Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (Text with EEA relevance)

REGULATION (EU) 2021/695 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (Text with EEA relevance)

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down the objectives of the Programme, the budget for the period 2021 to 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.

The Programme shall be implemented through:

(a) the specific programme established by Decision (EU) 2021/764;

(b) a financial contribution to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology established by the EIT Regulation;

(c) the specific programme on defence research established by Regulation (EU) 2021/697.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) 'research infrastructures' means facilities that provide resources and services for the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields, including the associated human resources, major equipment or sets of instruments; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks and any other infrastructure of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in R&I; they may, where relevant, be used beyond research, for example for education or public services and they may be 'single sited', 'virtual' or 'distributed';

(2) 'smart specialisation strategy' means the national or regional innovation strategies which set priorities in order to build competitive advantage by developing and matching R&I own strengths to business needs in order to address emerging opportunities and market developments in a coherent manner, while avoiding duplication and fragmentation of efforts, including those that take the form of, or are included in, a national or regional R&I strategic policy framework, and fulfilling the enabling condition set out in the relevant provisions of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027;

(3) 'European Partnership' means an initiative, prepared with the early involvement of Member States and associated countries, where the Union together with private and/or public partners (such as industry, universities, research organisations, bodies with a public service mission at local, regional, national or international level or civil society organisations including foundations and NGOs) commit to jointly supporting the development and implementation of a programme of R&I activities, including those related to market, regulatory or policy uptake;

(4) 'open access' means online access, provided free of charge to the end user, to research outputs resulting from actions under the Programme in accordance with Article 14 and Article 39(3);

(5) 'open science' means an approach to the scientific process based on open cooperative work, tools and diffusing knowledge, and includes the elements listed in Article 14;

(6) 'mission' means a portfolio of excellence-based and impact-driven R&I activities across disciplines and sectors, intended to: (i) achieve, within a set timeframe, a measurable goal that could not be achieved through individual actions; (ii) have an impact on society and policy-making through science and technology; and (iii) be relevant for a significant part of the European population and a wide range of European citizens;

(7) 'pre-commercial procurement' means the procurement of research and development services involving risk-benefit sharing under market conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation of the research and development services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products;

(8) 'public procurement of innovative solutions' means procurement where contracting authorities act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services which are not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformity testing;

(9) 'access rights' means rights to use results or background under terms and conditions laid down in accordance with this Regulation;

(10) 'background' means any data, know how or information whatever its form or nature, tangible or intangible, including any rights such as intellectual property rights, that is: (i) held by beneficiaries prior to their accession to a given action; and (ii) identified by the beneficiaries in a written agreement as needed for implementing the action or for exploiting its results;

(11) 'dissemination' means the public disclosure of the results by appropriate means, other than resulting from protecting or exploiting the results, including by scientific publications in any medium;

(12) 'exploitation' means the use of results in further R&I activities other than those covered by the action concerned, including among other things, commercial exploitation such as developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, creating and providing a service, or in standardisation activities;

(13) 'fair and reasonable conditions' means appropriate conditions, including possible financial terms or royalty-free conditions, taking into account the specific circumstances of the request for access, for example the actual or potential value of the results or background to which access is requested and/or the scope, duration or other characteristics of the exploitation envisaged;

(14) 'funding body' means a body or organisation, as referred to in point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation, to which the Commission has entrusted budget implementation tasks under the Programme;

(15) 'international European research organisation' means an international organisation, the majority of whose members are Member States or associated countries, whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe;

(16) 'legal entity' means a natural person, or a legal person created and recognised as such under Union, national or international law, which has legal personality and the capacity to act in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity which does not have legal personality as referred to in point (c) of Article 197(2) of the Financial Regulation;

(17) 'widening countries' or 'low R&I performing countries' means countries where legal entities need to be established in order to be eligible as coordinators under the 'widening participation and spreading excellence' component of the 'Widening Participation and Strengthening ERA' part of the Programme; from the Member States, those countries are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, for the whole duration of the Programme; for associated countries, it means the list of eligible countries as defined based on an indicator and published in the work programme. Legal entities from outermost regions as defined in Article 349 TFUE shall be also fully eligible as coordinators under this component;

(18) 'non-profit legal entity' means a legal entity which by its legal form is non-profit-making or which has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members;

(19) 'small or medium-sized enterprise' or 'SME' means a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC (¹);

(20) 'small mid-cap' means an entity that is not an SME and that has up to 499 employees where the staff headcount is calculated in accordance with Articles 3 to 6 of Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC;

(21) 'results' means any tangible or intangible effect of a given action, such as data, knowhow or information, whatever its form or nature and whether or not it can be protected, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights;

(22) 'research output' means the results generated by a given action to which access can be given in the form of scientific publications, data or other engineered results and processes such as software, algorithms, protocols and electronic notebooks;

(23) 'Seal of Excellence' means a quality label which shows that a proposal submitted to a call for proposals exceeded all of the evaluation thresholds set out in the work programme, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available for that call for proposals in the work programme and might receive support from other Union or national sources of funding;

(24) 'strategic R&I plan' means an implementing act laying out a strategy for realising content in the work programme covering a maximum period of four years, follows a broad mandatory multi-stakeholder consultation process and specifies the priorities, suitable types of action and forms of implementation to be used;

(25) 'work programme' means a document adopted by the Commission for the implementation of the specific programme in accordance with Article 14 of Decision (EU) 2021/764 or a document equivalent in content and structure adopted by a funding body;

(26) 'contract' means an agreement concluded between the Commission or the relevant funding body with a legal entity implementing an innovation and market deployment action and supported by Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance;

(27) 'reimbursable advance' means the part of the Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance that corresponds to a loan under Title X of the Financial Regulation, but that is directly awarded by the Union on a non-profit basis to cover the costs of activities corresponding to an innovation action, and which is to be reimbursed by the beneficiary to the Union under the conditions provided for in the contract;

(28) 'classified information' means European Union classified information as defined in Article 3 of Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 as well as classified information of Member States, classified information of third countries with which the Union has a security agreement and classified information of international organisation with which the Union has a security agreement;

(29) 'blending operation' means an action supported by the Union budget, including within a blending facility or platform as defined in point (6) of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation, that combines non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors;

(30) 'Horizon Europe blended finance' means financial support to a programme implementing innovation and market deployment action, consisting of a specific combination of a grant or reimbursable advance and an investment in equity or any other repayable form of support;

(31) 'EIC blended finance' means direct financial support provided under the EIC to an innovation and market deployment action consisting of a specific combination of a grant or reimbursable advance and an investment in equity or any other repayable form of support;

(32) 'research and innovation action' means an action primarily consisting of activities aiming to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation on a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment;

(33) 'innovation action' means an action primarily consisting of activities directly aiming to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services, possibly including prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication;

