Adoption of the H2020 Work Programme 2018-20

27 October 2017. The European Commission announced how it will spend €30 billion of the EU
research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020 during 2018-2020, including €2.7 billion to kick-start a European Innovation Council.

Horizon 2020, the EU's €77 billion research and innovation funding programme, supports scientific excellence in Europe and has contributed to high-profile scientific breakthroughs.

Over the next 3 years, the Commission will seek greater impact of its research funding by focusing on fewer, but critical topics such as migration, security, climate, clean energy and digital economy. Horizon 2020 will also be more geared towards boosting breakthrough, market-creating innovation.

The 2018-2020 Work Programme will focus efforts on fewer topics with bigger budgets, directly supporting the Commission's political priorities:

• A low-carbon, climate resilient future: €3.3 billion
• Circular Economy: €1 billion
• Digitising and transforming European industry and services: €1.7 billion
• Security Union: €1 billion
• Migration: €200 million

Enhancing international cooperation
The new Work Programme also strengthens international cooperation in research and innovation. It will invest over €1 billion in 30 flagship initiatives in areas of mutual benefit. Examples include working with Canada on personalised medicine, with the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia on road transport automation, with India on water challenges and with African countries on food security and renewable energies.

LATEST 🇪🇺 NEWS!
Investing in the future with €30 billion funding available in final phase of Horizon 2020 #H2020 #InvestEUresearch 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/cA8vcgMYOx

— Horizon 2020 (@EU_H2020) 27 oktober 2017

The Sustainable Food Security call is Horizon 2020's main contribution to research and innovation in relation to Food and Nutrition Security in Europe and beyond. Its commitment to sustainability implies that particular attention is given to the interfaces between the economic, environmental and social dimensions of food production. The call advocates for food system approaches to tackle the inherent links between ecosystems, food production, the food chain and consumer health and wellbeing.

Download the ENHorizon 2020Work Programme 2018-20209. Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine,maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy (133 pages)

Targeted international cooperation
The following paragraphs is relevant for the entire 'Targeted international cooperation' section of the Work Programme, i.e. topics SFS-32-2018 to SFS-40-2020 inclusive.

FNSSA Africa:
In 2016 the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on science, technology and innovation (HLPD) has adopted the roadmap (Roadmap towards a jointly funded EU-Africa Research & Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture. Addis Ababa, 4-5 April 2016) for the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security & Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA). In support of the implementation of the R&I Partnership on FNSSA and in line with the ‘Joint communication to the European Parliament and the Council for a renewed impetus to the Africa-EU Partnership’[[JOIN (2017) 17]], a number of actions are proposed. 

The actions include: 

• for the overall support to the implementation of the EU-Africa R&I Partnership on a Cooperation and Support Action (SFS-33-2018); 
• for pillar I of the roadmap (Sustainable intensification) a portfolio of projects (SFS-35-2019-2020 and CE-SFS-36-2020); 
• for pillar II (Agriculture and food systems for nutrition) a research and innovation action (LC-SFS-34-2019). 
• Pillar IV of the partnership should be considered as appropriate in each proposal.

Proposals are expected to establish relevant links with other projects funded in support of the EU-Africa R and I Partnership on FNSSA, including those funded by previous Horizon 2020 work programmes and those funded by the EU’s development budget.