What the 2021-2022 Horizon Europe work programme does

On 16 June 2021 the European Commission formally adopted the main work programme for Horizon Europe covering 2021 and 2022. The document sets the Commission's research and innovation priorities and specifies calls for proposals that together represent a total of €14.7 billion in funding. The programme is presented as contributing to the EU's twin transitions toward climate neutrality and digital leadership, while also supporting recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and reinforcing the European Research Area.

Headline allocations and priorities

The work programme identifies the Green Deal and climate action, digital technologies, and pandemic recovery as major spending priorities. The Commission framed the funding as spanning the full research and innovation cycle, from basic research and fellowships to market readiness and scaling support.

Practical next steps and dates for applicants

The Commission scheduled the first calls for proposals to open on the Funding and Tenders Portal on 22 June 2021. The European Research and Innovation Days on 23 and 24 June were set up as public moments to discuss the programme with policymakers, researchers and stakeholders. Horizon Europe information days aimed at prospective applicants were arranged between 28 June and 9 July to walk through calls and application processes.

How the Commission frames the work programme

Commission leadership highlighted the programme's aims. Margrethe Vestager framed it as support for 'top quality, excellent research and innovation' across the lab to market cycle. Commissioner Mariya Gabriel emphasised that with 40 percent of the programme devoted to sustainability, the programme would help make Europe greener and support the digital transformation. Those statements reflect political priorities that shaped the programme design.

International cooperation and strategic safeguards

Horizon Europe is 'open to the world' as a general principle. The Commission signalled a Global Approach to Research and Innovation orientated toward multilateral cooperation, and it flagged a first 'Africa Initiative' as a targeted external engagement. At the same time the work programme references Article 22.5 of the Horizon Europe Regulation as the legal basis for imposing limited participation restrictions in a small number of actions where EU strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security might be at risk. The Commission said such restrictions will be exceptional and justified in agreement with Member States.

Where Horizon Europe sits in the EU funding landscape

Horizon Europe is the EU framework programme for research and innovation for 2021 to 2027. The programme as a whole was designed around a Strategic Plan adopted in March 2021. The overall budgetary envelope for 2021-2027 is presented in related Commission material at approximately €95.5 billion. The 2021-2022 work programme forms an early tranche of the multiannual commitments and focuses on delivering against the plan's priorities across multiple pillars and clusters.

European Innovation Council, EISMEA and the EIC Fund role

The European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, known as EISMEA, implements EIC-related actions and manages programmes focused on SME support and innovation ecosystems. The EIC offers a suite of instruments including Pathfinder for early stage breakthrough research, Transition for market readiness, and the Accelerator for scaling businesses. The EIC Fund is a co-investment vehicle that complements grants with equity investments.

The EIC Accelerator application and personal data handling

The EIC Accelerator has detailed rules on how applicant personal data are processed. Those rules are significant for companies and individuals preparing to apply. The data protection notice sets out legal bases, third party processors, retention, and data subject rights under EU law.

Key practical steps in the Accelerator submission and selection flow include a Step 1 short proposal with a pitch deck and video, remote assessments by evaluators, an optional coaching phase for Step 2 full proposals, remote assessment of full proposals, and final interviews with an EIC jury. Applicants must register and obtain a Participant Identification Code and use EU Login credentials to access submission tools. Where applicants expressly consent, limited proposal data may be shared with National Contact Points, Enterprise Europe Network members or regional public actors for follow up services such as Seal of Excellence referral or regional funding assistance.

Data items collected can include names, contact details, CVs, competence descriptions and EU Login identifiers. For in-person or access controlled interviews organisers may collect date of birth, passport or ID numbers and employment documentation to verify legal/contractual links and to grant building access. Some optional items like social media links or photos are processed only with explicit consent.

The EIC and EISMEA materials also explain logging, cookie usage and analytics on EIC IT platforms. EU Login has its own privacy statement. The data notice emphasises that artificial intelligence tools may assist processing but that decisions are not automated and that human decision making remains the rule. Data subject rights include access, rectification, erasure where applicable, restriction, objection and the right to withdraw consent. Contact points include EISMEA helpdesk and the Agency's data protection officer. Recourse is available to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Contextual analysis and caveats

The adopted work programme sets out clear political priorities and commits significant funds early in the Horizon Europe cycle. That is intended to accelerate the green and digital transitions and to support post pandemic recovery. The practical effect will depend on the usual set of execution risks that accompany large public R&I programmes. These include administrative complexity for applicants, capacity of national and regional intermediaries to absorb and deploy funds, the speed of association of third countries to Horizon Europe and the ability to attract and mobilise private investment at scale for the investment components.

The programme includes safeguards for limiting participation in a very small number of actions. Those safeguards will shift the balance between openness and strategic protection in a politically sensitive direction. Monitoring and transparent reporting will be needed to judge whether restrictions are exceptional in practice.

Finally the headline figures reported by the Commission are accurate as policy commitments for 2021-2022. They are not guarantees of outcomes. The real test will be how calls are drafted, how selection and contracting play out, and how quickly ideas funded progress from lab to market at scale.

Contacts, resources and useful links

Key contacts and portals mentioned in the Commission and implementing agency material: the Funding and Tenders Portal is the primary entry point for calls and expert registration. Press contacts named in the Commission release include Johannes Bahrke and Marietta Grammenou. EISMEA operates the EIC and runs the helpdesk for applicants. Data protection contacts for EISMEA and recourse to the European Data Protection Supervisor are documented in the EIC data protection notice.

Short glossary of terms used in the programme

Final note

The June 2021 adoption of the 2021-2022 work programme was an early and visible step in operationalising Horizon Europe. It established concrete financial commitments aligned with political priorities. For applicants and stakeholders the important next tasks are to follow the call texts closely, weigh the administrative requirements, and factor in data protection and partnership implications when engaging with the programme.