(34) 'ERC frontier research action' means a principal investigator-led research action, including ERC Proof of Concept, hosted by single or multiple beneficiaries receiving funding from the European Research Council (ERC);

(35) 'training and mobility action' means an action geared towards the improvement of the skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers, based on mobility between countries and, if relevant, between sectors or disciplines;

(36) 'programme co-fund action' means an action to provide multi-annual co-funding to a programme of activities established or implemented by legal entities managing or funding R&I programmes, other than Union funding bodies; such a programme of activities may support networking and coordination, research, innovation, pilot actions, and innovation and market deployment actions, training and mobility actions, awareness raising and communication, dissemination and exploitation, and provide any relevant financial support, such as grants, prizes and procurement, as well as Horizon Europe blended finance or a combination thereof. The programme co-fund action may be implemented by those legal entities directly or by third parties on their behalf;

(37) 'pre-commercial procurement action' means an action the primary aim of which is to realise the pre-commercial procurement implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(38) 'public procurement of innovative solutions action' means an action the primary aim of which is to realise the joint or coordinated public procurement of innovative solutions implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(39) 'coordination and support action' means an action contributing to the objectives of the Programme, excluding R&I activities, except when undertaken under the component 'widening participation and spreading excellence' of the part 'Widening participation and strengthening the ERA'; and bottom-up coordination without co-funding of research activities from the Union that allows for cooperation between legal entities from Member States and associated countries in order to strengthen the ERA;

(40) 'inducement prize' means a prize to spur investment in a given direction by specifying a target prior to the performance of the work;

(41) 'recognition prize' means a prize to reward past achievements and outstanding work after it has been performed;

(42) 'innovation and market deployment action' means an action which embeds an innovation action and other activities necessary to deploy an innovation in the market, including the scaling-up of companies, Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance;

(43) 'indirect actions' means R&I activities to which the Union provides financial support and which are undertaken by participants;

(44) 'direct actions' means R&I activities undertaken by the Commission through its JRC;

(45) 'procurement' means procurement as defined in point (49) of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation;

(46) 'affiliated entity' means an entity as defined in Article 187(1) of the Financial Regulation;

(47) 'innovation ecosystem' means an ecosystem that brings together at Union level actors or entities whose functional goal is to enable technology development and innovation; it encompasses relations between material resources (such as funds, equipment, and facilities), institutional entities (such as higher education institutions and support services, research and technology organisations, companies, venture capitalists and financial intermediaries) and national, regional and local policy-making and funding entities;

(48) 'project-based remuneration' means remuneration that is linked to the participation of a person in projects, is part of the beneficiary's usual remuneration practices and is paid in a consistent manner.

Article 3

Programme objectives

The Programme has the following specific objectives:

(a) to develop, promote and advance scientific excellence, to support the creation and diffusion of high-quality new fundamental and applied knowledge, of skills, technologies and solutions, to support training and mobility of researchers, to attract talent at all levels and contribute to the full engagement of the Union's talent pool in actions supported under the Programme;

(b) to generate knowledge, strengthen the impact of R&I in developing, supporting and implementing Union policies and support the access to and uptake of innovative solutions in European industry, in particular SMEs, and in society to address global challenges, including climate change and the SDGs;

(c) to foster all forms of innovation, facilitate technological development, demonstration and knowledge and technology transfer, strengthen deployment and exploitation of innovative solutions;

(d) to optimise the Programme's delivery with a view to strengthening and increasing the impact and attractiveness of the ERA, to foster excellence-based participation from all Member States, including low R&I performing countries, in the Programme and to facilitate collaborative links in European R&I.

Article 4

Programme structure

For the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and the EIT, the Programme shall be structured in parts as follows, which contribute to the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3:

(a) Pillar I 'Excellent Science', with the following components: (i) the ERC; (ii) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA); (iii) research infrastructures;

(b) Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', with the following components, taking into account that SSH play an important role across all clusters: (i) cluster 'Health'; (ii) cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society'; (iii) cluster 'Civil Security for Society'; (iv) cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space'; (v) cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility'; (vi) cluster 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment'; (vii) non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC;

(c) Pillar III 'Innovative Europe', with the following components: (i) the EIC; (ii) European innovation ecosystems; (iii) the EIT;

(d) Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA', with the following components: (i) widening participation and spreading excellence; (ii) reforming and enhancing the European R&I System.

Article 5

Defence research and development

Activities to be carried out under the specific programme referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2) and which are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/697, shall have an exclusive focus on defence research and development, with objectives and broad lines of activities aiming to foster the competitiveness, efficiency and innovation capacity of the European defence technological and industrial base.

Article 6

Strategic planning and implementation and forms of Union funding

The Commission shall ensure the early involvement of Member States and extensive exchanges with the European Parliament, to be complemented by consultations with stakeholders and the general public.

Strategic planning shall ensure alignment with other relevant Union programmes and consistency with Union priorities and commitments and increase complementarity and synergies with national and regional funding programmes and priorities, thereby strengthening the ERA. Areas for possible missions and areas for possible Institutionalised European Partnerships shall be established in Annex VI.

A call for proposals under the FTRI procedure shall have the following cumulative characteristics:

(a) bottom-up calls for proposals;

(b) a shorter time-to-grant, not exceeding six months;

(c) a support provided only to small collaborative consortia composed of maximum six different and independent eligible legal entities;

(d) a maximum financial support per consortium not exceeding EUR 2,5 million.

The work programme shall identify the calls for proposals which use the FTRI procedure.

Article 7

Principles of the Programme

Article 8

Missions

Missions shall:

(a) using SDGs as sources for their design and implementation, have a clear R&I content and Union added value, and contribute to reaching Union priorities and commitments and the Programme objectives referred to in Article 3;

(b) cover areas of common European relevance, be inclusive, encourage broad engagement and active participation from various types of stakeholders from the public and private sector, including citizens and end-users, and deliver R&I results that could benefit all Member States;

(c) be bold and inspirational, hence have wide, scientific, technological, societal, economic, environmental or policy relevance and impact;

(d) indicate a clear direction and clear objectives, be targeted, measurable and time-bound and have a clear budgetary envelope;

(e) be selected in a transparent manner and be centred on ambitious, excellence-based and impact-driven, but realistic goals and on research, development and innovation activities;

(f) have the necessary scope, scale and mobilisation of the resources and leverage of additional public and private funds required to deliver their outcome;

(g) stimulate activities across disciplines (including SSH) and encompass activities from a broad range of TRLs, including lower TRLs;

(h) be open to multiple, bottom-up approaches and solutions which take into account human and societal needs and benefits and recognise the importance of diverse contributions to their achievement;

(i) benefit from synergies with other Union programmes in a transparent manner as well as with national and, where relevant, regional innovation ecosystems.

