The EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation (FPRI) are the main instrument used by the European Union (EU) to implement its common science and technology policy. FPRIs date back to the 1950s.
The ninth programme generation «Horizon Europe» began in 2021. Over the years, FPRI budgets have continually increased while their thematic priorities have changed in response to the EU's political needs. Below is an overview of the development of the FPRI from their origins to today.
The EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation (FPRI) are a successful instrument of EU policymaking. Their origins can be traced back to two main sources. In 1957, the Joint Research Centre was established under the Euratom treaty for the purpose of conducting research in a single area (essentially nuclear fission). In 1983, the ESPRIT programme, which focussed on computer and telecommunications technology, was proposed by French President François Mitterrand.
On 25 July 1983, the European Council adopted a resolution instituting «framework programmes for Community research, technological development and demonstration activities» (Council resolution on framework programmes for Community research, development and demonstration activities and a first framework programme 1984 to 1987, 31983Y0804(01), adopted on 25 July 1983, OJ of 4 August 1983, p. 1, entry into force in 1984, repealed on 31 December 1987. In EU jargon, the term «resolution» refers to a decision). The following year, 1984, the first Framework Programme was established.
The aim of these Framework Programmes is to encourage a balanced scientific and technological development in Europe. The FPRI establish the scientific and technological objectives to be achieved, the criteria for selection of research activities, the corresponding priorities as well as financial indications. As an instrument, the FPRI are designed to further the development of more integrated research within the EU. According to the European Council resolution, research activities may be justified if they offer advantages over national activities. This is the principle of subsidiarity. The FPRI are prepared by the European Commission, which then presents its proposal in consultation with the EU Member States.
Figure 1: Progression of budgets over time
Figure 2: Progression of budgets by year
Figure 3: Relative development of thematic priorities
Given a budget of EUR 3.75 billion (expressed in Ecus back then), FPRI 1 is established for a period of five years and does not follow the calendar year. In fact, it ends some time after the launch of the second FPRI. FPRI 1 covers the following fields: energy (mostly nuclear fission), which accounted for about 50% of its budget; information and communication technologies (ICT, 25%); industry and materials (11%); life sciences and the environment (10%). Mobility initiatives and scholarships make up the rest of the FPRI 1 budget.
With the Single European Act in 1987, science falls under the responsibility of the European Communities for the first time. That same year, FPRI 2 is launched. The research fields change considerably. ICT now receive 40% of the total budget of EUR 5.4 billion (in Ecu equivalents) at the expense of energy, which falls to 20%. Industry and materials nearly double their share and new specific programmes, such as support for SME and international cooperation, are added. On 1 January 1988, the first Swiss project proposal within the FPRI is submitted by the "École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)".
FPRI 3 has a budget of EUR 6.6 billion. While ICT continue to be the largest research field, their share of the total budget decrease by five percentage points compared to FPRI 2. Energy funding continue to fall as well while life sciences (health and food) increase their relative share. FPRI 3 maintains the focus on exact and natural sciences and is subdivided into four thematic programmes: Enabling Technologies (ICT as well as industry and materials); Management of Natural Resources (environment, energy, and life sciences); Management of Intellectual Resources (fellowships and mobility); Centralized Action for the Dissemination and Exploitation of Knowledge Resulting from the Specific Programmes.
During this period, the responsibility for Swiss participation in the EU Framework Programmes is transferred from the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET, which at the time also included the Commission for Technology and Innovation) to the Federal Office for Education and Science (FOES). In return and due to its closer ties with the private sector, the Federal Council transfers responsibility for the Eureka programme over to the OPET. In 2013, the two federal offices merge to form a single federal agency: the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
FPRI 4 is a major quantitative and qualitative leap forward with respect to its predecessor. The total FPRI 4 budget (13.2 billion in euro equivalents) is nearly twice that of the previous FPRI 3 (6.6 billion in euro equivalents). In addition to existing research fields (ICT, industrial technologies, environment, life sciences, energy and transport, which account for 87% of the total budget), three horizontal programmes are added: International Cooperation; Dissemination and Exploitation of Results; and Stimulation of the Training and Mobility of Researchers. Up to and including FPRI 4, all participants in a given project receive roughly the same amount, except for the coordinator, whose remuneration is generally 10%-15% higher. A new improvement is that all specific programmes are now launched at the same time.
FPRI 5 changes little with respect to its predecessor. It is limited to four thematic programmes and three horizontal programmes (which are essentially the same three programmes as under FPRI 4 but named differently). Its budget is somewhat higher: 15 billion in euro equivalents. Over the course of the Programme, some projects begin to reach very sizeable proportions, exceeding 80 partners in some cases. However, projects may become very unbalanced, with some partners performing much more important tasks than others and receiving a budget far higher than that allocated to other partners.
FPRI 5 drops the socio-economic factor as a criterion for the awarding of funding. In the past, the European Commission paid particular attention to ensuring that partners from less advanced European regions would be included in European projects.
By the end of this period, Switzerland roughly reaches financial equilibrium in terms of investment and return.
