EU missions – a new way to work together within Horizon Europe

20 October 2021

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EU missions.

EU Missions are a new way to bring concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges.

The European Commission introduced five new EU missions as a new and innovative way of working together and improving the lives of people in Europe and beyond. The EU missions aim to address major challenges in health, climate and the environment

The missions are embedded in Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion for the period from 2021-2027.

EU missions to deliver impact by putting research and innovation into a new role

EU missions are a new collaborative approach designed to address some of the major challenges of our time. Drawing on the experience of working together and mobilising resources on a large scale to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic, they provide a framwork for achieving specific targets within a set timeframe and rely on research and innovation to make an impact. They will also help to mobilise citizens, especially young people.

The five missions aim to deliver solutions to key global challenges by 2030:

  1. Adaptating to Climate Change by supporting at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient.
  2. Fighting Cancer by improving the lives of more than 3 million people through prevention, cure and solutions to live longer and better.
  3. Restoring Ocean and Waters by protecting 30% of the EUs sea area as well as restoring marine eco-systems, preventing/eliminating pollution and making the blue economy climate-neutral.
  4. Supporting 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by helping 100 European cities or more in their transformation towards climate neutrality by 2030 and turning these cities into innovation hubs,
  5. Establishing a “soil deal” for Europe by setting up 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils.
Horizon Europe Missions

EU Missions – a novelty of Horizon Europe

The missions are fully embedded in Horizon Europe. The first Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2021-2022, published in June 2021, includes a series of actions that pave the way for delivering the missions. It is due to be updated with a full research and innovation agenda by the end of the year.

The first calls for proposals on specific mission-related topics will be published by the end of 2021.

Luxinnovation, the national innovation agency, is the Luxembourg contact point for Horizon Europe.

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