Article 9

The European Innovation Council

The EIC shall operate in accordance with the following principles:

(a) clear Union added value;

(b) autonomy;

(c) ability to take risk;

(d) efficiency;

(e) effectiveness;

(f) transparency;

(g) accountability.

Article 10

European Partnerships

Parts of the Programme may be implemented through European Partnerships. The involvement of the Union in European Partnerships shall take any of the following forms:

(a) participation in European Partnerships set up on the basis of memoranda of understanding or contractual arrangements between the Commission and the partners referred to in point (3) of Article 2, specifying the objectives of the European Partnership, related commitments of the Union and of the other partners regarding their financial and/or in-kind contributions, key performance and impact indicators, the results to be delivered and reporting arrangements. They include the identification of complementary R&I activities that are implemented by the partners and by the Programme (Co-programmed European Partnerships);

(b) participation in and financial contribution to a programme of R&I activities, specifying the objectives, key performance and impact indicators, and the results to be delivered, based on the commitment of the partners regarding their financial and/or in-kind contributions and the integration of their relevant activities using a Programme co-fund action (Co-funded European Partnerships);

(c) participation in and financial contribution to R&I programmes undertaken by several Member States in accordance with Article 185 TFEU or by bodies established pursuant to Article 187 TFEU, such as Joint Undertakings or by the EIT's KICs in accordance with the EIT Regulation (Institutionalised European Partnerships). Institutionalised European Partnerships shall be implemented only where other parts of the Programme, including other forms of European Partnerships, would not achieve the objectives or would not generate the necessary expected impacts, and where justified by a long-term perspective and a high degree of integration. European Partnerships in accordance with Article 185 or Article 187 TFEU shall implement a central management of all financial contributions, except in duly justified cases. In the case of central management of all financial contributions, project level contributions from one participating state shall be made on the basis of the funding requested in proposals from legal entities established in that participating state, unless otherwise agreed among all participating states. The rules for Institutionalised European Partnerships shall specify, among other things, the objectives, key performance and impact indicators, and the results to be delivered, as well as the related commitments for financial and/or in-kind contributions of the partners.

European Partnerships shall:

(a) be established for the purpose of addressing European or global challenges only in cases where the objectives of the Programme would be achieved more effectively through a European Partnership than by the Union alone and when compared to other forms of support under the Programme; an appropriate share of the budget of the Programme shall be allocated to those actions of the Programme that are implemented through European Partnerships; the majority of the budget in Pillar II shall be allocated to actions outside European Partnerships;

(b) adhere to the principles of Union added value, transparency and openness, and to having impact within and for Europe, strong leverage effect on sufficient scale, long-term commitments of all involved parties, flexibility in implementation, coherence, coordination and complementarity with Union, local, regional, national and, where relevant, international initiatives or other European Partnerships and missions;

(c) have a clear life-cycle approach, be limited in time and include conditions for phasing-out the Programme funding.

Article 11

Review of missions and partnership areas

By 31 December 2023, the Commission shall carry out a review of Annex VI to this Regulation as part of the overall monitoring of the Programme, including missions and Institutionalised European Partnerships established pursuant to Article 185 or 187 TFEU and present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Article 12

Budget

The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in paragraph 1 for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT shall be:

(a) EUR 23 546 000 000 for Pillar I 'Excellent Science' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which: (i) EUR 15 027 000 000 for the ERC; (ii) EUR 6 333 000 000 for MSCA; (iii) EUR 2 186 000 000 for research infrastructures;

(b) EUR 47 428 000 000 for Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which: (i) EUR 6 893 000 000 for cluster 'Health'; (ii) EUR 1 386 000 000 for cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society'; (iii) EUR 1 303 000 000 for cluster 'Civil Security for Society'; (iv) EUR 13 462 000 000 for cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space'; (v) EUR 13 462 000 000 for cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility'; (vi) EUR 8 952 000 000 for cluster 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment'; (vii) EUR 1 970 000 000 for the non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC;

(c) EUR 11 937 000 000 for Pillar III 'Innovative Europe' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which: (i) EUR 8 752 000 000 for the EIC; (ii) EUR 459 000 000 for European innovation ecosystems; (iii) EUR 2 726 000 000 for the EIT;

(d) EUR 3 212 000 000 for Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which: (i) EUR 2 842 000 000 for 'widening participation and spreading excellence'; (ii) EUR 370 000 000 for 'reforming and enhancing the European R&I System'.

The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in paragraph 3 shall be as follows:

(a) EUR 1 286 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar I 'Excellent Science', of which: (i) EUR 857 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for the ERC; (ii) EUR 236 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for MSCA; (iii) EUR 193 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for research infrastructures;

(b) EUR 1 286 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', of which: (i) EUR 686 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society'; (ii) EUR 257 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Civil Security for Society'; (iii) EUR 171 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Digital, and Industry and Space'; (iv) EUR 171 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(c) EUR 270 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar III 'Innovative Europe', of which: (i) EUR 60 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for European innovation ecosystems; (ii) EUR 210 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for the EIT;

(d) EUR 159 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA', of which: (i) EUR 99 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for 'widening participation and spreading sharing excellence'; (ii) EUR 60 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for 'reforming and enhancing the European R&I System'.

The amount referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT, may also cover expenses for preparation, monitoring, control, audit, evaluation and other activities and expenditures necessary for managing and implementing the Programme, including all administrative expenditure, as well as evaluating the achievement of its objectives. The administrative expenses related to indirect actions shall not exceed 5 % of the total amount of indirect actions of the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and of the EIT. Moreover, the amount referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT may also cover:

(a) in so far as they are related to the objectives of the Programme: expenses relating to studies, to meetings of experts, information and communication actions;

(b) expenses linked to information technology networks focusing on information processing and exchange, including corporate information technology tools and other technical and administrative assistance needed in connection with the management of the Programme.

Article 13

Resources from the European Union Recovery Instrument

The indicative distribution of the amounts referred to in point (a)(iv) of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 shall be:

(a) 25 % to cluster 'Health';

(b) 25 % to cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space';

(c) 25 % to cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(d) 25 % to the EIC.

Article 14

Open science

The Programme shall encourage open science as an approach to the scientific process based on cooperative work and diffusing knowledge, in particular in accordance with the following elements which shall be ensured in accordance with Article 39(3) of this Regulation:

(a) open access to scientific publications resulting from research funded under the Programme;

(b) open access to research data, including those underlying scientific publications, in accordance with the principle 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary'.

Article 15

Alternative, combined and cumulative funding and transfers of resources

The Seal of Excellence shall be awarded for calls for proposals specified in the work programme. In accordance with the relevant provision of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027 and the relevant provision of the 'CAP Strategic Plan Regulation', the ERDF, the ESF+ or the EAFRD may support:

(a) co-funded actions selected under the Programme; and

(b) actions which were awarded a Seal of Excellence provided that they comply with all of the following conditions: (i) they have been assessed in a call for proposals under the Programme; (ii) they comply with the minimum quality requirements of that call for proposals; and (iii) they have not been financed under that call for proposals only due to budgetary constraints.

