Executive Summary
The Horizon Europe strategic plan (2025-2027) guides EU research and innovation (R&I) investments to address global challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, digital transition, and demographic shifts. It focuses on three key strategic orientations: the green transition, digital transition, and building a resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe, underpinned by open strategic autonomy. The plan integrates all Horizon Europe pillars and clusters, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches, social sciences, and international cooperation. It supports EU Missions, European Partnerships, and fosters synergies with other EU programs to maximize impact. The plan also addresses research security, ethics, gender equality, and open science. Additionally, the Regulation on the European Common Criteria-based cybersecurity certification scheme establishes roles and rules for cybersecurity certification, building on existing mutual recognition agreements and involving the European Cybersecurity Certification Group. Together, these initiatives aim to strengthen Europe's scientific leadership, technological sovereignty, and societal resilience in a complex geopolitical context.
Characteristics
- The Horizon Europe strategic plan (2025-2027) focuses on three key strategic orientations: the green transition, the digital transition, and building a more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe, with open strategic autonomy as a cross-cutting principle.
- The plan supports research and innovation across six thematic clusters: Health; Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society; Civil Security for Society; Digital, Industry and Space; Climate, Energy and Mobility; and Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment, each addressing specific societal challenges and EU policy priorities.
- It emphasizes international cooperation, safeguarding research security, and fostering synergies with other EU funding programmes to maximize impact, including through European Partnerships and EU Missions targeting urgent global challenges.
- The European Common Criteria-based cybersecurity certification scheme (EUCC) establishes roles, rules, and structure for cybersecurity certification in line with EU frameworks, building on existing mutual recognition agreements and involving cooperation with private sector and specialized groups.
- The strategic plan integrates cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, ethics, open science, social innovation, and the role of key enabling technologies like AI, ensuring inclusiveness, integrity, and societal relevance in research and innovation activities.
Actors
Civil Society Actors
Economic Actors
Political Actors
Research and Innovation Actors
Practical Applications
- Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027 directs R&I investment towards key global challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, digital transition, and demographic changes, with at least 35% of resources committed to climate action and 10% to biodiversity action.
- Nine new co-programmed and co-funded European Partnerships established for 2025-2027, including: Brain Health; Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future; Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition; Resilient Cultural Heritage; Social Transformations and Resilience; Innovative Materials for the EU; Solar Photovoltaics; Textiles of the Future; and Virtual Worlds.
- EU Missions (Adaptation to Climate Change; Cancer; Restore our Ocean and Waters; Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities; Soil Deal for Europe) continue with strengthened governance and broader funding instruments to ensure deployment and impact.
- The European Common Criteria-based Cybersecurity Certification Scheme (EUCC) has been adopted, building on the SOG-IS Mutual Recognition Agreement, with the European Cybersecurity Certification Group maintaining the scheme in cooperation with the private sector.
- Pillar II clusters implement targeted R&I activities aligned with strategic orientations:
- Cluster 1 (Health): pandemic preparedness, brain health, mental health, digital health, health equity, and sustainable healthcare systems.
- Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society): democratic governance, social inclusion, cultural heritage, and social resilience.
- Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society): disaster resilience, border management, crime and terrorism prevention, cybersecurity, and infrastructure resilience.
- Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space): net-zero manufacturing, advanced materials, digital technologies, AI, quantum technologies, space systems, and human-centric innovation.
- Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility): climate science, clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and multimodal mobility.
- Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment): biodiversity restoration, sustainable agriculture and food systems, circular bioeconomy, water resilience, and innovative governance.
- The New European Bauhaus Facility is implemented as a cross-cluster issue focusing on circular and regenerative construction, social inclusion and local democracy, and innovative funding models in the built environment.
- Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area (WIDERA) supports systemic reforms and capacity building in less advanced R&I countries to reduce disparities and promote excellence.
- Synergies are actively fostered between Horizon Europe and other EU funding programmes (e.g., EU4Health, Digital Europe, ERDF, LIFE, Innovation Fund, Connecting Europe Facility) to maximize impact, including through cumulative, sequential, and complementary funding approaches and Seal of Excellence mechanisms.
- Research security measures under Horizon Europe include limiting participation to safeguard EU strategic interests, security appraisals of proposals, and control over transfer of project results to non-EU entities.
- Integration of social sciences and humanities, gender equality, ethics and integrity, open science practices, social innovation, and the "do no harm" principle are cross-cutting priorities embedded in all Horizon Europe activities.
- European Innovation Council (EIC), European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) support breakthrough innovation, skills development, and scaling up of innovative SMEs aligned with strategic priorities.
