Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the EU Commission (DG RTD)
2024
PPMI, Idea Consult
The European Commission has been promoting research and innovation in Europe for several decades, including through the funding programmes ‘Horizon 2020’ (funding period 2014-2020) and the successor programme ‘Horizon Europe’ (funding period 2021-2027). They aim to strengthen the EU's scientific and technological base, promote industrial competitiveness and tackle global challenges.
The programmes are regularly evaluated to assess their effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and impact on research, innovation and the economy in the EU. The evaluations are intended to ensure that the programmes achieve their objectives, work efficiently and create added value for the EU and its member states.
Both the Horizon 2020 programme, which has already been completed, and Horizon Europe, which is planned to run until 2027, have been and will continue to be examined. Together with PPMI and Idea Consult, Prognos undertook the evaluation of several sub-programmes.
Both Horizon 2020 and its successor programme Horizon Europe have been divided into three pillars. The pillars are to be understood as strategic focus areas that define the structure and direction of the programmes. They organise the funding of research and innovation activities in order to achieve the EU's goals in the fields of science, technology and society.
One of the three main pillars is ‘Innovative Europe’ (still labelled as ‘Industrial Leadership’ under Horizon 2020). This pillar aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe and make Europe a global innovation leader. It helps to promote novel, disruptive technologies and business ideas that can create new markets. It does this by supporting start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other innovative players.
As part of a consortium led by PPMI, Prognos, together with Idea Consult, prepared an ex-post evaluation of the already completed Horizon 2020 programme and an interim evaluation of the successor programme Horizon Europe with regard to its contribution to an innovative Europe.
In phase 1, innovation funding through the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 was evaluated.
The aim of this study is to assess whether the measures to promote innovation in the Horizon 2020 framework programme have achieved their objectives, what has worked well and what has worked less well.
The following programme components were analysed:
The study also includes an analysis of the contribution of the entire Framework Programme to the objectives of Innovative Europe, including the activities of the Joint Research Centre.
The study assessed the implementation of the Industrial Leadership pillar based on criteria such as relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, partnerships and the added value of Horizon Europe.
Relevance: Horizon 2020 strived to cover the entire innovation value chain. In other words, Horizon 2020 focused more on innovation and the creation of new technologies based on fundamental research results. Primarily oriented towards providing financial and non-financial support to innovative SMEs – and thus helping them in the final stages of commercialisation – the five analysed programme parts were particularly relevant in this context.
Efficiency: The allocation and management of budget funds was efficient in all five parts of the programme analysed. EASME achieved its goal of spending less than 3% of its budget on administrative costs. The other programme components also used the funds allocated to them efficiently. However, there was criticism of the administrative complexity and the high level of oversubscription. Improvements in these areas were considered necessary in order to accelerate the innovation process.
Effectiveness: The evaluation concluded that the analysed programme parts were successful in terms of whether they and their projects have achieved their objectives. These parts of Horizon 2020 contributed to a more competitive position for the European economy and were also seen as effective by most of the interviewed beneficiaries, though in terms of global positioning, the EU still lags behind the US and China.
Coherence: The evaluation study identified visible complementarities between the five programme parts. They all have a similar objective of strengthening the innovativeness of the EU’s R&I ecosystem. They also targeted different stakeholder groups and were implemented through different funding mechanisms, which helped to avoid overlap. For example, Eurostars-2 was complementary to the SME Instrument/EIC Accelerator Pilot, since it provided an entry point for start-ups and SMEs that had little experience with EU funding.
EU added value: There is a funding gap in the EU for high-risk companies with potential for breakthrough innovation. The programmes examined, such as EIT KICs, Eurostars-2, EIC Pilot Pathfinder and Fast Track to Innovation, offer grants and networking opportunities for pan-European networks. This enables SMEs with less experience to team up with experienced partners and develop their expertise to boost their business growth.
To the evaluation
Further information
To the Horizon 2020 programme (archive)
In the first phase of the project, Prognos worked with partners to develop five case studies on the Eurostars-2, Access to Risk Finance and INNOSUP funding programmes. Prognos also wrote the evaluation results on the relevance and European added value of the funding programmes in the final report.
The Innovative Europe pillar of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme includes activities that accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies and market-creating innovations and enable European SMEs and start-ups to become global leaders.
This interim evaluation analyses the effectiveness of the measures to support innovation within the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and identifies their achievements, successes and areas for improvement.
The programme components analysed in this study include
In addition, the study contains an analysis of the overall contribution of the Framework Programme to the objectives of Innovative Europe, including the activities of the Joint Research Centre.
The study assessed the implementation of the Innovative Europe pillar based on the criteria of relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, partnerships and the added value of Horizon Europe.
The interim evaluation shows that the Horizon Europe funding programme is making a substantial contribution to promoting innovation in Europe. The various programme components have already led to significant innovations.
Relevance: The programme has proven to be relevant to address the challenges of European innovation policy. The instruments of Innovative Europe, such as the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), have proven to be flexible to quickly address policy needs such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Efficiency: The efficiency of funding and application procedures has improved, particularly through the use of lump sum payments. This simplification could lead to a reduction in the administrative burden in the long term.
Impact: The programme has already had a significant impact on innovation. Between 2021 and 2022, 867 innovative products, processes and methods were developed. In addition, up to 63,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2033-2034.
EU added value: Horizon Europe has made a significant contribution to the creation of a European innovation ecosystem that goes beyond national measures. It enables the funding of innovative projects that could not be realised at national level.
Coherence: The programme shows good internal coherence, as various instruments such as the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) are well coordinated. Nevertheless, it was noted that synergies between EU and national programmes should be further strengthened.
To the Horizon Europe programme
Prognos and partners prepared case studies focussing on individual funding lines from Horizon Europe, such as the European Innovation Council, European Innovation Ecosystems, EIT and Eurostars 3.
The study also includes a preliminary evaluation of the Innovative SMEs Partnership, which is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe and includes Eurostars 3, the Innowwide programme and other accompanying measures.
The project team used the following methods to evaluate the programmes:
Project team: Justyna Kramarczyk, Dr. Jan-Philipp Kramer, Marie-Kristin Komendzinski, Diana Nadyseva, Jan Reichert, Dr. Thomas Stehnken, Victor Wichmann
Last update: 12.09.2024
On behalf of the EU Commission, Prognos and its partners examined the Eurostars-2 SME fund-ing programme as part of the evaluation study of the European Framework Programmes Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
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Prognos is one of the oldest economic research centres in Europe. Founded at the University of Basel, Prognos experts have been conducting research for a wide range of clients from the public and private sectors since 1959 – politically independent, scientifically sound.