Article 16

Third countries associated to the Programme

The Programme shall be open to association of the following third countries (associated countries):

(a) Members of the European Free Trade Association, which are members of the EEA, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Agreement on the European Economic Area;

(b) acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions or similar agreements and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(c) European Neighbourhood Policy countries, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions or in similar agreements and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(d) third countries and territories that fulfil all of the following criteria: (i) a good capacity in science, technology and innovation; (ii) commitment to a rules-based open market economy, including fair and equitable dealing with intellectual property rights, respect of human rights, backed by democratic institutions; (iii) active promotion of policies to improve the economic and social well-being of citizens.

Association to the Programme of each of the third countries under point (d) of paragraph 1 shall be in accordance with the conditions laid down in an agreement covering the participation of the third country to any Union programme, provided that the agreement:

(a) ensures a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country participating in the Union programmes;

(b) lays down the conditions of participation in the Union programmes, including the calculation of financial contributions to individual programmes, and their administrative costs;

(c) does not confer on the third country any decision-making power in respect of the Union programme;

(d) guarantees the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect the Union's financial interests.

The contributions referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall constitute assigned revenues in accordance with Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation.

TITLE II

RULES FOR PARTICIPATION AND DISSEMINATION

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 17

Funding bodies and direct actions of JRC

In duly justified cases, funding bodies may depart from the rules set out in this Title, except for Articles 18, 19 and 20, if:

(a) such a departure is provided for in the basic act setting up the funding body or entrusting budget implementation tasks to it; or

(b) for funding bodies under points (ii), (iii) or (v) of point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation if it is provided for in the contribution agreement and if their specific operating needs or the nature of the action so require.

Article 18

Eligible actions and ethical principles

The following fields of research shall not be financed:

(a) activities aiming at human cloning for reproductive purposes;

(b) activities intended to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such modifications heritable (²);

(c) activities intended to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Article 19

Ethics

Particular attention shall be paid to the principle of proportionality, to the right to privacy, the right to the protection of personal data, the right to the physical and mental integrity of a person, the right to non-discrimination and to the need to ensure protection of the environment and high levels of human health protection.

Legal entities participating in an action shall provide:

(a) an ethics self-assessment identifying and detailing all the foreseeable ethics issues related to the objective, implementation and likely impact of the activities to be funded, including a confirmation of compliance with paragraph 1 and a description of how it will be ensured;

(b) a confirmation that the activities will comply with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity published by All European Academies and that no activities excluded from funding will be conducted;

(c) for activities carried out outside the Union, a confirmation that the same activities would have been allowed in a Member State; and

(d) for activities making use of human embryonic stem cells, as appropriate, details of licensing and control measures that shall be taken by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned as well as details of the ethics approvals that shall be obtained before the activities concerned start.

Ethics checks shall be carried out with the support of ethics experts.

Article 20

Security

CHAPTER II

Grants

Article 21

Grants

Grants under the Programme shall be awarded and managed in accordance with Title VIII of the Financial Regulation, unless otherwise specified in this Chapter.

Article 22

Legal entities eligible for participation

Except in duly justified cases where the work programme otherwise provides, legal entities forming a consortium shall be eligible for participation in actions under the Programme provided that the consortium includes:

(a) at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and

(b) at least two other independent legal entities each established in different Member States or associated countries;

Article 23

Legal entities eligible for funding

Legal entities established in a non-associated third country shall bear the cost of their participation. However, a legal entity established in low to middle income non-associated third countries and, exceptionally, other non-associated third countries, shall be eligible for funding in an action if:

(a) the third country is identified in the work programme adopted by the Commission; or

(b) the Commission or the relevant funding body considers that the participation of the legal entity concerned is essential for implementing the action.

Article 24

Calls for proposals

A call for proposals is not required for coordination and support actions or programme co-fund actions which:

(a) are to be carried out by the JRC or legal entities identified in the work programme;

(b) do not fall within the scope of a call for proposals, in accordance with point (e) of Article 195 of the Financial Regulation.

Article 25

Joint calls for proposals

The Commission or the relevant funding body may issue a joint call for proposals with:

(a) third countries, including their scientific and technological organisations or agencies;

(b) international organisations;

(c) non-profit legal entities.

In the case of a joint call for proposals, the applicants shall fulfil the requirements under Article 22 and joint procedures shall be established for the selection and evaluation of proposals. Such procedures shall involve a balanced group of experts appointed by each party.

Article 26

Pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative solutions

The procurement procedures:

(a) shall comply with competition rules and with the principles of transparency, non-discrimination, equal treatment, sound financial management, proportionality;

(b) may authorise the award of multiple contracts within the same procedure (multiple sourcing);

(c) shall provide for the award of the contracts to the tenders offering best value for money while ensuring absence of conflicts of interest.

In the case of pre-commercial procurement, where appropriate and without prejudice to the principles enumerated in point (a), the procurement procedure may be simplified or accelerated and may provide for specific conditions such as limiting the place of performance of the procured activities to the territory of the Member States and of the associated countries.

Article 27

Financial capacity of applicants

Article 28

Award criteria and selection

A proposal shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

(a) excellence;

(b) impact;

(c) quality and efficiency of the implementation.

Article 29

Evaluation

For EIC activities, missions and in duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission, the evaluation committee may be composed partially or, in the case of coordination and support actions, partially or fully of representatives of Union institutions or bodies as referred to in Article 150 of the Financial Regulation.

The evaluation process may be followed by independent observers.

Where applicable, the evaluation committee shall rank the proposals that have passed the applicable thresholds, according to:

(a) the evaluation scores;

(b) their contribution to the achievement of specific policy objectives, including the constitution of a consistent portfolio of projects namely for Pathfinder activities, missions and in other duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission in detail.

For EIC activities, missions and in other duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission in detail, the evaluation committee may also propose adjustments to the proposals insofar as those adjustments are needed for the consistency of the portfolio approach. Those adjustments shall be in conformity with the conditions for participation and comply with the principle of equal treatment. The Programme Committee shall be informed of such cases.

Article 30

Evaluation review procedure, enquiries and complaints

An evaluation review committee shall provide an opinion on the procedural aspects of the evaluation, and shall be chaired by and include staff of the Commission or of the relevant funding body who were not involved in the evaluation of the proposals. The evaluation review committee may recommend one of the following:

(a) a re-evaluation of the proposal to be carried out primarily by evaluators who were not involved in the previous evaluation; or

(b) confirmation of the initial evaluation.

