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Research and innovation
News article16 May 2022Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

First report on the performance of European Partnerships under Horizon Europe

Today, the Commission released its first report on the ‘Performance of the European Partnerships: Biennial Monitoring Report 2022 on Partnerships under Horizon Europe’ (BMR 2022). The report provides an overview of the new Partnership landscape under Horizon Europe and establishes the basis for assessing their progress in future reports.

The BMR 2022 constitutes the first comprehensive monitoring of Horizon Europe Partnerships, using a set of common indicators and analysing their contribution to EU policy objectives and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It further provides a snapshot of the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, and Norway performance in Partnerships (‘country fiches), as well as of the individual European Partnership performance (‘Partnership fiches’). The report explores the added value of Partnerships by providing examples of outcomes and impacts.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: 

Horizon Europe supports EU Partnerships to deliver on the EU priorities for a resilient green and digital transition. The Biennial Monitoring Report 2022 is part of a new approach to partnerships and was long awaited, providing evidence-base information on the effectiveness of EU Partnerships and to guide strategic discussions on their future.

A total of EUR 55.3 billion, has been committed for the European Partnerships in the first Horizon Europe Strategic Plan (2021-2024), of this total, EUR 23.9 billion comes from Horizon Europe.

The report shows that European Partnerships:

  • are major contributors to both the digital and green transition, resilience, and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The report finds that the share of resources planned by Partnerships to contribute to these objectives is significantly higher in Horizon Europe than in H2020.
  • have become strategic policy instruments, which is reflected also in the increased interest and commitments to European Partnerships from the Member States and Associated Countries and industry that together have contributed to the total budget with a commitment of EUR 31.4 billion.
  • have a clear potential for synergies and cooperation between European Partnerships across Horizon clusters and with other policy instruments at the EU and national level.

In addition to the data and indicators used by the report to analyse the Partnerships at the Horizon Europe level, the BMR also reports on the progress of the EU Partnerships by analysing six  Partnership-level common indicators. These indicators are: additionality and directionality, coherence and synergies, openness and transparency, and international visibility, and they help to capture the agreed principles for the effective implementation and monitoring of European Partnerships.

Follow the presentation of the report at the online launch event (16 May, 14h30-17h00).

Background

The 2022 edition of the Biennial Monitoring Report on European Partnerships has been drafted by a Commission independent Expert Group on support of the strategic coordinating process, in very close cooperation with the Common Missions and Partnerships Service at the Common Policy Centre of DG Research and Innovation. 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland and 37 European Partnerships provided data for this report.

The Expert Group has been set up to provide analysis, insight and recommendations for developing a framework for reporting and monitoring on the progress made by all forms of European Partnerships. Besides drafting the 2022 edition of the Biennial Monitoring Report, the group published in June 2021 its first interim report with recommendations for developing a more harmonised and robust monitoring framework for Partnerships.

The European Partnerships are key implementation tools of Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme (2021-2027) and contribute significantly to achieving the EU’s political priorities. They are initiatives where the European Union, together with private and/or public partners (such as industry, public bodies or foundations) commit to support jointly the development and implementation of an integrated programme of research and innovation activities. Partnerships aim to improve and accelerate the development and uptake of new innovative solutions across different sectors, by mobilising public and private resources. Moreover, by bringing private and public partners together, European Partnerships help to avoid the duplication of investments and contribute to reducing the fragmentation of the research and innovation landscape in the EU. They will also contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal and strengthen the European Research Area. Partnerships are open to a wide range of public and private partners, such as industry, universities, research organisations, bodies with a public service mission at local, regional, national or international level, and civil society organisations, including foundations and NGOs.

More information

European Partnerships in Horizon Europe

Report on the performance of European Partnerships

Interactive presentation of the report

Details

Publication date
16 May 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation