Fact Sheets on the European Union
European Parliament
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Policy for research and technological development

EU policy for research and technological development (RTD) supports scientific excellence, innovation, and global competitiveness. The policy is rooted in early European legislation, it and was extended in the 1980s with a European framework programme for research. In 2014, most EU research funding came under the umbrella of Horizon 2020 (2014-2020). Its successor, Horizon Europe, is the EU’s main research and innovation funding programme for the 2021-2027 period, with a budget of EUR 93.4 billion.

Legal basis

Articles 179 to 190 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Objectives

The aim of the EU’s RTD policy is to boost the global competitiveness of EU industry. Article 179 of the TFEU states that ‘the Union shall have the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely’.

Achievements

A. Research framework programmes

The first framework programme (FP) was established in 1983. Over the subsequent decades, successive FPs have provided financial support for the implementation of EU research and innovation (R&I) policies. Their objective has evolved from enabling cross-border collaboration in research and technology to creating a unified European approach for research activities and policies. Running from 2021 to 2027, Horizon Europe is the ninth FP and the biggest and most ambitious so far, with a budget of over EUR 93.4 billion. In addition, other EU policies and programmes also offer research-related opportunities:

  • The cohesion policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds;
  • Erasmus+ (for education and training);
  • LIFE (for environment and climate action);
  • Connecting Europe Facility (for transport, energy and digital infrastructure);
  • EU health programmes.

B. (International) coordination and collaboration

Introduced in 2002, the European Research Area Net (ERA-NET) scheme supports coordination and collaboration between national and regional research programmes, as well as programmes carried out in the Member States and associated countries. It does so through networking, joint activities and the ‘mutual opening’ of programmes. In this same spirit, the EU has been funding COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), designed to help the creation of research networks for collaboration among scientists across Europe and beyond.

In 2022, in order to enhance research security in a transformed international context, the Commission published a toolkit for tackling foreign interference in R&I. In May 2024, the Council adopted a recommendation on enhancing research security for Member States, addressing issues such as the undesirable transfer of knowledge, foreign interference and ethical or integrity violations.

C. European Institute of Innovation and Technology

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology was created in 2008 to stimulate and deliver world-leading innovation through the creation of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The KICs bring together higher education, research, business and investors, public and non-profit organisations to produce new innovation models that can inspire others to follow suit.

EU research funding mechanisms: direct and indirect actions

A typical EU-funded project involves legal entities, i.e. universities, research centres, businesses (including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)), and individual researchers from several Member States and from associated non-EU countries. The EU has several means at its disposal to achieve its R&I objectives, such as:

  • Direct actions carried out by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and entirely financed by the EU;
  • Indirect actions, which may be: (i) collaborative research projects carried out by consortia of legal entities in Member States and associated non-EU countries; (ii) networks of excellence – a joint programme of activities implemented by a number of research organisations in a given field; (iii) coordination and support actions; (iv) individual projects (support for ‘frontier’ research); or (v) support for the training and career development of researchers, mainly for the implementation of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

The Horizon 2020 programme (2014-2020)

Horizon 2020 was the first EU programme to fully integrate R&I with strengthened support for public-private partnerships (PPPs), innovative SMEs and financial instruments. By introducing a single set of rules, Horizon 2020 simplified matters significantly and addressed a number of challenges in society by helping to bridge the gap between research and the market. This included a focus on broadening the participation of newer Member States and non-EU countries in EU programmes.

With a budget of EUR 74.8 billion (cut in 2015 from the initial EUR 77 billion), Horizon 2020 was focused on three main pillars:

  • Excellent Science: supporting the EU’s position as a world leader in science, including increased funding for the European Research Council (ERC);
  • Industrial Leadership: investments in key technologies and innovation;
  • Societal Challenges:

To encourage SMEs to get involved, a dedicated financial instrument was implemented to provide grants for research and development and assist with commercialisation, through access to equity (finance for early and growth-stage investment) and debt facilities (e.g. loans and guarantees).

The Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027)

A. Priorities and focus of the Horizon Europe programme:

Horizon Europe is the ninth FP. This programme aims at boosting the EU’s competitiveness and helping it to deliver on its strategic priorities, which are divided across three pillars:

  • Excellent Science: The continuation of the Horizon 2020 ‘Excellent Science’ pillar, covering the ERC, MSCA, and research infrastructure.
  • Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness: implements EU-wide research-driven missions to tackle specific societal challenges:
  • Innovative Europe: aims at making Europe a frontrunner in market-creating innovations, developing an innovation ecosystem and strengthening the European Institute of Innovation and Technology to foster the integration of business, research, higher education and entrepreneurship.

The 2025-2027 strategic plan, adopted in March 2024, set three key topics to be the focus of the programme: 1) green transition, 2) digital transition; and 3) a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe. In addition, general principles such as open strategic autonomy and securing Europe’s leading role in developing and deploying critical technologies guide investments in all three areas.

The Horizon Europe budget was decreased from an initial sum of EUR 95.5 billion to EUR 93.4 billion in 2025, following adaptations relating to aid provided to Ukraine, the increase in the European Defence Fund and the creation of a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP).

B. Participation of non-EU countries in Horizon Europe

The Horizon Europe Regulation ((EU) 2021/695) established the legal framework for association to the Horizon Europe programme. The list of participating countries in Horizon Europe now comprises 20 countries. The latest addition, the Republic of Korea, became the first Asian country associated with the programme. In addition, transitional arrangements apply for countries having successfully concluded negotiations such as Switzerland (in December 2024) and Egypt (in April 2025). Negotiations with Japan began in November 2024 and both parties have affirmed their commitment to reach an agreement by end of 2025.

Role of the European Parliament

The European Parliament has been pushing for bolder research and innovation (R&I) investment for over two decades. Calls for increasing R&I spending to at least 3% of GDP emerged prominently in the early 2000s and have been consistently renewed since then. Parliament has also advocated for more collaboration with non-EU partners, close integration of activities between the Structural Funds and the FPs, and a targeted approach to optimise the involvement of SMEs. Parliament has furthermore insisted on simplifying procedures and building more flexibility into FPs to make it possible to shift resources to more promising areas and to react to changing circumstances and newly emerging research priorities.

In 2021, Parliament approved the Horizon Europe programme with a budget of EUR 95.5 billion, which included EUR 5.4 billion from the NextGenerationEUEuropean recovery plan. This was revised down to EUR 93.4 billion in 2025.

In its July 2021 resolution on a new ERA for research and innovation, Parliament acknowledged that the completion of the European Research Area is a key priority for the EU. Parliament also pointed out the important role played by R&I during the COVID-19 pandemic in coming up with multi-sectoral and transdisciplinary solutions to overcome the crisis.

In its March 2022 resolution on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Parliament called for the blocking or withdrawal of EU funds for all R&I cooperation programmes with Russia and for the suspension of interregional programmes.

In its resolution of 11 March 2025 on the assessment of the implementation of Horizon Europe in view of its interim evaluation and recommendations for the 10th Research Framework Programme (FP10), Parliament highlighted the importance of an agile FP which responds to the ever-changing field of science.

Furthermore, Parliament provided precise recommendations for the upcoming FP10, calling for it to be a stand-alone EU programme with a substantially higher budget. It acknowledged the administrative burdens faced by participants under the current programme and emphasised the need for a radical simplification of administrative processes. It also noted that the FP10 should consider the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fostering European research and development while identifying specific risks that may arise from the abusive use of AI in a scientific environment and the corresponding mitigation measures.

For more information on this topic, please see the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) website.

 

Marianne Simonne Eva MAQUET