Article 31

Time-to-grant

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 194(2) of the Financial Regulation, the following periods shall apply:

(a) for informing all applicants of the outcome of the evaluation of their application, a maximum period of five months from the final date for submission of complete proposals;

(b) for signing grant agreements with applicants, a maximum period of eight months from the final date for submission of complete proposals.

Article 32

Implementation of the grant

Article 33

Grant agreements

Article 34

Funding rates

Up to 100 % of total eligible costs of an action under the Programme may be reimbursed, except for:

(a) innovation actions where, up to 70 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed, except for non-profit legal entities where up to 100 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed;

(b) programme co-fund actions where, at least 30 % and, in identified and duly justified cases, up to 70 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed.

Article 35

Indirect costs

Where appropriate, indirect costs included in unit costs or lump sums shall be calculated using the flat rate referred to in the first subparagraph, except for unit costs for internally invoiced goods and services, which shall be calculated on the basis of actual costs, in accordance with the beneficiaries' usual cost accounting practice.

Article 36

Eligible costs

Certificates on financial statements may be produced by an approved external auditor or, in the case of public bodies, issued by a competent and independent public officer in accordance with Article 203(4) of the Financial Regulation.

Article 37

Mutual insurance mechanism

A mutual insurance mechanism (the 'Mechanism') is hereby established which shall replace and succeed the fund set up in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013. The Mechanism shall cover the risk associated with non-recovery of sums due by the beneficiaries:

(a) to the Commission under Decision No 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁶);

(b) to the Commission and Union bodies under 'Horizon 2020';

(c) to the Commission and funding bodies under the Programme.

The coverage of the risk regarding the funding bodies referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph may be implemented through an indirect coverage system set out in the applicable agreement and taking into account the nature of the funding body.

Article 38

Ownership and protection

Two or more beneficiaries shall own results jointly where:

(a) they have jointly generated them; and

(b) it is not possible to: (i) establish the respective contribution of each beneficiary; or (ii) separate them when applying for, obtaining or maintaining their protection.

The joint owners shall agree in writing on the allocation and terms of exercise of their joint ownership. Unless otherwise agreed in the consortium agreement or in the joint ownership agreement, each joint owner may grant non-exclusive licences to third parties to exploit the jointly-owned results (without any right to sub-license), if the other joint owners are given advance notice and fair and reasonable compensation. The joint owners may agree in writing to apply another regime than joint ownership.

Article 39

Exploitation and dissemination

The work programme may provide for additional exploitation obligations.

If, despite a beneficiary's best efforts to exploit its results directly or indirectly, the results are not exploited within a given period as established in the grant agreement, the beneficiary shall use an appropriate online platform as identified in the grant agreement to find interested parties to exploit those results. That obligation may be waived at the request of the beneficiary if justified.

The work programme may provide for additional dissemination obligations while safeguarding the Union's economic and scientific interests.

Open access to research data shall be the general rule under the terms and conditions laid down in the grant agreement, ensuring the possibility of exceptions following the principle 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary', taking into consideration the legitimate interests of the beneficiaries including commercial exploitation and any other constraints, such as data protection rules, privacy, confidentiality, trade secrets, Union competitive interests, security rules or intellectual property rights.

The work programme may provide for additional incentives or obligations for the purpose of adhering to open science practices.

The work programme may provide, where justified, for additional obligations to use the EOSC for storing and giving access to research data.

The beneficiaries shall update the plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results during and after the end of the action, in accordance with the grant agreement.

Article 40

Transfer and licensing

Unless otherwise agreed in writing for specifically identified third parties including affiliated entities, a beneficiary may object to the transfer of ownership of results by another beneficiary if it can show that the transfer would adversely affect its access rights. In this case, the transfer shall not take place until agreement has been reached between the beneficiaries concerned. The grant agreement shall lay down time limits in this respect.

Where justified, the grant agreement shall provide for the right for the Commission or the relevant funding body to object to transfers of ownership of results, or to grants of an exclusive licence regarding results, if:

(a) the beneficiaries which generated the results have received Union funding;

(b) the transfer or licensing is to a legal entity established in a non-associated third country; and

(c) the transfer or licensing is not in line with Union interests.

If the right to object is provided for, the beneficiary shall give advance notice of its intention to transfer ownership of results or to grant an exclusive licence regarding results. The right to object may be waived in writing regarding transfers or grants to specifically identified legal entities if measures safeguarding Union interests are in place.

Article 41

Access rights

Beneficiaries shall grant access to:

(a) their results on a royalty-free basis to any other beneficiary in the action that needs them to implement its own tasks;

(b) their background to any other beneficiary in the action that needs it to implement its own tasks, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3; that access shall be granted on a royalty-free basis, unless otherwise agreed by the beneficiaries before their accession to the grant agreement;

(c) their results and, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3, to their background to any other beneficiary in the action that needs them to exploit its own results; that access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions to be agreed upon.

Unless otherwise agreed by the beneficiaries, they shall also grant access to their results and, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3, to their background to a legal entity that:

(a) is established in a Member State or associated country;

(b) is under the direct or indirect control of another beneficiary, or is under the same direct or indirect control as that beneficiary, or is directly or indirectly controlling that beneficiary; and

(c) needs the access to exploit the results of that beneficiary, in accordance with the beneficiary's exploitation obligations.

Access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions to be agreed upon.

Such access rights shall not extend to the beneficiaries' background.

In actions under the cluster 'Civil Security for Society', beneficiaries that have received Union funding shall also grant access to their results on a royalty-free basis to Member States' national authorities, for developing, implementing and monitoring their policies or programmes in that area. Access shall be limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use and shall be subject to a bilateral agreement defining specific conditions aimed at ensuring that those access rights are used only for the intended purpose and that appropriate confidentiality obligations are in place. The requesting Member State, Union institution, body, office or agency shall notify all Member States of such requests.

Article 42

Specific provisions

Article 43

Prizes

The Commission or the relevant funding body may, where appropriate, organise prize contests with:

(a) other Union bodies;

(b) third countries, including their scientific and technological organisations or agencies;

(c) international organisations; or

(d) non-profit legal entities.

CHAPTER III

Procurement

Article 44

Procurement

CHAPTER IV

Blending operations and blended finance

Article 45

Blending operations

Blending operations under the Programme shall be implemented in accordance with the InvestEU Programme and Title X of the Financial Regulation.

Article 46

Horizon Europe blended finance and EIC blended finance

Article 47

The Pathfinder

The Pathfinder shall be implemented mainly through an open call for proposals for bottom-up proposals with regular cut-off dates per year and shall also provide for competitive challenges to develop key strategic objectives calling for deep-tech and radical thinking.

The launch and the content of the calls for proposals for Pathfinder's transition activities shall be determined taking account of objectives and budget established by the work programme in relation with the portfolio of actions concerned.

