What are European Partnerships?
Since their inception in 2002, European Partnerships have become one of the key instruments of the European Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, and of the European Research Area (ERA). They are strategic instruments, which enable long-term collaboration between the EU's various partners.
European Partnerships bring the European Commission and private and/or public partners together to address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges through concerted research and innovation initiatives. This strategic alignment and pooling of resources makes them a key implementation tool of Horizon Europe, and contribute significantly to achieving the EU’s political priorities, such as the green and digital transitions.
By bringing private and public partners together, European Partnerships help to avoid duplication of investments and reduce the fragmentation of the research and innovation landscape in the EU.
Types of European Partnerships
Under Horizon Europe, there are 3 different implementation modes for European Partnerships.
Institutionalised European Partnerships
- Joint Undertakings (JUs) based on Article 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU): long-term collaborations with private (sometimes also public) partners requiring a high degree of integration
- Article 185 initiatives, based on Article 185 TFEU: long-term collaborations with public partners requiring a high degree of integration
Both Article 185 and 187 partnerships require the adoption of specific legislation and are implemented by dedicated structures created for that purpose.
- The European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs): Europe-wide innovation ecosystems that integrate education, research and entrepreneurship. They are established in compliance with the EIT regulation and the EIT’s Strategic Innovation Agenda.
Co-funded partnerships
Co-funded partnerships fund joint programmes of research and innovation activities between research and innovation funders. They are implemented through Horizon Europe Grant Agreements signed by the Commission and a consortium of partners, generally composed of research and innovation funders and other public authorities. Partners generally implement joint transnational calls as well as additional activities, with either 30% or 50% co-funding from Horizon Europe.
Co-programmed partnerships
Co-programmed partnerships are based on joint programming of research and innovation activities and mobilisation of additional activities by partners in line with the objectives of the partnership. They are based on a Memorandum of Understanding, which the Commission signs with industry associations. The EU contribution is implemented through Horizon Europe work programme calls, while matching contributions from partners are implemented under their responsibility.
The European Partnership portfolio
European Partnerships were identified as part of the Horizon Europe strategic planning process to ensure alignment with the programme’s priorities. The strategic planning process entailed a co-design exercise aimed at better aligning these initiatives with societal needs and policy priorities and fostering coherence, while broadening the range of actors involved.
In line with the better regulation agenda, the Commission carried out a dedicated impact assessment for institutionalised partnerships.
Additionally, in close consultation with Member States, the first Horizon Europe strategic plan identified 29 co-funded and co-programmed partnerships to be launched between 2021-2024.
In April 2024, the Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on the continuation of the EU’s participation in the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) under Horizon Europe for the period 2025-2027.
The Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027 includes a list of additional candidate co-funded and co-programmed partnerships to be launched during the second half of Horizon Europe. This brings the portfolio of European Partnerships to a total of 60.
European Partnerships have been identified as part of the Horizon Europe strategic planning process, ensuring alignment with the programme’s priorities.
The selected partnerships are divided across 6 areas:
- health
- culture, creativity, inclusive societies
- digital, industry and space
- climate, energy and mobility
- food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment
- partnerships across themes
Strategic coordinating process
As part of the strategic approach to European Partnerships, a new governance framework - the strategic coordinating process - has been established under Horizon Europe. The goal of this process is to support evidence-based policy for European Partnerships and a strategic vision of their landscape and performance.
It provides a consolidated view on the progress made by partnerships. By working together with EU countries and countries associated to Horizon Europe, it aims to increase the visibility and impact of participation in European Partnerships at national level.
Concretely, the strategic coordinating process aims to:
- support community building and mutual learning across partnerships
- raise visibility and strengthen stakeholder communication and consultation
- provide policy makers and partnerships with a better evidence base
- prepare strategic discussions on key policy issues
- ensure a feedback loop from national representatives and partnerships on the portfolio evolution, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
How is it implemented?
