- Action 10: Make EU R&I missions and partnerships key contributors to the ERA
-
The assessment of the implementation of EU Missions of July 2023 highlighted the potential of EU Missions and the many achievements they have made in their respective fields thus far. The assessment considered Missions to be ‘timely and inspirational initiatives’ that stimulate efforts in key EU priority areas and help align local, regional and national efforts towards these shared goals.
Horizon Europe has built upon the public-private and public-public partnerships that existed under Horizon 2020 to establish an overarching umbrella of European Partnerships. Under Horizon Europe, three types of partnerships have been established: Co-programmed European Partnerships, Co-funded European Partnerships and Institutionalised European Partnerships. In June 2021, the Commission approved the memoranda of understanding for 11 Co-programmed Partnerships between the Commission and industry, aligned with priorities of the green and digital transitions.
Co-funded partnerships involve Member States, research funders and public authorities. Institutionalised partnerships involve the EU, Member States, and/or industry and are implemented where objectives cannot be met through other areas of Horizon Europe. The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Knowledge and Innovation Communities are examples of Institutionalised Partnerships.
European Partnerships play a central role in delivering the ERA, pooling research and innovation investments from the EU, Member States, third countries, regions and other public and/or private sources. The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) is a particularly successful example, bringing together 60 partners from 25 countries, aligning national programmes at pan-European scale, and mobilising EUR 450 million planned investments over seven years.
The Partnership Knowledge Hub (PKH) was established in 2021 to aid the Commission in the implementation and coordination of European Partnerships. The PKH is in charge of conducting biennial monitoring of European Partnerships. The first monitoring report has been completed in April 2022. Further, an annual European Partnership Stakeholder Forum is held to provide a platform for the entire partnership community with the aim to connect and share knowledge as well as experience.
Data from the 2023 OECD STIP Survey indicates the estimated level of funding attributed to each policy action. As shown in the figure below, there is a relatively similar distribution of policies across funding levels, with the largest number falling into the bracket of 5M-20M (46). On the lower end of budget ranges, 32 policies fall into the budget range of < EUR 1M and 30 policies have a budget between EUR 1M-5M. Less policies fall in the upper mid-range, as 24 policies have a budget between 20M-50M and 22 have a budget between EUR 50M-100M. On the higher end of budget ranges, 32 policies have a budget of EUR 100M-500M and 30 have a budget larger than EUR 500M. The majority of direct financial support instruments were attributed a budget of 20M or less, whereas there was a more even distribution of budget attributed to governance and collaborative infrastructure policy instruments.
Figure 29: Action 10: Distribution of budget per policy instrument
An example of a policy that has a budget of over EUR 500M includes the European Union's Horizon Europe Missions and European Partnerships initiatives themselves, as well as the European Green Deal Investment Plan.
National policy examples (reported via the OECD STIP Survey)
An example is Austria's RTI Pact for 2021-2023, which operationalised the goals of the country's RTI Strategy 2030, linking the strategy with funding and implementing institutions. One of the main objectives of the RTI Pact is to particularly increase Austria's participation in EU Missions and European Partnerships.
Other countries have established policies especially dedicated to Action 10. For example, Slovenia established a dedicated policy for the national coordination of European Partnerships, providing structures for discussion and operational modalities for specific partnerships.
Greece created a national initiative dedicated to Action 10 that coordinates and facilitates cooperation on EU Missions and European Partnerships.
The 2023 OECD STIP Survey also collects information on the type of policy instruments. The majority of policy instruments related to Action 10 across the EU Member States are governance measures (52%), which includes the creation of strategies or standards, changes to governance structures or regulation, policy intelligence and consultation activities, and public awareness campaigns or other outreach activities. This is then followed by direct financial support initiatives (34%), which include institutional funding, grants, procurement programmes and other forms of financial support. 10% of the policy instruments are related to collaborative infrastructures (10%), or networking platforms, technical infrastructure, or access to data and information.
The main three types of policy instruments follow the needs of Action 10 for Member States to align their R&I strategies with the ERA, provide financial support to relevant projects, and to establish infrastructure to support the work of partnerships.
