Romania and Bulgaria are the only ”modest innovators” in the European Union, based on the 2020 European Innovation Scoreboard. They are followed by a batch of moderate innovators that are also ”led” by Central and Eastern European countries: Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece and Lithuania. 

Source: European Commission

​If we correlate this data to the participation of these countries in Europe’s main financing instrument for research and innovation – Horizon Program – we will find striking similarities. These countries are also lagging behind in sending in eligible applications to the European Commission (only 1.12% of the total applications were sent in by Romania and only 0,76% of the applications were sent in by Bulgaria, even though they cover 4.32% and 1.55% of EUs population). The net EU contribution to research and innovation projects in the two countries represent only 0.74% of the EU total. 

The top organizations that received Horizon financing differ in the two countries: for Romania the entity which received most money  was a SME, while in Bulgaria Sofia University attracted the biggest amount of grants – the total amounts used by these top organizations are similar in the two countries: 19,79 mil euros for the Romanian SME and 19,42 for the Bulgarian University.   

In a survey conducted by fonduri-structurale.ro in August 2021 in Romania, from 237 respondents (organizations looking for funding opportunities), more than 50% responded that they had little or no information regarding the Horizon program.

What’s next 

A mix between intensifying dissemination activities on funding opportunities and capacity building/support for organizations interested in developing innovative projects is needed. One strategy for less experienced organizations is looking for relevant partners active in strong innovation ecosystems that can bring knowledge in implementing such activities. Usually, Horizon projects are implemented by at least 3 organizations from 3 member states and the European Union encourages partnerships between countries situated on different levels of the innovation scoreboard. 

Another strategy can be looking for consultants that can assess whether the project idea fits the financing requirements of the European Commission or whether other national financing opportunities might be more suitable. In Romania, organizations will have the opportunity to receive vouchers for consultancy services for developing Horizon Europe projects through the newly approved National Recovery and Resilience Plan. 
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Finally, in the next financial period (2021 - 2027), the European Commission will support ecosystem building and ecosystems cooperation in order to facilitate cohesion in innovation throughout the union, including increasing awareness on EU funding opportunities for innovators.  Additionally, innovators from Eastern Europe can seek support through the Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence actions under Horizon Europe.  The actions will strengthen countries’ potential for successful participation in transnational research and innovation projects, promote networking and access to excellence.

Article courtesy of EAIC member, Fonduri Structurale

Feedback from the June 2021 cut-off

Based on a survey of 23 of its members, the European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) has released a position paper, which summarises the return of experience from the first batch of applicants about the design and usage of the submission tool.
 
To improve the robustness of the evaluation process, the EIC made significant changes to the EIC Accelerator submission process in 2021: a new 3-step submission process, a novel AI-based diagnostic tool, a new online application form, and a fully redesigned evaluation system. 

The new format proved to be successful in filtering out proposals that are not a good fit for the EIC Accelerator through Step 0 (diagnostic) and Step 1 (short proposal). This consequently improved the quality level of Step 2 applications, while unsuccessful applicants were recommended programs that may suit their proposals better instead of attempting to resubmit their application many times over.
 
The new format also generated certain criticisms mainly because it might lead the EIC to miss out some real innovation champions due to technical evaluation errors. In order to cope with the issue of “false negatives” and to improve the selection process further, the EAIC has put forward a series of recommendations, some of which are already being implemented already by the EIC:

•    Add simple control questions to the evaluation form to ensure proper understanding of the selection criteria, and implement a specific quality control process for cases awarded 8 “GOs” out of 9;

•    Add a “print to pdf” function for online form, as well as an improved table of content with hyperlinks in order to get a more comprehensive view, including hidden or collapsible fields, and improve the navigation throughout the document itself;

•    Make sure the evaluators’ background is relevant to the topic and their workload is within reasonable limits.

The data from the survey also demonstrated that, while the application workload is now 2.5x what it was in 2020, our members were able to achieve a success rate 3x above the average.

