Research and Innovation background
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion.
It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
The programme facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies.
It creates jobs, fully engages the EU’s talent pool, boosts economic growth, promotes industrial competitiveness and optimises investment impact within a strengthened European Research Area.
Legal entities from the EU and associated countries can participate. All funding information and procedures on how to apply are on the Funding and Tenders portal.
Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility
Cluster 5 of Horizon Europe aims to fight climate change by better understanding its causes, evolution, risks, impacts and opportunities, and by making the energy and transport sectors more climate and environment-friendly, more efficient and competitive, smarter, safer and more resilient.
The transport system needs to adapt to global realities such as climate change and digitalisation. Reducing transport's impact on the climate and natural environment is the most urgent priority, in order to meet COP21 Paris Agreement commitments and align with broader EU transport, climate and energy goals.
Research plays a crucial role in achieving the ambitious targets the EU has set in these key areas.
The Strategic Transport Research and Innovation Agenda (STRIA) outlines what the EU is doing to speed up the research and innovation needed to radically change transport.
Transforming transport will also be key to delivering the EU's next research and innovation funding programme and in particular the Horizon Europe Mission area on climate-neutral and smart cities.
Institutional framework of transport research
Transport-related research at EU level is mainly funded and commissioned by four Directorates-General of the European Commission, the Directorates-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), for Research (DG RTD), for Environment (DG ENV) and for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT).
Relevant European Commission Directorates-General and Executive Agencies:
- The Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport - DG MOVE
- The Directorate-General for Research and Innovation - DG RTD
- The Directorate-General for Environment - DG ENV
- The Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology - DG CONNECT
- The Joint Research Centre - JRC
- Eurostat - ESTAT
- The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy - DG REGIO
- European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency - CINEA
Funding Sources and Support Initiatives
Funding Programmes
- Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation for 2021-2027
- The Energy Infrastructure (Connecting Europe Facility) funding programme supports the development of high performing, sustainable and efficiently interconnected trans-European networks in the fields of transport, energy and digital services. The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (CINEA) implements most of the budget of the Energy Infrastructure programme. Between 2021 and 2027 CINEA will manage €25.81 billion to support transport infrastructure projects throughout the EU and beyond.
- The Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST, 1971–ongoing) is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology coordinating nationally funded research on a European level. Budget: € 250 million for 2007–2013.
- LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU. Since 1992, LIFE has co-financed more than 4500 projects. For the 2014-2020 funding period, LIFE will contribute approximately €3.4 billion to the protection of the environment and climate.
Networks
- EUREKA is a pan-European network for market oriented, industrial R&D.
Information systems
- The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) provides a network for strategic research in aeronautics and air transport to meet the needs of society and to secure global leadership for Europe in this sector.
- The European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) is the European Technology Platform for Rail Transport, set up at the initiative of the European Commission to achieve consensus on priorities for European railway research and to guide research towards a common strategy.
- The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) represents a diverse group of contributors to European road transport: consumers, vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, road infrastructure operators and developers, service providers, energy suppliers, research organisations, and cities and regions as well as public policy experts and authorities at European and national levels.