The strategic coordinating process consists of a number of well-coordinated elements:
At the core is the Partnership Knowledge Hub (PKH) that allows working-level interactions and meetings between the Commission, EU Member States, Associated Countries of Horizon Europe, as well as European Partnership representatives.
Since its creation, the PKH has published 2 opinions: one on the selection of partnerships under the 2nd Horizon Europe strategic plan and one on partnerships under ‘FP10’.
The Partnership Stakeholder Forum, an annual event bringing together the whole community, provides a venue for networking, broadening engagement, sharing of experiences and discussing policy and practical dimensions related to partnerships. The first iteration of the forum took place in 2022.
Biennial Monitoring Report
The Biennial Monitoring Report (BMR) on the performance of European Partnerships provides a regular assessment of partnerships, conducted every 2 years. It focuses on:
- Establishing a strong evidence base to support strategic discussions on partnership policies, ensuring their effective and efficient implementation across their entire lifecycle
- Enhancing transparency and raising awareness of the partnership portfolio and its overall impact
- Contributing to Horizon Europe's monitoring and evaluation efforts
A series of 4 BMRs will be published in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028.
At the core of the BMR is a common indicator framework for all partnerships developed by an independent expert group, which allows for a consistent and more comparative overview of their performance. Each BMR explores a select number of cross-cutting themes, which vary from one report to the next, offering fresh insights and analysis on key topics.
The first edition of the BMR was published in 2022, focusing on synergies and partnerships’ expected contribution to the green and digital transitions and resilience.
The second BMR was published in September 2024 following a dedicated launch event on 19 September. The 2024 edition of the BMR explores technological sovereignty and international positioning of European research and innovation.
A dedicated Commission expert group supporting the strategic coordinating process, active from 2021-2024, developed the common indicator framework for all partnerships, which allows for a consistent and more comparative overview of their performance. In addition to the first 2 editions of the BMR, the group has published reports on the development and illustration of a methodology for assessing the relevance of European Partnerships as instruments to address current and future European policy priorities (2023) and a report on recommendations regarding monitoring and development of the European Partnership landscape (2024).
Synergies
Under Horizon Europe partnerships are expected to establish formal and regular collaboration with other relevant research and innovation initiatives. This must be reflected in their governance models and joint actions.
The Prague Declaration on Synergies in the Research and Innovation Funding in Europe invited the main actors implementing or fostering the implementation of synergies (the European Commission, Member States and Associated Countries, European Partnerships and EU Missions) to take action, and the topic was widely discussed during the 2022 Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Since 2022, the European Commission has organised a series of directional matchmaking events for European Partnerships and EU Missions to explore potential for synergies on certain Horizon Europe Clusters/topics (e.g. environment, health, ICT, climate). In the context of these workshops, a toolbox of collaboration mechanisms has been presented and further developed.
Helpful resources:
Resources
ERA-LEARN
ERA-LEARN is a support platform for the European Partnership community that was created in 2009, funded as a support action (CSA) by Horizon Europe.
ERA-LEARN reaches out to all stakeholders including policy level, network managers, and researchers.
ERA-LEARN operates a unique database of partnership initiatives, calls and funded projects. The ERA-LEARN portal provides guidance and practical information on partnerships together with manuals, tools, reports and good practice examples on governance models and legal issues, the implementation of joint calls, and additional activities carried out by partnerships.
Documents
This report on the Performance of European Partnerships, also known as the Biennial Monitoring Report (BMR), aims to provide a strong evidence base to guide the implementation of partnerships and inform strategic discussions on the effectiveness of the new policy approach to European Partnerships in Horizon Europe and, where relevant, how it should evolve.
Latest
Research and innovation news alert: Today, the Commission published the 2nd edition of the report on the Performance of European Partnerships under Horizon Europe. These partnerships bring together a range of public and private partners who pool resources with the EU to address challenges.
Research and innovation news alert: The European Union, its Member States and countries associated to its research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe, have joined forces in a new European Partnership on Rare Diseases (ERDERA).