The EIC Accelerator has undergone a true revolution, with positive and negative consequences, but we are convinced that the minor improvements recommended in this paper can go a long way in reducing the risk of missing out real innovation champions for technical evaluation reasons. 

The European Commission, in its evolution to an impact-driven framework programme, launched on Wednesday, 29 September 2021, the €1.9 billion plan for the first two-year phase of five Missions, a new-style approach to Research and Innovation in Horizon Europe (HE). 

Beyond accumulating new knowledge, developing new technologies or increasing European competitiveness, Horizon Europe aims to achieve tangible benefits for European citizens related to the main challenges addressed by the programme, such as Digital transition, Ecological transition (Green Deal), Health resilience, Economic resilience and recovery. 

In this regard, EU Missions are a novelty of the Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme for the years 2021-2027 and have been introduced for maximising impact at the level of the programme. 
 
Tackling societal challenges

Rooted in Research and Innovation, the missions aim to tackle societal challenges with systemic solutions, leading to societal transformations and social impact. 
They support Commission priorities, such as the European Green Deal, Europe fit for the Digital Age, Beating Cancer, NextGenerationEU, the EU Industrial Strategy and the New European Bauhaus. Mission Climate is already a concrete element of the new Climate Adaptation Strategy; Mission Cancer of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Mission Soil is a flagship initiative of the Long-term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas.
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5 Missions were defined :
- Adaptation to climate change
- Cancer
- Restore our oceans and waters
- Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
- A Soil Deal for Europe  
 
Operating as a portfolio of actions

Each mission will operate as a portfolio of actions to achieve a measurable goal. These actions will act as innovation vehicles for delivering policy. The role of education and training institutions in developing the talents, knowledge and skills of citizens will also be key elements of the missions. Importantly, missions will implement the reuse and reproducibility of research results such as FAIR research data and open access to scientific publications. Finally, the extent of wide engagement across the EU and Associated Countries and beyond, will also be critical to the success of the missions.

The missions will fund different types of actions : Coordination and Support Action (CSA), Research and Innovation actions (RIA), Innovation actions (IA), Framework Partnership Agreements (FPA).

A synergy between different funding programmes

For their successful implementation, Missions will work in synergy and coordination with other missions, financial instruments of Horizon Europe, in particular with European Partnerships and Clusters, as well as with other EU funding instruments and policies. Furthermore, they will need to be implemented in close synergy with funding programmes and strategies both at national and regional level, as well as with civil society and the private sector.

Engaging citizens

A critical element of the Missions will be to engage with citizens to boost societal uptake of new solutions and approaches, also showcasing the added value of the EU.

For example, the Missions will involve people in online discussions and polls on social media such as the Conference on the Future of Europe, citizen events and specialised conferences to discuss the focus of Missions.

The work programme for the missions has been published.

Each of the five identified missions is now in a preparatory phase until at least November 2021 and Implementation plans are under development. At the end of the preparatory phase, the Commission will assess the missions against a set of criteria. This assessment will form the basis for a decision on which missions will enter full implementation. 
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The actions included in the work programme are to establish foundations for the missions’ implementation phase. Once updated with the full R&I agenda when the implementation phase is launched, the work programme will include a more detailed presentation of the relationship between missions and the expected impacts of the Strategic Plan. 

​Article courtesy of EAIC Member, benkei

​Since the beginning of the pandemic, European clusters and agents demonstrated their capability to react quickly, better than in China, US and other continents. The role of clusters is crucial in identifying the needs of European industries and where to allocate future investments. For these reasons, clusters will play a key role in how to support the recovery plan for Europe.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 crisis, clusters reaction at EU level has been forceful: a collective mobilization with the quick identification of disruptions and the creation of the European Rapid Alert Function, led by the European Clusters Alliance together with European Commission. It is a constant framework destinated to evidence problems in regulation, coordination, and funding, and all the consequent actions, as one of the main innovations in public policy never implemented. 

Clusters can respond as quickly as possible to what the industry needs; they are business generators, magnets for talents and investors. Clusters are the best tool to promote European ecosystems and to recover internationally reputation of our industries on the global markets.

