Planning for the implementation of the 9th research framework programme, Horizon Europe, officially began early May with a meeting of the shadow programme committee, responsible for supervising the preparation of the implementation plan.
The initial meeting aimed at finding agreements on the ‘goals, method and steps for the strategic plan’ as well as on how the proposed Missions (high-ambition, high-impact initiatives on challenges that European citizens face), will be run and how the selection process for mission board members will be put into place. The results of the meeting will then be shared with EU national governments after which public drafts will be released from June to October, when they will be open to feedback from stakeholders.
EuChemS has closely followed the negotiations surrounding Horizon Europe, publishing a comprehensive position paper that emphasised the need to maintain excellence as a core criterion, boost the budgets for the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as well as ensure that third countries can continue to take part in the programme. You can read our position paper here.