News
Framework Programme consultation results published
21. Apr 2023
The European Commission has published details on the outcome of the recent consultation on the past, present and future Framework programmes.
Who replied?
In total, 2788 responses were received to the consultation, of which most covered all three sections of the consultation (the three sections covered the performance of H2020, Horizon Europe and the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-27).
In addition to the answers in the consultation stakeholders submitted 265 position papers. Most responses came from Italy (13%), followed by Germany with 11%. Almost 50% of submissions came from universities or research organisations.
Several analysis documents as well as an anonymised list of the responses are available on the consultation page. A more detailed synopsis of the consultation responses has also been published by the European Commission.
What are the outcomes?
The synopsis report summarises that areas such as health, energy, climate, sustainability, technology and digitalisation were most commonly mentioned in answer to the question which would be the most important R&I solution over the next 10 years. The top three answers regarding the societal challenge to be focused on in the next 10 years were climate change, energy supply and loss of biodiversity.
The report also provides details on scientific areas by Cluster of strengths or weaknesses which should be prioritised in Horizon Europe to keep Europe at the forefront of international scientific competition and gives a summary by Cluster of expected impacts.
Other areas covered in the synopsis include the views submitted on synergies, the EU Missions and Partnerships. Regarding the Missions, several respondents mentioned that the added value of the EU missions is still unclear and difficult to assess
What happens next?
The Strategic Plan, a novelty in Horizon Europe, received calls for simplification and that it needs to be made more accessible. This will be taken on board for the development of the next Plan for 2025-27, for which a first analysis document is expected to be published by the European Commission next month. The results will also be included in the ex-post evaluation of Horizon 2020 which is expected towards the end of 2023 and the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe, to be published end of 2024.