- Action 11: An ERA for Green Energy Transformation
-
Based on the Council Conclusions of 1 December 2020, the Commission and interested Member States kicked off the process for a green hydrogen R&I ERA pilot action. The ‘Agenda Process on the ERA pilot on Green Hydrogen’ was built around three thematic workshops on transport and infrastructure, market stimulation and production throughout 2021 to identify urgent research and innovation questions for Green Hydrogen competitiveness. The results of the agenda process were summarised in a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) on green hydrogen – the major outcome of the R&I initiative within the ERA – and were published on 18 March 2022.
In the Commission Staff Working Document (2022) ‘Building a European Research Area for clean hydrogen – the role of EU research and innovation investments to deliver on the EU’s Hydrogen Strategy’ the European Commission details how it will jointly with the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking actively promote and support activities to ensure implementing the ERA Pilot on green hydrogen.
The Temporary Working Group (TWG) on hydrogen was set up in 2023 to implement the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) of the European Research Area (ERA) pilot on green hydrogen and coordinate the work on hydrogen. It will be supported by a Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action.
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) aims to accelerating the deployment of clean energy-technologies. It provides a common vision, goals and coordination for accelerating the development and deployment of efficient and cost-competitive low-carbon energy technologies. The SET Plan was established in 2007 and since the creation of the Energy Union, it became one of the main instruments of the Energy Union’s 5th pillar on research, innovation, and competitiveness. However, since the last SET Plan update in 2015, the EU energy policy agenda has considerably changed and ERA Action 11 underlines the need for a revision, which is ongoing at the time this report is written. A Commission Communication on the SET Plan and a SET Plan Conference are envisaged for autumn 2023 to communicate the changes to the public.
The revision of the SET-Plan aims at redirecting the SET Plan’ scope and objectives to have R&I on energy together with the Member States. Furthermore, it aims at better supporting the European Green Deal, REPowerEU, ERA policy and the Green Deal Industrial Plan, and thus accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, including clean energy. Connecting the activities of Member States and the Commission will be essential to make the EU less dependent on energy imports and to improve the sustainable energy value chain, through research and deployment activities, This includes the Fit for 55 packages, the 2050 decarbonization target, the REPowerEU initiative, as well as the ERA Policy Agenda. Continued support for long-term research on new clean energy sources will be ensured.
One sub-activity of Action 11 proposes a pathway for future collaboration between policy makers, researchers, and stakeholders through a new action (ERA4FutureWork), addressing current technological, political and societal changes that impact the future of work. R&I attention should be directed towards these changes to facilitate citizen-friendly outcomes. Within this sub-action, workshops are being organised, of which two have been held already in 2023 on the green transition and working life and on the digital transition and working life.
National policy examples
In various EU Member States there are policies or programmes within which governments support the clean energy start-up policy area in order to contribute to the EU’s long-term strategy of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and to increase renewable energy sources in the EU’s energy mix. For instance, in Germany, the Start Up Energy Transition programme provides a cash prize, global publicity and stakeholder dialogues for clean energy start-ups from around the world, which have created at least one prototype.
In Sweden, the Swedish Energy Agency runs programmes which provide funding for projects to guide energy innovators to the next level of maturity. According to Eurostat, in 2021, Sweden was the Member State with the highest share of energy from renewable sources. There are various R&D schemes and programmes in place that aim at contributing to the ambitious goal to generate 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2040:
-
The Sustainable Wind Energy Expansion program is a small R&D grant scheme to support the technological advancement of the wind energy sector;
-
Bio+ program is a broad interdisciplinary R&D program for activities related to the use of biomass and biofuels that was launched in 2021;
-
Climate leap is a broad R&D funding program for local and regional emission reduction measures in different sectors, including energy. The program prioritizes the diffusion of new technologies, improved public health and employment. The program includes the improvement of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The 2023 OECD STIP Survey provides additional insightful information on the policy instruments related to Action 11, which fall mostly into two categories: governance and direct financial support. Collaborative infrastructures account for the remaining policy instrument. The budget of the policies related to Action 11 are well spread between smaller and larger budgets, as shown in the figure below. The initiatives with budgets of over EUR 500 million include national strategies such as the German National Hydrogen Strategy or key priorities within the Spanish Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation, which includes actions focusing on green energy transformations.
