Monitoring Horizon Europe
The implementation and the performance of the Horizon Europe programme is regularly monitored to ensure that the programme is delivering on its objectives.
Research and innovation impact often emerges after a project has ended. By using Key Impact Pathways (KIPs), we can better understand the impact of EU funding on research and innovation. KIPs offer continuous insights into the impact of funded activities, even after their conclusion, without requiring input from our beneficiaries. Designed to be time-sensitive, KIPs assess impact across short, medium and longer-term perspectives.
In 2023, the Commission published a Staff Working Document on the Horizon Europe monitoring and evaluation framework. The document explains more in detail the impact-driven approach built around the KIPs by going beyond traditional indicators such as funding and publication metrics and providing a clearer understanding of how EU-funded research actively contributes to policy priorities, global challenges and Europe’s competitiveness.
The framework foresees evidence-based policy making at every stage of the policy cycle:
- Evidence to design future strategic plans and work programmes
- Evidence to inform programme implementation through continuous monitoring
- Evidence to improve policy learning, with the overarching goal to ensure EU research funding delivers the highest possible EU-added value.
Programme Performance Statement of Horizon Europe
The Commission updates the public on an annual basis on performance indicators in the Programme Performance Statement of Horizon Europe. The PPS is part of the Annual Management and Performance Report of the Commission, shared with the Council of the EU and the European Parliament as part of the annual draft budget procedure (more info).
Horizon Europe’s PPS also includes information on budget implementation and an overview of progress relating to the financing of horizontal policy priorities in the EU budget such as climate, biodiversity, gender equality and sustainable development goals (SDGs), as well as digital transition.
Explore the monitoring reports on Horizon Europe
The Commission regularly publishes data-driven monitoring resources about Horizon Europe implementation:
- interactive Horizon Dashboard (on Funding & Tenders portal)
- thematic reports, also called monitoring flashes, on programme implementation, listed under Publications on this page (latest topics include: Technology Readiness Levels, EU Missions, gender equality)
- Specific studies on the estimated benefits of Horizon Europe (e.g. environmental impact, macroeconomic impact)
- An annual report on research and technological development activities of the EU, including monitoring data on Horizon Europe (latest editions: 2024 – 2023 – 2022)
- A biennial monitoring report on performance of European Partnerships (latest editions: 2024 – 2022)
Impact assessment of Horizon Europe
Impact assessment of Horizon Europe (2028-2034)
As part of the next long-term EU budget 2028-2034, the Commission is proposing to double the budget of the research and innovation Framework Programme, Horizon Europe to €175 billion.
Leading up to the impact assessment, several high-level reports were published:
- Mario Draghi’s report on the Future of European Competitiveness underscored the importance of embedding R&I at the core of the EU’s economy to drive sustainable growth.
- Enrico Letta’s report Much more than a Market advocated for free movement of knowledge to enhance research innovation and education in the single market.
- The expert group for the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe gave recommendations for making Horizon Europe more effective at aligning R&I with Europe’s strategic goals in their report Align, Act, Accelerate.
The next Horizon Europe programme will be closely linked with the new European Competitiveness Fund. A common impact assessment for the two programmes was published along with the legal proposals in 2025:
- Executive Summary of the Impact assessment report on the European Competitiveness Fund
- Staff Working Document Impact Assessment Report on the European Competitiveness Fund
- Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the European Competitiveness Fund including the specific programme for defence research and innovation activities
Impact assessment of Horizon Europe (2021-2027)
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
A new horizon for Europe - impact assessment for Horizon Europe 2021-2027
Evaluation of Horizon Europe
Interim evaluation of 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
Horizon Europe interim evaluation, delivering high returns for citizens and the economy.
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
Final evaluation of Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme running from 2014 to 2020 with a budget of nearly €80 billion, made a major contribution to building an EU society and economy rooted in knowledge and innovation and benefitted Europeans far beyond what could have been achieved at national or regional level.
The final evaluation of Horizon 2020 was published on 29 January 2024.
Read more about evaluations of previous EU research and innovation framework programmes.
Publications
Unveiling the impact of European framework programmes for R&I through a multi-level-perspective in socio-technical transitions research.
The working paper is an outcome of Evaluation study on the European Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation for addressing Global Challenges and...
Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) are a metric used to communicate the maturity of a particular technology. This analysis uses data collected from ongoing and closed Horizon Europe projects to provide an initial overview of the level of technological maturity that projects have achieved or expect...
Latest
Research and innovation news alert: As part of the next long-term EU budget 2028-2034, the Commission is proposing to double the budget of the research and innovation framework programme to €175 billion.
Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research and innovation programme for 2021-2027, is proving to be a major driver of economic and societal benefits.