During 2014-20 a variety of Cluster initiatives have been financed from COSME and Horizon2020, such as:
 
- Cluster S3 Partnerships (2018) action of the COSME Framework Programme of the European Commission contribute to boost industrial competitiveness and investment within the EU.
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- EU Clusters GO-International (2016-17) (2018-19) (2020-22) to intensify cluster and business network collaboration across borders and sectorial boundaries, and to support the establishment of 'European Strategic Cluster Partnerships' to lead international cluster cooperation in fields of strategic interest in non-EU countries.

- EU Clusters – excellence (2018) of COSME to strengthen cluster management excellence and facilitate exchanges and strategic partnering between clusters and specialized eco-systems across Europe, including through implementing a new “ClustersXchange” pilot scheme. As high-quality cluster management and strategic connections between clusters are key elements of world-class clusters, the call aims to foster SME competitiveness and assist companies to successfully access global markets by exploiting the innovation and growth potential that clusters can offer.

- The ClusterXchange pilot (2020) to facilitates transnational cooperation, peer learning, networking and innovation uptake between actors of different industrial clusters. It is implemented with support from cluster organizations that have teamed up in the European Cluster Partnerships | Excellence.

Additionally, during the period 2015-2020, INNOSUP-1 aims to support 2,000 SMEs directly (€ 130 million) and 30 projects were funded. 

To help in the implementation of the updated industrial strategy, the European Commission will launch around 30 cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary and trans-European strategic Joint Cluster Initiatives to be called ‘Euroclusters’. The EUROCLUSTERS will contribute to the implementation of the European Commission’s New Industrial Strategy for Europe, as well as its updated Strategy that was published in May 2021 and the SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe adopted in March 2020, by building resilience and accelerating transition to green and digital economy.

Euroclusters should put forward proposals for how to initiate, develop and maintain an EU-level long-term strategic partnership between companies of different kinds and sizes (with an emphasis on SMEs), and other organizations such as research and knowledge institutions, science and technology parks, business support organizations, financial service providers, non-profit organizations and related public bodies across different EU Member States and COSME participating countries, bringing together a critical mass of firms and societies in geographical and functional proximity, which are economically and socially interdependent.  

They will be expected to demonstrate how they will work together effectively with other support actors and networks such as the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, Enterprise Europe Network, and European Digital Innovation Hubs. Euroclusters must also support SMEs and they will be expected to demonstrate how they will organise such support in line with the overall Eurocluster long-term strategy.

Proposals must aim at achieving all of the following specific objectives, with the focus on at least one leading objective:
- Network for resilience to improve the resilience of the EU industrial ecosystems by developing value chains interlinkages in the EU Single Market.
- Innovate for strategic autonomy to build capacity in the most critical supplies and technologies of their ecosystems.
- Adopt processes and technologies to reinforce transformation into a greener and more digital economy.
- Train to foster up- and re-skilling of the workforce whilst attracting talents.
- Go international to boost access to global supply and value chains.

Also, the proposals should be focused on one of the following 15 strands:
- Open Strand: this strand invites proposals focused on cross fertilization of various industrial ecosystems with no specific focus on one industrial ecosystem.

14 Industrial Ecosystem Strands:
Tourism,  
Mobility-Transport-Automotive,  
Aerospace & Defense,  
Construction,  
Agri-food,
Energy Intensive Industries,
Textile,  
Creative & Cultural Industries,   
Digital,   
Renewable Energy,   
Electronics,   
Retail,   
Proximity & Social Economy, and   
Health.

Target audience: cluster organizations and cluster networks (for more information and definitions please refer to the call text, section 6) or other types of organizations supporting green and digital transitions and building EU resilience and the available budget is EUR 42 000 000.

Currently have been open the call for SMP-COSME-2021-CLUSTER-01: Euroclusters for Europe's recovery (SMP-GFS - SMP Grants for Financial Support) with deadline 30th of November 2021.

The Commission have planned an info day for the ‘Euroclusters’ initiatives at 20th of October 2021.