Horizon Europe programme analysis

Evaluating Horizon Europe

The interim evaluation of Horizon Europe was adopted on 30 April 2025, revealing that EU investment into research and innovation delivers high value for money. 

As laid out in Article 52 of the Regulation establishing Horizon Europe, evaluations will be carried out in a timely manner to feed into the decision-making process on Horizon Europe and future framework programmes.

The interim evaluation of Horizon Europe assesses the programme's effect based on its indicators and targets and provides a detailed analysis of the degree to which the programme is

• relevant
• effective
• efficient
• providing enough EU added-value
• coherent with other EU policies

• Factsheet
• 30 April 2025

Horizon Europe at Midterm

Horizon Europe interim evaluation, delivering high returns for citizens and the economy.

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Key takeaways from the interim evaluation include:

• Impact:  At its halfway point in January 2025, the programme has funded over 15,000 projects with a combined budget of more than €43 billion. Initiatives such as fuel cell electric buses in European cities, new antibiotics, and accessible artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the scientific community highlight Horizon Europe’s tangible impact.
• Scientific excellence: 80% of projects funded by the European Research Council have led to scientific breakthroughs or major advances. Since their launch in 1984, EU research and innovation programmes have supported 35 Nobel Prize winners.
• Innovation:  Every euro invested in innovative companies through the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund has attracted over three euros from private investors. This shows that the EIC - a novelty under Horizon Europe - is a game-changer in EU support for startups and scaleups.
• Participation: Efforts to close the research and innovation divide among EU Member States are yielding positive results. The share of collaborative projects involving ‘Widening’ countries (those with lower research and innovation performance) has risen to 58%. This is a significant rise from 47% under the previous Horizon 2020 programme.
• Simplification:  Lump sum grants – a fixed amount to cover the entire project – are estimated to reduce beneficiaries’ administrative costs by 14% to 30% over a project’s lifetime, saving up to €63 million across all lump sum projects signed so far. These grants eliminate financial reporting requirements, making them particularly attractive to small-and-medium-sized enterprises and newcomers.

Documents

• Staff Working Document
• Communication
• Annexes

Evaluation timeline

Monitoring Horizon Europe

Key Impact Pathways - a modernised monitoring approach

The Commission’s proposal for Horizon Europe includes a ground breaking approach for capturing and communicating impact - the Key Impact Pathways. This approach aligns with a new level of ambition to boost the diversity of impact of EU research and innovation funding.

The objective is to allow policy makers and the wider public to get regular insights regarding the effects and benefits of the programme or European science, the economy and wider society.

The Key Impact Pathways will allow the Commission to capture and communicate the difference we are making around 9 key story lines during and after the programme.

Horizon Europe monitoring and evaluation framework

A Staff Working Document published by the Commission in 2023 describes the intervention logic of Horizon Europe, explains the evidence that will be used for designing, informing and improving the programme, including a comprehensive set of data and indicators.

It responds to the requirements set out in the Communication on the performance framework for the EU budget under the 2021-2027 MFF for each programme to have a monitoring and evaluation framework.

Key Impact Pathways

Final report

To find out more about the Key Impact Pathways:

• Indicator methodology and metadata handbook
• Operationalisation plan for IT systems
• Baseline and benchmark report

Impact assessment of the Horizon Europe proposal

The impact assessment of Horizon Europe provides evidence-based policy and design recommendations. These include elements unique to the programme such as EU missions and a fully-fledged European Innovation Council.

The impact assessment for Horizon Europe was published in June 2018. It was drafted in line with the Commission’s better regulation guidelines and builds on

• evidence and lessons learned from the interim evaluation of the preceding programme, Horizon 2020
• recommendations of the independent high-level group on maximising the impact of EU research and innovation
• results of a stakeholder consultation