Horizon 2020, the EU’s €77 billion research and innovation funding programme for the period 2014-2020, supports scientific excellence in Europe and has contributed to high-profile scientific breakthroughs such as the discovery of exoplanets, first images of a black hole and development of advanced vaccines for diseases such as Ebola.

Today the Commission announced the budget plan for the year 2020 for Horizon 2020. Over the next year, the Commission will seek greater impact of its research funding by focusing on fewer, but crucial, topics such as climate change, clean energy, plastics, cybersecurity and the digital economy. It will also be geared towards shaping the future research and innovation landscape by preparing the way for Horizon Europe, the next framework programme (2021-2027). An important novelty under Horizon Europe will be the European Innovation Council – a one-stop-shop for innovation funding to turn science into new business and accelerate the scale-up of companies. The European Innovation Council is already running in its pilot phase and will in 2020 benefit from a budget of €1.2 billion.