News
Horizon Europe: Commission adopts Strategic Plan 2021-2024
19. Mar 2021
On 15 March 2021 the European Commission has adopted the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024. The Strategic Plan, elaborated since early 2019 on a broad consultation base represents the basis of strategic research policy of the European Union to achieve its objectives and to maximise the impact of the ninth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe.
The Strategic Plan deals mainly with the six thematic clusters of Horizon Europe’s second pillar Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness as well as the candidates for European Partnerships and the Missions. Furthermore, a number of horizontal issues such as international cooperation and specific aspects such as gender equality, social sciences and humanities, dissemination and use, open science practices and ethics and integrity are taken into account.
However, the focus of the Plan are the four key strategic orientations with 15 impact areas:
- Promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains to accelerate and steer the digital and green transitions through human-centred technologies and innovations
- Restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural resources to ensure food security and a clean and healthy environment
- Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production systems
- Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society, prepared and responsive to threats and disasters, addressing inequalities and providing high-quality health care, and empowering all citizens to act in the green and digital transitions.
The largest part of the Strategic Plan are the annexes analysing and describing the implementation and the impact potential of the key strategic orientations in each of the six clusters. How does the cluster contribute to the European Union’s policy areas? Which impact will be targeted in which intervention area? Which partnerships will contribute to the impact concerned? How will the horizontal aspects of the research strategies be dealt with?
The Strategic Plan with a validity period of four years establishes the basis for the identification and formulation of the Cluster topics for the Work Programmes 2021-2022 and 2023-2024.
>> European Commission press release 15 March 2021