On 30 November, the European Commission published its proposals for establishing the new Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) with a budget of over 80 billion euro. A specific instrument is reserved for Innovation in SMEs in order to boost their capacity to innovate and to commercialise research results. The successor programme to FP7 focuses more than ever on turning scientific breakthroughs into innovative products and services that provide business opportunities and improve people’s lives. It also sets out to cut red tape, with simplification of rules and procedures to attract more top researchers and a broader range of innovative businesses.
Horizon 2020 will focus on three key objectives:
- It will support the EU’s position as a world leader in science with a dedicated budget of €24.6 billion.
- It will help secure industrial leadership in innovation with a budget of €17.9 billion.
- Finally, €31.7 billion will go towards addressing major concerns shared by all Europeans, across six key themes: health, demographic change and well-being; food security, sustainable agriculture, marine and maritime research and the bio-economy; secure, clean and efficient energy; smart, green and integrated transport; climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials; and inclusive, innovative and secure societies.
The Commission’s proposal can be downloaded at http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/pdf/proposals/com(2011)_809_final.pdf#view%3Dfit%26pagemode%3Dnone
