Overview of the draft Strategic Plan 2025-27 of Horizon Europe

The Strategic Plan of the R&I Framework Programme is published twice per programme period and forms the basis for the preparation of work programmes and calls for proposals. The Commission is currently working on the Horizon Europe Strategic Programming for 2025-27, which should be finalised before the European elections.

Particular attention will be given to:

• Resilience and sustainability, in particular of health systems (cluster 1), critical infrastructure, disaster and threat management (cluster 3), as well as climate-resilient space infrastructure (cluster 4) and agriculture and food systems (cluster 6);
• Strategic autonomy, in particular in the areas of medical care (Cluster 1), critical raw materials (Cluster 4) and increased energy efficiency (Cluster 5);
• Addressing societal concerns about new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (Cluster 2).

Another important theme is structured cooperation with third countries, particularly in developing and delivering net-zero technologies with partners in the Mediterranean, Africa and Latin America.

In market-oriented research and innovation, the Commission is seeking to increase investment flexibility for the EIC accelerator. Unfortunately, EU leaders decided to cut the Horizon Europe budget by €2.1 billion as part of the mid-term review of the EU's 7-year budget. This will be reflected in the upcoming work programmes.

In addition, from 2025 onwards, social maturity (in addition to technological maturity) will be included in specific Cluster 5 calls for proposals.

From 2026, a new EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) will be launched in the water, marine and maritime sectors and ecosystems.

The Strategic Plan 2025-27 is expected to be published at the end of March.