Horizon Europe: What Is the Horizon Europe Program?

What Is Horizon Europe?

Horizon Europe is the European Union's framework program for research and innovation, succeeding Horizon 2020. With a budget of 95.5 billion euros for the 2021-2027 period, it is the world's largest research and innovation funding program. It aims to strengthen the EU's scientific and technological foundations, boost European industry's competitiveness and address major societal challenges.

For Belgian companies, Horizon Europe represents a complementary funding source to regional subsidies. The funded projects are generally more ambitious, longer and involve international consortiums. Technology SMEs can participate directly through certain dedicated instruments, or indirectly as subcontractors of participating partners.

Program Structure

Horizon Europe is organized into three complementary pillars:

• Pillar 1 - Excellent Science: funds cutting-edge fundamental research through the European Research Council (ERC), Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions for researcher mobility and research infrastructures. This pillar is oriented toward academic and fundamental research.
• Pillar 2 - Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness: this is the most relevant pillar for technology companies. It is structured into six thematic clusters: health, culture and society, civil security, digital and industry, climate and energy, food and natural resources. Projects in the "Digital, Industry and Space" cluster directly fund innovation in software, AI, cybersecurity and digital technologies.
• Pillar 3 - Innovative Europe: supports breakthrough innovation through the European Innovation Council (EIC), which funds startups and SMEs with high-market-potential technologies. The EIC Accelerator offers grants and equity investments for innovative SMEs.

Why Participate from Belgium

Belgium benefits from a privileged position in Horizon Europe for several reasons:

• Proximity to EU institutions: the presence of EU institutions in Brussels facilitates networking and access to National Contact Points (NCP).
• Strong research ecosystem: Belgian universities (UCLouvain, ULB, KU Leuven, VUB, UGent) are sought-after partners in European consortiums.
• National Contact Points: the Belgian NCP (hosted by BELSPO) provides free support to Belgian companies in partner search and application preparation.
• Complementarity with regional subsidies: a European project can be combined with regional subsidies for complementary activities not covered by Horizon Europe.

Relevant Instruments for Technology SMEs

Several Horizon Europe instruments are particularly suited to technology sector SMEs:

• EIC Accelerator: grants up to 2.5 million euros and equity investments up to 15 million euros for SMEs with breakthrough innovations. The funding rate is 70% for the grant component.
• Collaborative projects (RIA/IA): research and innovation projects involving consortiums of at least 3 partners from 3 different countries. Funding covers 100% of costs for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and 70% for Innovation Actions (IA).
• Cascade funding: certain Horizon Europe projects redistribute funds to SMEs through open calls for proposals. This is an accessible way for SMEs to benefit from European funding without building a full consortium.
• Digital Europe Programme: although distinct from Horizon Europe, this complementary program funds the deployment of digital technologies (AI, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, digital skills).

Concrete Example

Consider a European consortium of 8 partners (including 3 universities, 2 large enterprises and 3 SMEs) responding to a Pillar 2 call, "Digital, Industry and Space" cluster, on the topic of trustworthy AI for industrial SMEs. A Belgian technology SME participates in the consortium as a partner specializing in web platform development and AI integration.

The 36-month project has a total budget of 4 million euros, with 350,000 euros allocated to the Belgian SME. Funded at 100% (Research and Innovation Action RIA), these funds cover personnel costs, technical subcontracting and travel costs for consortium meetings.

The SME develops a trustworthy AI platform module that will be tested in three pilot factories in Germany, France and Belgium. The project allows it not only to fully fund its R&D for 3 years, but also to forge commercial partnerships with European industrials and gain credibility on the international market.

Application Process

1. Call monitoring: monitor the European Commission's Funding & Tenders portal to identify relevant calls in your field.
2. Partner search: use matchmaking tools (partner search tool), brokerage events and the NCP network to form a balanced consortium.
3. Proposal writing: the proposal is a structured document responding to precise criteria of scientific excellence, impact and implementation quality. Writing typically takes 2 to 4 months.
4. Online submission: the proposal is submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal within the call deadlines.
5. Evaluation: independent experts evaluate the proposal according to defined criteria. The evaluation process takes 3 to 5 months.
6. Negotiation and start: if the proposal is selected, a grant agreement negotiation phase precedes the official project start.

Conclusion

Horizon Europe offers exceptional funding opportunities for Belgian companies carrying ambitious innovation projects with a European dimension. Although the application process is more demanding and longer than for regional subsidies, the amounts at stake and the returns in terms of international partnerships justify the investment. For Belgian technology SMEs, participation in Horizon Europe can be a major growth accelerator. KERN-IT supports its clients in these European projects by handling the technical development of platforms and contributing to the technological sections of proposals.