- International cooperation is maintained with openness and reciprocity, including association agreements, targeted partnerships (Africa Initiative, Mediterranean Initiative, EU-Latin America and Caribbean Initiative), and multilateral engagements to address global challenges and promote EU strategic autonomy.
Resulting Commitments
- Horizon Europe commits to spending at least 35% of its resources on climate action for 2025-2027.
- Horizon Europe commits to spending at least 10% of its budget for 2025-2027 on biodiversity action.
- Horizon Europe has a target to spend at least EUR 13 billion on core digital technologies during 2021-2027.
- More than EUR 65 billion have been committed to European Partnerships: EUR 24.8 billion from Horizon Europe and EUR 35.6 billion from non-EU partners.
- Horizon Europe will maintain the 35% climate action spending target across all 7 years of the programme (2021-2027).
- Horizon Europe will raise investment in biodiversity to 10% of its total budget for 2025-2027, compared to 2021-2024.
- The European Chips Act aims at doubling Europe’s current global market share in semiconductor chips to 20% by 2030.
- The EU aims to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
- The EU aims to reduce net greenhouse-gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels (Fit for 55 package).
- The EU aims for climate neutrality in aviation by 2050, with 100% use of sustainable aviation fuels and (partially) electrified or hydrogen-powered zero-emission commercial aircraft and infrastructure by 2035.
- The EU aims for climate neutrality in waterborne transport by 2050, with net-zero emissions and zero pollution by 2030.
- The EU aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in transport by 2050.
- The European Chips Act aims to strengthen semiconductor and quantum chips value chains by 2030.
- The New European Bauhaus Facility will be implemented as a cross-cluster issue in Horizon Europe work programmes for 2025-2027.
- The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will launch a new Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on Water, Marine and Maritime Sectors and Ecosystems in 2026 (subject to positive evaluation).
- The EU Missions launched in 2021 aim to achieve their ambitious goals by 2030.
- The European Innovation Council (EIC) will focus on deep-tech innovations aligned with the New European Innovation Agenda during 2025-2027.
- The Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area part aims to reduce the R&I performance gap between countries by 2027.
- The EU will continue to promote open science practices, including mandatory open access to scientific publications and FAIR data management, during 2025-2027.
- The EU will carry out a ‘do no harm’ screening for all topics included in the 2025-2027 work programmes to ensure no harm to environmental policy objectives.
- The EU will maintain a minimum of EUR 13 billion investment in core digital technologies during 2021-2027.
- The EU will continue to support gender equality and inclusiveness in R&I, integrating gender concerns into R&I content by default during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) through investments in pandemic preparedness and medical countermeasures during 2025-2027.
- The EU will support the European Health Data Space Regulation to facilitate data-based health research and innovation during 2025-2027.
- The EU aims to maintain and strengthen its leadership in semiconductor and quantum chip manufacturing technologies by 2030.
- The EU will continue to support the European Green Deal Industrial Plan and the Net-Zero Industry Act to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Rare Diseases and other health partnerships during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs to improve knowledge transfer and access to finance for innovative SMEs during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Water4All: Water Security for the Planet during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Biodiversity (Biodiversa+) during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Sustainable Blue Economy during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Agroecology, Living Labs and Research Infrastructures during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare during 2025-2027.
- The EU will continue to support the European Partnership on Sustainable Food Systems for People, Planet and Climate during 2025-2027.
Technical Details
Scope
Regional
Lead Country
European Union (EU)
Policy & Strategic Alignment
EU Policy Alignment
SDG Alignment
Beneficiary Groups
Farmers
Farmers & Primary Producers
Citizens
General Citizens / Consumers
Public Health Stakeholders
Health Sector
Researchers
Researchers & Academia
Small and Medium Enterprises
SMEs / Businesses
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Biodiversity Investment Allocation
European Commission
Research and Innovation
Biodiversity Investment Target
European Commission
Environment and Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecosystems Budget Allocation
European Commission
Environment and Biodiversity
Climate Action Funding Allocation
European Commission
Research and Innovation
Climate Neutrality Achievement
European Commission and Member States
Environment and Climate
Core Digital Technologies Investment
European Commission
Research and Innovation
Cybersecurity Certification Scheme Maintenance
European Cybersecurity Certification Group and European Commission
Cybersecurity
European Partnerships Establishment
European Commission and Member States
Research and Innovation
Strategic Orientation Establishment
European Commission
Research and Innovation
Support for Innovation Ecosystems
European Innovation Council
Innovation