Synergies with other Union Programmes

“By strengthening linkages and teaming up with other Horizon Europe initiatives, other MFF-funded programmes, and national, regional, and private programmes, future European Partnerships have better chances to deliver on the ambitious transitions and contribute to EU priorities and policies. Effective synergies maximise the possibility that successful research results are taken up and effectively deployed.”

There is a need to consider how to better achieve the objectives and maximise impacts through engagement with other initiatives and parties.  Many partnerships aim at demonstration and scale-up, but this usually requires synergies and joint activities with other programmes, funding instruments and actors. Many initiatives beyond the Framework Programme offer opportunities for synergy creation:

• Digital Europe Programme (DEP)
• Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
• Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI)
• ETS Innovation Fund
• Modernisation Fund
• InvestEU
• European Investment Bank
• Programme for Environment & Climate Action (LIFE)
• Common Agricultural Policy
• Circular Bioeconomy Thematic Investment Platform

There are also opportunities for partnerships to exploit synergies with national, regional & local initiatives and complementary investments. For example:

• Include Member State advisory bodies within their governance structures to create links with the national R&I activities. This could lead to complementary joint calls using national funding or even hybrid Co-Programmed/Co-Funded calls.
• European regions are increasingly prioritising particular industrial and technology sectors that offer economic growth opportunities through smart specialization, and this has relevance for some partnerships. For example, the Photonics Partnership is proposing to develop a formal ‘alliance of European regional clusters’ that have distinctive industrial and/or scientific strengths in photonics.

When anticipating synergies with other instruments, it should be considered that according to Horizon Regulation, framework programme funding can only cover R&I activities.