Key updates of the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme

General context and strategic priorities

In a world facing accelerated transitions and increasing geopolitical tensions, research and innovation have never been more crucial to ensure Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and leadership. This new programme is the response, mobilising more than €7.2 billion to drive the twin —green and digital— transition while reinforcing the foundations of a fairer, safer, and more democratic Europe.

It is based on the Horizon Europe 2025–2027 Strategic Plan, the Competitiveness Compass, and the 2024–2029 Political Guidelines of the Commission. Its strategic orientations are threefold: the green transition, the digital transition, and the strengthening of resilience and competitiveness across Europe. All of this with a triple objective: achieving climate neutrality, digital leadership, and social inclusion by 2050.

Key updates

New approaches to simplification

One of the innovations is its commitment to simplifying participation. The number of topics has been reduced, descriptions have been shortened, and they have become less prescriptive in terms of impact, giving applicants more autonomy to design their own paths towards expected outcomes.

Financial management is also evolving, with more than 35% of the budget awarded through lump sum funding in 2025, paving the way for 50% by 2027. This change promises greater predictability and reduces the administrative burden for participants.

In addition, 29 topics will implement a two-stage evaluation, allowing applicants to first submit a short 10-page proposal. Notably, around 20 topics will undergo blind evaluation to limit bias and promote fairer assessments. Meanwhile, obligations such as the “Do No Significant Harm” principle and AI robustness checks have been simplified, enabling more agile proposal design.

Main research lines by cluster

In Cluster 1 – Health, the focus intensifies on the brain, including mental health and autism, along with a strong commitment to biotechnology and the integration of generative AI for faster treatment development. The pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance plans also continue under the “One Health” approach.

Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society will address new social challenges by combating hate, disinformation, and foreign interference while reinforcing democratic structures. A new partnership on Resilient Cultural Heritage will pioneer methods to protect cultural assets from climate impacts, while other actions will tackle gender-based violence, migration dynamics, and social inclusion.

Within Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society), the focus shifts to supporting the European Internal Security Strategy and the Counter-Terrorism Agenda, with strengthened actions to protect critical infrastructure, defend against hybrid and cyber threats, and prevent chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents.

Cluster 4 – Digital, Industry and Space includes updates on trustworthy, human-centric AI, while advancing preparations for a pilot mission of operations and services in space to ensure the sustainability of the EU’s space assets.

Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy and Mobility perhaps brings the fewest updates, continuing to follow the Clean Industrial Deal guidelines to promote decarbonisation, advance circular economy models, and enable the shift towards sustainable mobility.

Cluster 6 is the broadest and includes Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment. Highlights include initiatives to halt biodiversity loss in line with the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, promote water resilience, foster a thriving blue economy, and support sustainable food and bioeconomy strategies.

Changes in Strategic Initiatives and Cross-cutting Actions

New partnerships

A major development in the 2025 Work Programme is the launch of eight new European Partnerships in key areas for Europe’s strategic autonomy and industrial strength: Brain Health, Forests and Forestry, Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition, Resilient Cultural Heritage, Innovative Materials, Photovoltaic Solar Energy, Future Textiles, and Virtual Worlds. These partnerships aim to consolidate research efforts at national and European levels and deepen industry participation in Horizon Europe.

The EU continues to back Missions

With a substantial investment of over €652 million, the missions will address some of Europe’s most pressing social and environmental challenges through Living Labs and Lighthouse projects. These include building climate-resilient regions, improving cancer outcomes, restoring oceans and rivers, creating 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and leading the transition towards healthy soils.

New European Bauhaus (NEB)

The New European Bauhaus initiative continues to gain momentum by combining sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics to foster green, beautiful, and fair living environments. This year, the action will connect the green transition with social innovation, especially in neighbourhood regeneration and the development of new funding and business models.

Key budgetary figures

The Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme reaffirms its commitment to sustainability, with at least 35% of funding allocated to climate action. Additionally, 8.8% of investments will directly support biodiversity-related objectives.

At the same time, the programme maintains strong digital ambitions, with an estimated €2.7 billion (representing 40.4% of the budget) supporting digital transition initiatives. A significant share, €1.6 billion, is dedicated to AI development across various sectors, reaffirming Europe’s strategic position in emerging technologies.

In a divided world, the EU remains committed to strengthening international cooperation and global influence

International cooperation is deeply embedded in Horizon Europe’s approach. Nineteen countries are already associated with the programme, and new association discussions are ongoing. Beyond access to talent and technology, this cooperation framework strengthens Europe’s strategic alliances, ensuring alignment with the goals set out in the European Economic Security Strategy.

In a context of growing geopolitical instability, international cooperation through Horizon Europe emerges as a key instrument for advancing shared goals in science, innovation, and economic resilience.