EC invests €14 billion through Horizon Europe to boost global research and innovation leadership: the main work programme for 2026-2027 was adopted

The European Commission adopted the main Horizon Europe work programme for 2026-2027, a €14 billion investment designed to drive research and innovation (R&I) across the EU’s strategic goals. This was reported in a press release published yesterday, on December 11, on its website.

Responding to feedback from the research and innovation community, major simplification measures will reduce administrative burden on applicants and facilitate participation. The work programme is less prescriptive and 33% shorter than the 2023-2024 edition. It focuses on fewer, larger projects to maximise impact.

Key simplification measures include lump-sum funding for half of the call budget, which reduces administrative burden for participants. The programme features newcomer-friendly and small and medium-sized enterprises-focused topics to lower barriers for new applicants and small enterprises.

Additionally, 41 call topics will use a two-stage evaluation process, allowing applicants to submit a short proposal first, with full proposals requested only if successful. This approach, combined with anonymised evaluations in certain cases and streamlined proposal templates, aims to reduce bias and shorten the time to grant.

The adopted work programme texts have been made available in pdf form on the Funding & Tenders Portal under Work programme & call documents here.