Figure 30: Action 11: Distribution of budget per policy instrument
-
- Action 12: Accelerate the Green/Digital Transition Of Europe’s Key Industrial Ecosystems
-
The two ERA Industrial Technology Roadmapslow-carbon technologies in energy-intensive industries (published in April 2022) and circular technologies in textiles, construction and energy-intensive industries (published in January 2023) collected evidence about the current status and the future outlook for R&I development of new green technologies. They mapped the way forward for research and innovation in industry with a focus on bridging the innovation gap between EU countries and better exploiting research and innovation results. The Roadmaps assess the participation of the industry in R&I to increase market introduction of relevant technologies. The insights from the roadmaps facilitate the identification of common action areas to enable faster progress along the research stages. They provide a solid basis for a consultation process on the broader R&I needs of industry.
The roadmaps were prepared by the Commission in consultation with Member States, Associated Countries, as well as with representatives of industry and research and innovation stakeholders across the EU. This co-creative action aimed at ensuring the alignment of research and innovation investment plans at EU and national levels.
As a follow-up to the roadmap for low-carbon technologies in energy-intensive industries, the Commission published the report ‘Scaling up innovative technologies for climate neutrality’ mapping close to 200 EU-funded demonstration projects in these industries and developed an interactive tool publicly available displaying these demonstrators on a map. A Mutual Learning Exercise on Industrial Decarbonisation was also launched in April 2023, with involvement of 10 Member States and 2 Associated Countries. The MLE will run until March 2024 facilitating exchange of experience and knowledge in the following fields: (i) overview of industrial technology roadmaps and national strategies; (ii) policies, design and financing for R&I investments in development, uptake and deployment of low-carbon technologies; (iii) actors’ engagement; and (iv) framework conditions (regulatory framework, permits for demonstrators and ‘first-of-a-kind’ pilots, IPR, technology infrastructures, knowledge and data’. In addition, the MLE on a Whole-of-government approach (WGA) in research and innovation, which started in November 2022 and will run until March 2024, includes topic 4 on ‘Green Transition: Implementation of Industrial Technology Roadmaps through WGA’, which complements the work on industrial decarbonisation and circular strategies by facilitating knowledge and experience on the institutional set-up across five Member States.
Technology Infrastructures are understood as facilities, equipment, capabilities and support services required to develop, test and upscale technology to advance from validation in a laboratory up to higher TRLs prior to competitive market entry. They include, for example, pilot lines, test facilities, digital innovation centres, open innovation testbeds, demonstration sites or living labs. Technology infrastructures are critical for the development of new technology-based innovative products and services.
With a view to develop a European coordination mechanism for Technology Infrastructures, the Commission has launched a study that will provide mapping of strategies, programmes and initiatives, targeting Technology Infrastructures, at European, national and regional level. The final report will be published in spring 2024. The Commission is also setting up an informal expert group to provide advice on the industrial needs, improving accessibility of Technology Infrastructures, investment programmes and strategic pilot areas.
Regarding the steps taken on to develop a policy framework to support industrial support fundamental research at national and EU levels to generate pioneering knowledge and innovation (Activity 12.3), a hybrid workshop with the participation of about 450 representatives of government, business, research and academia, was organised on 27 March 2023 by the European Commission, Technical University in Munich, and DEEP Ecosystems in Munich (Germany) on ‘Leveraging the deep tech green transition and digital solutions to transform EU industrial ecosystems. The workshop report highlights the importance of stimulating finance/investment for deep-tech, improving the availability of relevant infrastructures, creating robust exit opportunities, and strengthening the role of the ecosystem in bringing together the stakeholders.
Activities aimed at addressing social adaptation of the green and digital transitions (Activity 12.4) have been limited so far. However, a workshop is planned at the end of 2023 under Action 12 to discuss the role of Industry 5.0 as an emerging paradigm of a future-proof industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society focusing on three pillars: sustainability, human-centricity and resilience.