Additional grants for a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 may be awarded to each proposal already selected under the Pathfinder, and where relevant Pathfinder's transition activities, through a call for proposals to carry out complementary activities, including urgent coordination and support actions, for reinforcing the portfolio's community of beneficiaries, such as assessing possible spin-offs, potential market-creating innovations or developing a business plan. The Programme Committee established under the specific programme shall be informed of such cases.

Article 48

The Accelerator

The Accelerator shall provide the following types of support:

(a) blended finance support to SMEs, including start-ups, and, in exceptional cases, small mid-caps, carrying out breakthrough and disruptive non-bankable innovation;

(b) a grant-only support to SMEs, including start-ups, carrying out any type of innovation ranging from incremental to breakthrough and disruptive innovation and aiming to subsequently scale-up;

(c) equity-only support to non-bankable SMEs, including start-ups, carrying out breakthrough and disruptive non-bankable innovation may also be provided;

(d) equity-only support required for scale-up to non-bankable SMEs, including start-ups, and non-bankable small mid-caps, including entities which have already received support in line with points (a) to (c), carrying out breakthrough and disruptive non-bankable innovation in the critical technologies referred to in Article 2(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2024/795 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁸).

By way of derogation from Article 7(1), the support referred to in points (a), (b) and (c), of the second subparagraph of this paragraph may include potential dual-use applications, while advancing civilian application use.

By way of derogation from Article 7(1), the support referred to in point (d) of the second subparagraph of this paragraph may include innovation in critical defence technologies referred to in Article 2(1), point (a)(iv), of the STEP Regulation, while fostering, where appropriate, innovations with dual-use potential.

Grant-only support under the Accelerator shall be provided only under the following cumulative conditions:

(a) the project shall include information on the capacities and willingness of the applicant to scale-up;

(b) the beneficiary shall be a start-up or an SME;

(c) a grant-only support under the Accelerator shall be provided only once to a beneficiary during the period of implementation of the Programme for a maximum of EUR 2,5 million.

When providing equity support, the EIC shall strive to crowd-in other investors. However, in order to effectively support non-bankable innovation, equity support can be provided without crowding-in other investors, particularly for but not limited to breakthrough and disruptive non-bankable innovation in the technologies referred to in Article 2(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2024/795.

With regard to support for innovation in critical defence technologies under paragraph 1, second subparagraph, point (d), of this Article, participation shall be limited to legal entities established in the Union, in Ukraine or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe. Legal entities directly or indirectly controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe, or by legal entities of such a third country shall be excluded from participation.

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, a legal entity established in the Union, or in an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe and which is controlled by a third country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe, or by a legal entity of a third-country other than Ukraine or an EEA member associated to Horizon Europe shall be eligible to be a beneficiary under paragraph 1 of this Article, provided that guarantees are made available to the Commission. Such guarantees shall be approved in accordance with the national procedures of the Member State or the EEA member associated to Horizon Europe in which the legal entity is established, such as adequate measures pursuant to screenings, as defined in Article 2, point (3), of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁹).

The guarantees shall provide assurances that support for the legal entity would not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States, as established in the framework of the common foreign and security policy pursuant to Title V of the TEU, including respect for the principle of good neighbourly relations.

With regard to support under paragraph 1, second subparagraph, point (a), (b) or (c), of this Article with potential dual-use applications, the work programme may provide that it is possible to limit participation to legal entities established only in Member States or to legal entities established in specified associated countries in addition to Member States. Any limitation on participation of legal entities established in associated countries which are EEA members shall comply with the terms and conditions of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. For duly justified and exceptional reasons, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, the work programme may also exclude the participation of legal entities established in the Union or in associated countries directly or indirectly controlled by non-associated third countries or by legal entities of non-associated third countries from individual calls for proposals, or make their participation subject to conditions set out in the work programme.

The proposal may be submitted either by the beneficiary or, subject to the prior agreement by the beneficiary, by one or more natural persons or legal entities intending to establish or support that beneficiary. In the latter case, the funding agreement shall be signed only with the beneficiary.

The proposals submitted shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

(a) excellence;

(b) impact;

(c) the level of risk of the action that would prevent investments, the quality and efficiency of the implementation, and the need for Union support.

With the agreement of the applicants concerned, the Commission or the funding bodies implementing the Programme (including the EIT's KICs) may directly submit for evaluation under the award criterion referred to in point (c) of paragraph 5 a proposal for an innovation and market deployment action which already fulfils the award criteria referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 5, subject to the following cumulative conditions:

(a) the proposal shall stem from any other action funded under Horizon 2020, from the Programme or, subject to an exploratory pilot phase to be launched under the first work programme, from national and/or regional programmes, starting with the mapping of the demand for such a scheme, detailed provisions of which shall be laid down in the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2);

(b) the proposal is based on a project review which was carried out within the previous two years assessing the excellence and the impact of the proposal and subject to conditions and processes further detailed in the work programme.

A Seal of Excellence may be awarded subject to the following cumulative conditions:

(a) the beneficiary is a start-up, an SME or a small mid-cap;

(b) the proposal was eligible and has passed the applicable thresholds for the award criteria referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 5;

(c) the activity would be eligible under an innovation action.

The Commission may reject, for justified reasons, a proposal retained by independent external experts, including due to non-compliance with the objectives of Union policies. The Programme Committee shall be informed of the reasons for such a rejection.

In the case of EIC blended finance, activities corresponding to an innovation action may be launched and the first pre-financing of the grant or the reimbursable advance paid, prior to the implementation of other components of the awarded EIC blended finance. The implementation of those components shall be subject to reaching specific milestones established in the contract.

In exceptional cases and upon advice by the EIC board, the Commission may decide to increase the Accelerator support subject to a project review by independent external experts. The Programme Committee shall be informed of such cases.

CHAPTER V

Experts

Article 49

Appointment of independent external experts

By way of derogation from Article 237(3) of the Financial Regulation, the Commission or the relevant funding body may, exceptionally and in duly justified cases, select in a transparent manner any individual expert with the appropriate skills not included in the database provided that a call for expression of interest has not identified suitable independent external experts.

Such experts shall declare their independence and capacity to support the objectives of the Programme.

The Commission or the relevant funding body shall ensure that an expert faced with a conflict of interest in relation to a matter on which the expert is required to provide an opinion does not evaluate, advise or assist on the specific matter in question.

