The European Commission adopted the second Horizon Europe Strategic Plan for 2025-2027
The document outlines three strategic orientations for research and innovation under Horizon Europe for the years 2025-2027.
The Horizon Europe Strategic plan serves as a bridge connecting the primary political objectives of the European Union and the research and innovation activities of the Horizon Europe programme outlined in its Work Programmes. It was developed in cooperation with Member States and Associated Countries to Horizon Europe and other stakeholders from the R&D sector.
The document outlines three strategic orientations for research and innovation investment under Horizon Europe for the years 2025-2027: Green transition, Digital transition and A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe. These pathways are dedicated to loss of biodiversity, digital transition, climate change and ageing population.
Aligned with the Green transition, the Strategic Plan reinforces the ambitions of the programme in the field of biodiversity and commits that 10 % of the total budget of the programme for the last three years will be allocated to topics related to this matter. This commitment thus extends the already existing target for climate spending, which represents 35 % of the total budget for the entire duration of the Horizon Europe programme. As part of the Digital transition for the period 2021-2027, 13 billion euros will be allocated to support key digital technologies.
The document also identifies 9 new European partnerships, which are:
- Brain Health,
- Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future,
- Innovative Materials for EU,
- Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition,
- Resilient Cultural Heritage, Social Transformations and Resilience,
- Solar Photovoltaics, Textiles of the Future,
- Virtual Worlds.
The Strategic Plan further presents an overview of the progress made within the EU Missions and introduces a new instrument the New European Bauhaus Facility. Additionally, it provides instruction on specific cross-cutting topics such as key technologies (for example, artificial intelligence), the balance between research and innovation, the integration of social sciences and humanities, and the dissemination and use of research results. Furthermore, the section dedicated to synergies offers a guide on how to support synergies with other funding instruments at the European Union or national level.
Finally, the document presents a strategy for international collaboration and research security. The European Union commits to fostering openness in international cooperation while safeguarding the Union's strategic interests. At the same time, the Strategic Plan highlights existing measures under Horizon Europe, which aim to protect the EU's interests, autonomy and security, and will be put in place in the event of risks related to research security and technology leakage.
You can find more information in the Strategic Plan or in the fact sheet of the European Commission.