The 2023 OECD STIP Survey identifies four types of policy instruments in EU Member States related to Action 12: governance, direct financial support, collaborative infrastructures as well as guidance, regulation and incentives. The distribution of such policies according to their budget demonstrates a significant diversity of the levels of funding (Figure 31). Smaller budgets are typically made available for collaborative infrastructures and guidance, while larger budgets are more common in the area of direct financial support. Policies targeting governance have typically smaller budgets (up to 5M EUR), but there are also individual policy initiatives in this area with budgets over 500M EUR. Examples of initiatives with budgets exceeding EUR 500 million include the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) Strategy focusing on supporting the development of innovations in Poland and the Research for Sustainability (FONA) Strategy in Germany.
Figure 31: Action 12: Distribution of budget per policy instrument
- Action 13: Empower Higher Education Institutions
-
For the implementation of ERA Action 13 the ERA Forum Subgroup ‘Universities for ERA’ has been established. This subgroup met twice between March and May 2023. The second meeting discussed avenues for a better coordination between the Member States and the EU level to raise excellence in (networks of) universities and support trailblazer (networks of) institutions. Additionally, a break-out session was devoted to discussing an action plan. The most feasible and relevant actions, on the short (2025), medium (2026-2027), and long term (>2027), as well as fostering synergies with education and alignment with EU, national and regional policies were reviewed.
In its 2022 Communication on a European strategy for universities, the European Commission sets out its plans to support and enable universities to adapt to changing conditions, to thrive and to contribute to Europe’s resilience and recovery. In order to equip researchers with the skills needed for a career within and outside of academia, in 2023 the European Commission tabled a Council Recommendation on a ‘European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe’.
The Commission has identified universities as actors of change in the twin green and digital transitions. The Commission has set up a structured dialogue with Member States on digital education and skills to agree jointly on the key enabling factors to make digital education and training effective and inclusive. The Digital Europe Programme and the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet activities provide support to enhance and recognise the efforts of universities driving the digital transformation.
One of the initiatives of the Communication is the Erasmus+ European Universities Initiative. Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and other EU and national instruments will join efforts to support transnational alliances of higher education institutions to develop and share a common long-term structural, sustainable and systemic cooperation on education, research and innovation, creating European campuses involving various universities where students, staff and researchers from all parts of Europe can enjoy seamless mobility and create new knowledge together, across countries and disciplines.
Within the Horizon Europe programme, the EU supports selected universities in the framework of the European Excellence Initiative to raise excellence in science and in value creation through deeper and geographically inclusive cooperation within alliances of higher education institutions. The European Excellence Initiative also aims at improving global competitiveness and visibility of Europe's higher education institutions, creating critical mass in key areas such as the green transition and Horizon Europe mission areas. Within calls published in 2022 and 2023, about EUR 70 million have been attributed to Higher Education Institutions under the Horizon WIDERA call.
The European Excellence Initiative is also connected to the European Universities Alliances selected under Erasmus+. As part of the 2022 Communication on a European strategy for universities, the European Universities Initiative is an initiative linking universities across the EU and the Neighbourhood to increase the quality of higher education. Following the 2022 Erasmus+ call for proposals, there are 44 European alliances which include approximately 340 higher education institutions in 31 countries.
This includes the EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Norway, Serbia, and Turkey. There are also approximately 1,300 associated partners from non-governmental organisations, enterprises, cities, local and regional authorities. One of the alliances focuses on the digital transition of universities (European Digital UniverCity), which is one of the main objectives of Action 13.
The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) is a renewed EU policy initiative that was published in September 2020. It proposes a way forward to achieve a high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education in Europe. Its key objectives are to support the digital transformation of the education and training systems in the Member States. Action 5 of the plan is particularly relevant for the ERA Action 13, as it concerns developing digital transformation plans for education and training institutions, including universities. The ERASMUS+ programme provides funding for cooperation projects that support the digital transformation planning of education and training institutions.
EURAXESS - Researchers in Motion supports researchers and innovators in their careers through a range of job offers, funding opportunities and free assistance in situations such as moving to other countries for work opportunities. It includes information, tools, and resources aimed to support career planning. National, regional, and local bodies act as EURAXESS centres that provide advice to researchers about their professional development.
In the context of policies related to Action 13, the 2023 OECD STIP Survey provides information on budget, Figure 32 shows that the funds allocated to policies strengthening ERA Action 13 are relatively high, but most policies are in the range between EUR 1M and 5M EUR, with the fewest policies receiving a high volume of funding (over EUR 500M). An example of the latter is the University Performance Agreements in Austria.
