Horizon 2020 budget and implementation: A guide to the structure of the programme

In-Depth Analysis 03-11-2015

Horizon 2020, the current framework programme for research and innovation, inherited features from its predecessors, whilst simultaneously proposing a new architecture to support all activities in the research and innovation system – from blue-sky research to close-to-market applications. Including all these dimensions introduced several levels of complexity to the programme's implementation. Following the distribution of the budget – from the nine Commission Directorates-General which oversee Horizon 2020, to the 22 bodies which manage its implementation, along three main pillars and two specific objectives – this document provides a guide to the programme exploring the multiple levels of complexity.