FPRI 6 is given a total budget of EUR 17.5 billion. It is structured differently from FPRI 5 although most of its budget is still allocated to thematic programmes such as ICT, Health, Sustainable Development, Transport, etc. Horizontal activities are intended to structure the European Research Area (coined for the first time under FPRI 6). Euratom is among the main activities and run as a separate programme component.
Overall, a fine-tuning of themes can be observed with regard to FPRI 6. For the first time, fundamental research is considered a separate field. Moreover, two specific instruments emerge: Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence. Integrated projects are major endeavours comprised of numerous research groups receiving total budgets as high as EUR 30 million. Networks of excellence also receive a great deal of funding. The two instruments are aimed at sustainably integrating the research capacities of partners within a joint programme of activity.
During FPRI 6, in 2004, Switzerland becomes an associated member of the FPRI under the terms of its bilateral agreements with the EU. Researchers based in Switzerland are finally able to coordinate projects and have access to all research findings. Moreover, Switzerland is able to contribute to the elaboration of annual work programmes. Researchers are paid directly by the European Commission and no longer by the Confederation.
FPRI 7 brings about many changes. It now covers a period of seven years and is linked to the financial perspectives and therefore to the EU's overall budget planning. Moreover, FPRI 7 receives a total budget appropriation of EUR 55 billion, i.e. a real increase of 70% with respect to its predecessor (taking duration into account). This reflects the importance attributed to research in the Lisbon Strategy, which is intended to make Europe the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. As far as the thematic programmes are concerned, these receive a slightly lower budget in favour of fundamental research as well as fusion research to cover construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
One of the major features of FPRI 7 is the explicitly stated intention of the European Commission to include the research activities of member states, associated countries and the private sector within the European Research Area (ERA). Accordingly, the European Commission increasingly supports joint project funding. This may take the form of coordination efforts between research funding organisations from different member states in so-called ERA-NETs and ERA-NET+ (European Research Area networks); the alignment of national funding programmes aimed at building a lasting transnational programme to support R&D projects; and Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs). The latter consist in the coordinated definition and implementation at the EU level of research programmes devoted to major issues affecting the European society, with science and technology being largely open fields. New instruments are also created in collaboration with the private sector. The European technology platforms (ETP) are for example turned into Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI). On this basis, the European Commission is able to establish public-private partnerships involving industry, researchers and government agencies in member states and associated countries.
Referred to as Horizon 2020, FPRI 8 continues along the path charted by FPRI 7 towards integration of European research. Its budget stands at EUR 81.6 billion. As far as the thematic programmes are concerned, funding is further reduced from 59% under FPRI 7 to 53% under FPRI 8 in favour of fundamental research (from 13.7% to 17%) and the new Access to Risk Finance programme (3.7%). FPRI 8 is noteworthy because it institutes a new European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a sort of European MIT.
The Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence, instruments which were phased out during FPRI 7, are partly replaced in Horizon 2020. The European Commission launches two enormous projects, so-called Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagships with budgets of half a billion Swiss francs over a period of ten years. FET Flagships are based on the principle of matching funds and funding may be sourced from member states, associated countries and/or the private sector. The European Commission may also take part in Public-Public Partnerships (P2P) comprised of several member states. Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) should also be applied more broadly.
A new creation are the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), instruments of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). They were created to reinforce cooperation between research institutes, higher education institutions and the industry. One of the main features of Horizon 2020 is to integrate innovation to a greater extent into the Framework Programmes. Another new development is the facilitated access to risk finance for innovative companies. The European Commission notices that the gap between research and market applications can be huge in some cases. It wishes to close this gap by offering loans at more or less guaranteed interest rates.
The ninth European Union Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, runs from 2021 to 2027. With a budget of EUR 95.5 billion, It is the largest research and innovation funding programme in the world and the most ambitious such programme in the history of the EU so far.
Excellence in science continues to be funded and advanced by the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Knowledge-based innovations as well as the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will drive forward the EU’s industrial competitiveness and innovative performance.
The new Framework Programme for Research and Innovation aims to strengthen the EU’s science and technology base by investing more in highly qualified workers and cutting-edge research. Horizon Europe should also help to drive forward the EU's strategic priorities. This includes building a resilient, inclusive and democratic European society that is prepared for and able to respond to threats and disasters, and restoring and safeguarding Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity to ensure a clean and healthy environment. Guided by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Horizon Europe will therefore help in achieving green and digital transformation and strengthen the European Research Area (ERA).
Agreement (PDF, 442 kB, 29.01.2015)for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Union and European Atomic Energy Community and the Swiss Confederation associating the Swiss Confederation to Horizon 2020 — the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community complementing Horizon 2020, and regulating the Swiss Confederation's participation in the ITER activities carried out by Fusion for Energy
Impact of Swiss Participation in the Seventh European Framework Programme for Research (PDF, 9 MB, 07.08.2014)Report 2014, SERI
Swiss Participation in the EU‘s Seventh Research Framework Programme (PDF, 2 MB, 04.06.2013)Interim Report 2007–2012 – Facts and Figures
Effects of Swiss participation in EU Research Framework Programmes (PDF, 1 MB, 15.10.2010)Interim report 2009
Switzerland's Participation in the 6th EU Framework Programme (PDF, 1 MB, 18.12.2012)Facts and Figures 2008, SERI