Figure 32: Action 13: Distribution of budget per policy instrument
The policy instruments related to Action 13 which are implemented across the Member States and at EU level fall mostly into three categories: direct financial support (49%), governance (24%) and collaborative infrastructures (26%), while guidance, regulation and incentives only account for 1% of the policies.
- Action 14: Bring Science closer to citizens
-
Increasing the engagement of citizens across the EU within the research ecosystem has been a priority in the EU in the past years, placing higher attention on citizen science initiatives. In 2015, former Commissioner Moedas identified three strategic priorities, described in Open innovation, Open science, Open to the world (the three O’s strategy). One important dimension of open science is citizen science and in 2016, the Council recognised citizen science as an open science priority.
Following this line of action, the EU developed the EU citizen science initiative through Horizon 2020, an online platform for sharing knowledge, tools, training and resources for citizen science. As part of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) (under Horizon Europe), the European Researchers’ Night continues to be organised under the MSCA and Citizens action. It aims to bring research and researchers closer to the public at large, with a focus notably on families, pupils and students.
In 2022, the European Commission launched its new flagship initiative Researchers at Schools as part of the European Year of Youth. It fosters direct interaction between researchers, primary and secondary school teachers and pupils. In this context, under the Horizon Europe WIDERAprogramme calls have been launched to support citizen science and the connection to society .
Recently, key initiatives and policies have been implemented to achieve the above-mentioned outcomes. Under the Policy Support Facility theMutual Learning Exercise (MLE) on ‘Citizen Science initiatives – Policy and Practice was developed. It aimed at facilitating the exchange of information, experiences and lessons learned, as well as at supporting and expanding citizen science through identifying good practices, policies and programmes at local, regional and national level, towards supporting and scaling up citizen science.
Similarly, the European City of Science was launched in 2022 during the European Year of Youth. This label is awarded to cities with a rich and diverse scientific landscape. It allows citizens, adults and children, as well as scientists, researchers, and research professionals, to exchange ideas and increase their knowledge on science and technology . The awarded city is also in charge of the organisation of the European Science in the City Festival, key initiatives in bringing citizen closer to citizens.
The last awarded city, Leiden, organised the EU TalentOn, an initiative aimed at bridging the gap between young talent, science and industry . Another crucial initiative is the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), the most important student science fair in the EU, showcasing the best of student scientific achievement in the EU and beyond.
National policy examples
There have been increasing efforts in the form of policies and initiatives at the EU level and at the country level. In Austria the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) has included Citizen Science as one of 12 Actions in the Austrian ERA National Action Plan, showing increasing commitment towards this action.
In Germany, citizen science has been systematically funded and embedded into national policies. Citizen science has been included both in the 2016 Green Paper and 2022 White Paper and a national platform ‘Bürger schaffen Wissen’ has been established.
In relation to the outcomes above-mentioned, there have been key achievements regarding Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! citizen science initiative, one of the main outcomes of this Action. This initiative was launched by the Trio Presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia in 2020 and, since 2022 it incorporated 8 additional EU countries (Austria, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria) showing an increasing commitment across the EU. In each of these 11 countries, successful pilot phases with a minimum of 15 citizen samples have been carried out involving more than 5000 young citizens as active participants and adding up to a collection of over 300 data sets that are currently being verified by local research partners.
The initiative has led to wide press coverage across Europe with 196 media reports (online, print, radio, podcasts) and 295 posts in social media (Facebook and Instagram). In addition, didactically elaborated education material on plastic pollution has been made available to teachers and beyond in 10 European languages: English, Portuguese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Bulgarian, German and Spanish.
In the context of policies related to Action 14, the 2023 OECD STIP Survey provides key information on policy initiatives and instruments being implemented both at the EU level but also across the different EU Member States.
Figure 33 illustrates that policies promoting Action 14 tend to fall under the smallest budget ranges, with 85 policy initiatives with less than EUR 1M of funding and only five with more than EUR 5M allocated to. This phenomenon is explained by the larger presence of governance and guidance policy instruments (implying lower budgets), which are among the above-mentioned expected outcomes.
Figure 33: Action 14: Distribution of budget per policy instrument