TITLE III

PROGRAMME MONITORING, COMMUNICATION, EVALUATION AND CONTROL

Article 50

Monitoring and reporting

The database shall include:

(a) time-bound indicators to report on an annual basis on the progress of the Programme towards achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 3 and set out in Annex V along impact pathways;

(b) information on the level of mainstreaming SSH, the ratio between lower and higher TRLs in collaborative research, the progress on the participation of widening countries, the geographical composition of consortia in collaborative projects, the evolution of researchers salaries, the use of a two-stage submission and evaluation procedure, the measures aimed at facilitating collaborative links in European R&I, the use of the evaluation review and the number and types of complaints, the level of climate mainstreaming and related expenditures, SME participation, private sector participation, gender participation in funded actions, evaluation panels, boards and advisory groups, the 'Seals of Excellence', the European Partnerships as well as the co-funding rate, the complementary and cumulative funding from other Union programmes, research infrastructures, time-to-grant, the level of international cooperation, engagement of citizens and civil society participation;

(c) the levels of expenditure disaggregated at project level in order to allow for specific analysis, including per intervention area;

(d) the level of oversubscription, in particular the number of proposals and per call for proposals, their average score, the share of proposals above and below quality thresholds.

Article 51

Information, communication, publicity and dissemination and exploitation

Article 52

Programme evaluation

Article 53

Audits

Article 54

Protection of financial interests of the Union

Where a third country participates in the Programme by means of a decision adopted pursuant to an international agreement or on the basis of any other legal instrument, the third country shall grant the necessary rights and access required for the authorising officer responsible, OLAF and the Court of Auditors to comprehensively exercise their respective competences. In the case of OLAF, such rights shall include the right to carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, as provided for in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013.

Article 55

Exercise of the delegation

TITLE IV

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 56

Repeal

Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 are repealed with effect from 1 January 2021.

Article 57

Transitional provisions

Article 58

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

The general and specific objectives referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation shall be pursued across the Programme, through the areas of intervention and the broad lines of activities described in this Annex and in Annex II to this Regulation, as well as in Annex I to Decision (EU) 2021/764.

(1)Pillar I 'Excellent Science'

Through the following activities, this pillar shall, in line with Article 4, promote scientific excellence, attract the best talent to Europe, provide appropriate support to early-stage researchers and support the creation and diffusion of scientific excellence, high-quality knowledge, methodologies and skills, technologies and solutions to global social, environmental and economic challenges. It shall also contribute to the other specific objectives of the Programme as referred to in Article 3.

(a) ERC: providing attractive and flexible funding to enable talented and creative individual researchers, with an emphasis on early stage researchers, and their teams to pursue the most promising avenues at the frontier of science, regardless of their nationality and country of origin and on the basis of Union-wide competition based solely on the criterion of excellence. Area of intervention: Frontier science.

(b) MSCA: equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills through mobility and exposure across borders, sectors and disciplines, enhancing training and career development systems as well as structuring and improving institutional and national recruitment, taking into account the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers; in so doing, the MSCA help to lay the foundations of Europe's excellent research landscape across the whole of Europe, contributing to boosting jobs, growth, and investment, and solving current and future societal challenges. Areas of intervention: nurturing excellence through the mobility of researchers across borders, sectors and disciplines; fostering new skills through the excellent training of researchers; strengthening human resources and skills development across the ERA; improving and facilitating synergies; promoting public outreach.

(c) Research infrastructures: endowing Europe with world-class sustainable research infrastructures which are open and accessible to the best researchers from Europe and beyond. Encouraging the use of existing research infrastructures, including those financed from funds under Union Cohesion Policy. In so doing, enhancing the potential of the research infrastructure to support scientific advance and innovation, and to enable open and excellent science in accordance with the FAIR principles, alongside activities related to Union policies and international cooperation. Areas of intervention: consolidating and developing the landscape of European research infrastructures; opening, integrating and interconnecting research infrastructures; the innovation potential of European research infrastructures and activities for innovation and training; reinforcing European research infrastructure policy and international cooperation.

(2)Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness'

Through the following activities, this pillar shall, in line with Article 4, support the creation and better diffusion of high-quality new knowledge, technologies and sustainable solutions, reinforce the European industrial competitiveness, strengthen the impact of R&I in developing, supporting and implementing Union policies, and support the uptake of innovative solutions in industry, in particular in SMEs and start-ups, and society to address global challenges. It shall also contribute to the other specific objectives of the Programme as referred to in Article 3.

SSH shall be fully integrated across all clusters, including specific and dedicated activities.

To maximise impact, flexibility and synergies, R&I activities shall be organised in six clusters, interconnected through pan-European research infrastructures, which individually and together incentivise interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, cross-policy, cross-border and international cooperation. Pillar II of the Programme shall cover activities from a broad range of TRLs, including lower TRLs.

Each cluster contributes towards several SDGs and many SDGs are supported by more than one cluster.

The R&I activities shall be implemented in and across the following clusters:

(a) Cluster 'Health': improving and protecting the health and well-being of citizens of all ages by generating new knowledge, developing innovative solutions, ensuring to integrate, where relevant, a gender perspective to prevent, diagnose, monitor, treat and cure diseases, and developing health technologies; mitigating health risks; protecting populations and promoting good health and well-being, also in the work place; making public health systems more cost-effective, equitable and sustainable; preventing and tackling poverty-related diseases; and supporting and enabling patients' participation and self-management. Areas of intervention: health throughout the life course; environmental and social health determinants; non-communicable and rare diseases; infectious diseases, including poverty-related and neglected diseases; tools, technologies and digital solutions for health and care, including personalised medicine; health care systems.

(b) Cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society': strengthening democratic values, including rule of law and fundamental rights; safeguarding our cultural heritage; exploring the potential of cultural and creative sectors, and promoting socio-economic transformations that contribute to inclusion and growth, including migration management and integration of migrants. Areas of intervention: democracy and governance; culture, cultural heritage and creativity; social and economic transformations.

(c) Cluster 'Civil Security for Society': responding to the challenges arising from persistent security threats, including cybercrime, as well as natural and man-made disasters. Areas of intervention: disaster-resilient societies; protection and security; cybersecurity.

(d) Cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space': reinforcing capacities and securing Europe's sovereignty in key enabling technologies for digitisation and production, and in space technology, all along the value chain; to build a competitive, digital, low-carbon and circular industry; ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials; develop advanced materials and provide the basis for advances and innovation in global societal challenges. Areas of intervention: manufacturing technologies; key digital technologies, including quantum technologies; emerging enabling technologies; advanced materials; artificial intelligence and robotics; next generation internet; advanced computing and Big Data; circular industries; low carbon and clean industries; space, including earth observation.

(e) Cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility': fighting climate change by better understanding its causes, evolution, risks, impacts and opportunities, by making the energy and transport sectors more climate and environment-friendly, more efficient and competitive, smarter, safer and more resilient, promote the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, improve the resilience of the Union to external shocks and adapt social behaviour in view of the SDGs. Areas of intervention: climate science and solutions; energy supply; energy systems and grids; buildings and industrial facilities in energy transition; communities and cities; industrial competitiveness in transport; clean, safe and accessible transport and mobility; smart mobility; energy storage.

