27 May 2020
Brussels
On 27 May 2020, the Commission put forward its proposal for an ambitious recovery plan in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
To respond to the massive investment needs and to ensure the recovery is even, inclusive and fair for all Member States, a new recovery instrument called ‘Next Generation EU’ is created. Through this instrument, a €13.5 billion increase of the Horizon Europe budget is proposed. The budget increase will be used to provide European support for health and climate-related research and innovation activities.
The additional budget will go to:
- Horizon Europe’s Health cluster to tackle challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, the extension of clinical trials, innovative protective measures, virology, vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, and the translation of research findings into public health policy measures.
- Horizon Europe’s Climate Energy and Mobility cluster and the Digital Industry and Space cluster to scale up R&I resources in climate-related domains and to ensure that European enterprises have access to the technologies and data they need. This will strengthen support for the competitiveness of EU industry in related economic sectors and promote a recovery consistent with the European Green Deal’s goals.
- The European Innovation Council (EIC) to provide additional means for emerging and breakthrough innovations by small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups, and midcaps.
For more information:
- European Commission proposal for the EU long-term budget 2021-2027 (May 2020)
- The role of Research and Innovation in Europe’s recovery
- Factsheet
