EU Adds €500m To Horizon Europe Research Programme
The European Commission is adding €500m to Horizon Europe for 2026 and 2027, with new calls covering research-to-market projects and nature-positive economic models.
The European Commission is adding €500m to Horizon Europe, lifting the EU research and innovation programme's budget to about €14.8bn for work scheduled across 2026 and 2027, Silicon Republic reported.
The amendment expands the programme rather than simply increasing an existing line item.
Two new cross-cutting calls will sit inside Horizon Europe, giving the Commission a way to fund projects that connect research policy, commercial deployment and long-term competitiveness before the next seven-year programme begins.
The larger of the two calls, Bridging Actions 2027, carries €260m in financing.
Its remit is the path from innovation to investment, with support designed to move research closer to market use.
The call is also meant to help prepare the EU's next research and innovation programme for 2028 to 2034.
Sixteen actions are listed under that strand.
They include an AI media platform described as modular, multilingual and aimed at public-interest news and audiovisual media; work connected to autonomous driving ambitions; research and technical facilities intended to make Europe a stronger destination for talent; and advanced scaling frameworks.
A second call, Transformative Change Towards a Nature-Positive Economy and Society, receives €237m.
That funding is aimed at research and innovation actions tied to nature-positive economic models, with the Commission tying the work to Europe's ability to stay competitive, absorb economic or social shocks, and make more of its own strategic choices.
The biodiversity strand has a more specific numerical target.
Eleven research and innovation actions are expected to support EU biodiversity goals and contribute to the 10pc biodiversity spending target in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2027.
Research and innovation commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva linked the amendment to priorities that attract and retain excellence in Europe.
Her statement also framed Horizon Europe as a career and company-building instrument for both researchers and businesses.
The funding decision follows another EU financing plan for deep-tech companies.
In August, the bloc outlined a Scaleup Europe Fund intended to help European businesses compete with US and Chinese rivals, building on a strategy first announced in October 2025.
That fund was described at €5bn.
Zaharieva's figures put the programme's reach at more than 151,000 young researchers and 20,000 companies, with more than half of beneficiaries taking part for the first time.