(f) Cluster 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment': protecting the environment, restoring, sustainably managing and using natural and biological resources from land, inland waters and sea to stop biodiversity erosion, to address food and nutrition security for all and the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient and circular economy and sustainable bioeconomy. Areas of intervention: environmental observation; biodiversity and natural resources; agriculture, forestry and rural areas; seas, oceans and inland waters; food systems; bio-based innovation systems in the Union's bioeconomy; circular systems.

(g) Non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC: generating high-quality scientific evidence for efficient and affordable good public policies. New initiatives and proposals for Union legal acts need transparent, comprehensive and balanced evidence to be sensibly designed, whereas implementation of policies needs evidence to be measured and monitored. The JRC provides Union policies with independent scientific evidence and technical support throughout the policy cycle. The JRC focuses its research on Union policy priorities. Areas of intervention: strengthening the knowledge base for policy making; global challenges (health; culture, creativity and inclusive society; civil security for society; digital, industry and space; climate, energy and mobility; food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment); innovation, economic development, and competitiveness; scientific excellence; territorial development and support for Member States and regions.

(3)Pillar III 'Innovative Europe'

Through the following activities, this pillar shall, in line with Article 4, foster all forms of innovation, including non-technological innovation, primarily within SMEs including start-ups, by facilitating technological development, demonstration and knowledge transfer, and strengthen deployment of innovative solutions. It shall also contribute to the other specific objectives of the Programme as referred to in Article 3. The EIC shall be implemented primarily through two instruments, the Pathfinder, implemented mainly through collaborative research, and the Accelerator.

(a) EIC: focusing mainly on breakthrough and disruptive innovation, targeting especially market-creating innovation, while also supporting all types of innovation, including incremental innovation. Areas of intervention: Pathfinder for advanced research, supporting future and emerging breakthrough, market-creating and/or deep tech technologies; the Accelerator, bridging the financing gap between late stages of R&I activities and market take-up, to effectively deploy breakthrough, market-creating innovation and scale up companies where the market does not provide viable financing; additional EIC activities such as prizes and fellowships, and business added-value services.

(b) European innovation ecosystems Areas of intervention: activities including in particular connecting, where relevant in cooperation with the EIT, with national and regional innovation actors and supporting the implementation of joint cross-border innovation programmes by Member States, Regions and associated countries, from the exchange of practice and knowledge on innovation regulation to the enhancement of soft skills for innovation to research and innovation activities, including open or user-led innovation, to boost the effectiveness of the European innovation system. This should be implemented in synergy with, among others, the ERDF support for innovation eco-systems and interregional partnerships around smart specialisation topics.

(c) The European Institute of Innovation and Technology Areas of intervention (defined in Annex II): sustainable innovation ecosystems across Europe; innovation and entrepreneurial skills in a lifelong learning perspective, including increasing capacities of higher education institutions across Europe; new solutions to market to address global challenges; synergies and value added within the Programme.

(4)Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA'

Through the following activities, this part shall pursue the specific objectives as set out in point (d) of Article 3(2). It shall also contribute to the other specific objectives of the Programme as referred to in Article 3. While underpinning the entire Programme, this part shall support activities that contribute to attracting talent, fostering brain circulation and preventing brain drain, a more knowledge-based and innovative and gender-equal Europe, at the front edge of global competition, fostering transnational cooperation and thereby optimising national strengths and potential across the whole Europe in a well-performing ERA, where knowledge and a highly skilled workforce circulate freely in a balanced manner, where the results of R&I are widely disseminated to as well as understood and trusted by informed citizens and benefit society as a whole, and where Union policy, in particular R&I policy, is based on high quality scientific evidence.

This Part shall also support activities aimed at improving the quality of proposals from legal entities from low R&I performing countries, such as professional pre-proposal checks and advice, and boosting the activities of National Contact Points to support international networking, as well as activities aimed at supporting legal entities from low R&I performing countries joining already selected collaborative projects in which legal entities from such countries are not participating.

Areas of intervention: widening participation and spreading excellence, including through teaming, twinning, ERA-Chairs, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), excellence initiatives and activities to foster brain circulation; reforming and enhancing the European R&I system, including through for example supporting national R&I policy reform, providing attractive career environments, and supporting gender and citizen science.

ANNEX II

The following shall apply in the implementation of the programme activities of the EIT:

(1) Rationale As the report of the High Level Group on maximising the impact of Union R&I (the Lamy High Level Group) clearly states, the way forward is 'to educate for the future and invest in people who will make the change'. In particular, European higher education institutions are called to stimulate entrepreneurship, tear down disciplinary borders and institutionalise strong inter-disciplinary academia-industry collaborations. According to recent surveys, access to talented people is by far the most important factor influencing the location choices of European founders of start-ups. Entrepreneurship education, training opportunities and the development of creative skills play a key role in cultivating future innovators and in developing the abilities of existing ones to grow their business to greater levels of success. Access to entrepreneurial talent, together with access to professional services, capital and markets on the Union level, and bringing key innovation actors together around a common goal are key ingredients for nurturing an innovation ecosystem. There is a need to coordinate efforts across the Union in order to create a critical mass of interconnected Union-wide entrepreneurial clusters and ecosystems. The EIT is today's Europe's largest integrated innovation ecosystem which brings together partners from business, research, education and beyond. The EIT continues to support its KICs, which are large-scale European Partnerships addressing specific global challenges, and strengthen the innovation ecosystems around them. It does so by fostering the integration of education, R&I of the highest standards, thereby creating environments conducive to innovation, and by promoting and supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs and stimulating the creation of innovative companies in close synergy and complementarity with the EIC. Throughout Europe, efforts are still needed to develop ecosystems where researchers, innovators, industries and governments can easily interact. Innovation ecosystems, in fact, still do not work optimally due to a number of reasons such as: (a) interaction among innovation players is still hampered by organisational, regulatory and cultural barriers between them; (b) efforts to strengthen innovation ecosystems shall benefit from coordination and a clear focus on specific objectives and impact. To address future societal challenges, embrace the opportunities of new technologies and contribute to environmentally friendly and sustainable economic growth, jobs, competitiveness and the well-being of Europe's citizens, there is the need to further strengthen Europe's capacity to innovate by: strengthening existing and fostering the creation of new environments conducive to collaboration and innovation; strengthening the innovation capabilities of academia and the research sector; supporting a new generation of entrepreneurial people; stimulating the creation and the development of innovative ventures, as well as strengthening the visibility and recognition of Union funded R&I activities, in particular the EIT funding to the wider public. The nature and scale of the innovation challenges require liaising and mobilising players and resources at European scale, by fostering cross-border collaboration. There is a need to break down silos between disciplines and along value chains and nurture the establishment of a favourable environment for an effective exchange of knowledge and expertise, and for the development and attraction of entrepreneurial talents. The Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT shall ensure coherence with the challenges of the Programme, as well as complementarity to the EIC.