EU invests €7.3 billion from Horizon Europe to enhance its competitiveness and talent growth
The European Commission is investing over €7.3 billion through its newly adopted Horizon Europe work programme for 2025 to strengthen Europe’s research and innovation engine and global edge. This will drive cutting-edge science, accelerate the EU’s green and digital transitions, and enhance Europe’s competitiveness.
The programme will help attract and retain top researchers in Europe and offer targeted support to those affected by war and displacement. As part of these efforts, the Commission is updating the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) 2023-25 work programme part to offer more support for Ukrainian scientists and to launch a new MSCA ‘Choose Europe for Science’ pilot, which will offer more support and opportunities for early-career researchers, including competitive allowances and longer contracts. This pilot is part of a €500 million package for 2025–2027 and the wider ‘Choose Europe’ initiative to make Europe a magnet for researchers, presented by President von der Leyen last week.
The work programme allocates 35% of the budget to climate action and 8.8% to biodiversity. This includes €1.14 billion for climate, energy and transport projects, and €833 million for food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment. 36% of its Horizon Europe funding supports the digital transition, with €1.6 billion earmarked for artificial intelligence development.
The Commission has started a simplification effort with the 2025 work programme to make it more accessible and user-friendly. Where appropriate, wider use of simplified cost options, such as lump sum grants, removes unnecessary financial reporting requirements for beneficiaries. 29 two-stage topics will allow applicants to first submit shorter proposals and only prepare full proposals if selected for the second stage. This will reduce the administrative burden for applicants.
