With a budget of €93.5 billion for the period 2021–2027, Horizon Europe is the EU’s flagship program for funding research and innovation. As the successor to Horizon 2020, it aims to transform scientific excellence into a driver of industrial competitiveness and technological sovereignty for Europe.

Horizon Europe: What the Program Really Means for European Research

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93.5 billion euros over seven years. That is the budget that Horizon Europe will allocate between 2021 and 2027 to fund research and innovation across the European Union.

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As the EU’s ninth Framework Programme, it succeeds Horizon 2020 (€79 billion) with a significantly different goal: to make science a direct driver of industrial competitiveness and technological sovereignty.

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The shift in approach is clear. Whereas Horizon 2020 focused primarily on academic excellence, Horizon Europe incorporates an economic transformation agenda from the outset: accelerating the transition of research results into concrete innovations, supporting European industrial priorities, and fostering a more cohesive research area among Member States.

A three-pillar framework

The program is based on a clear structure designed to cover the entire research-to-market continuum.

Pillar I - Excellent Science (€24.5 billion)

Pillar 1, dedicated to basic research and researcher mobility. It encompasses the European Research Council (ERC), the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), and funding for research infrastructure. This is where efforts are focused on promoting pure scientific excellence, regardless of immediate applications.

Pillar II - Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness (€52.5 billion)

As a central pillar, it covers six thematic clusters: health, digital technology, energy, mobility, the environment, and food/bioeconomy. A significant portion of this budget is channeled through Joint Undertakings (JUs), which are long-term institutionalized partnerships involving the European Union, Member States, and industry.

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Among the main ones are: Clean Hydrogen, Clean Aviation, SESAR 3, Europe's Rail, Chips, Smart Networks and Services, Circular Bio-based Europe, and the Innovative Health Initiative.

Pillar III - Innovative Europe (€13.2 billion)

This pillar focuses on disruptive innovation and market access. Its flagship instrument is the European Innovation Council (EIC), which is structured around three programs: the EIC Pathfinder (exploratory research), the EIC Transition (technology maturation), and the EIC Accelerator (scale-up of startups and innovative SMEs).

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An additional budget of 3.3 billion euros has been allocated to broadening participation and strengthening the European Research Area.

How does the program actually work?

Horizon Europe does more than just distribute grants. It shapes innovation ecosystems by bringing together researchers, businesses, investors, and public sector stakeholders through three types of initiatives:

• Research and Innovation Actions (RIA): research-focused projects aimed at achieving scientific excellence
• Innovation Actions (IA): projects focused on demonstrating and deploying solutions
• Coordination and Support Actions (CSA): actions aimed at structuring, facilitating, and fostering networking

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Funding is awarded through competitive calls for proposals, open to transnational consortia, and through thematic European partnerships, of which Joint Undertakings are the most integrated form.

Tangible results already visible at the halfway point

The program’s mid-term evaluation paints a positive picture. At the halfway point, more than 15,000 projects had been funded, with a total of 43 billion euros committed. The ERC confirms a high scientific impact, while the EIC is fully fulfilling its role as an accelerator by generating significant leverage on private investment.

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The economic projections are striking: every euro invested in Horizon Europe could generate up to 11 euros in additional GDP by 2045. This return on investment justifies the program’s scale and guides Member States’ budgetary decisions toward active participation.

France, Europe's second-largest recipient

From 2021 to mid-2024, France received €4.8 billion, or 11.4% of the total funding allocated. This places it second in Europe, behind Germany. Its strengths lie in strategic areas such as space, quantum technology, hydrogen, and aviation, as well as in competitive funding mechanisms like the EIC Accelerator and the ERC.

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There is still room for improvement, however. Coordinating collaborative projects and engaging certain academic stakeholders are the key areas for improvement to maximize France’s financial return in the second half of the program.

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Conclusion 

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Horizon Europe is a competitive, demanding system, where the quality of strategic positioning often makes the difference between a funded proposal and one that is not. France’s room for improvement confirms this: mastering the program’s mechanisms is essential to securing funding.

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This is precisely what the experts at Dynergie help with on a daily basis—from strategic planning to proposal submission—so that the complexity of Horizon Europe becomes a competitive advantage rather than an obstacle.

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