The European Parliament gave its consent on 5 April 2017 to an additional € 200 million for Horizon 2020, by adopting a compromise on the mid-term review of the EU budget, reached with EU Member States on 7 March. The final and formal approval of the European Council is expected in the coming weeks.

The € 200 million top-up for Horizon 2020 is part of additional means amounting to € 6 billion that will “allow the Commission to direct additional funding into key areas, such as boosting market-creating innovation as well as supporting excellent research, the sharing of big data and bridging the innovation divide between the countries in Europe", explained Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation.

A part of the € 200 million Horizon 2020 top-up – € 50 million – was already adopted through the 2017 voted budget. The breakdown of the additional funding reflects proportionally the Commission’s proposal from October 2016:


•    € 45 million for High Performance Computers, under Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies part of Horizon 2020 (of which € 16.7 million were already included in the 2017 budget)
•    € 55 million for the Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation part of Horizon 2020 (of which € 16.7 million were already included in the 2017 budget)
•    € 50 million for the European Research Council (of which € 16.7 million were already included in the 2017 budget)
•    € 50 million for the European Innovation Council (on t Innovation in SMEs RTD budget line)


Source: European Commission, DG RTD