020 intends to provide major simplifications through a unified set of rules. It will combine all of the research and innovation funding currently provided through the Framework Programmes for Research and Technical Development, the innovation related activities of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
Horizon 2020 aims to:
- Strengthen the EUs position in science with a dedicated budget of 24 598 million. This will provide a boost to top-level research in Europe, including an increase in funding of 77% for the very successful European Research Council.
- Strengthen industrial leadership in innovation 17 938 million. This includes major investment in key technologies, greater access to capital and support for SMEs.
- Provide 31 748 million to help address major societal concerns shared by all Europeans; such as climate change, developing sustainable transport and mobility, making renewable energy more affordable, ensuring food safety and security, or coping with the challenge of an ageing population.
Three main pillars
Horizon 2020 focuses on three main pillars:
- Excellent science 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,
- Tackling societal challenges to respond to the priorities identified in the Europe 2020 strategy.