With a budget of nearly €80 billion over seven years, Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation programme yet and one of the largest in the world. Horizon 2020 offers therefore a great opportunity for Maltese researchers, universities and companies.
Horizon 2020 will fund the whole innovation chain: from the best fundamental research to close to market innovation. It will also support Europe's recovering economy, because we know that investment in research and innovation means growth and jobs.
Maltese researchers drew some €17 million in funding from the previous EU research programme (FP7), with greatest success in the areas of Information and Communication Technologies, transport, and research for SMEs. But they have been less successful generally than their counterparts elsewhere in the EU. Under Horizon 2020, I want that to change.
With science budgets in many countries under pressure, competition for Horizon 2020 resources will be intense. So to make things simpler, we have cut bureaucracy and made the programme more coherent, so researchers and businesses will spend less time filling out forms and can spend more time on investigating and developing their ideas. The new research programme is one of the few areas of the new EU budget that sees a major increase in resources and I am determined that this additional money is invested wisely.
Excellence cannot be everywhere – but I do believe that excellence can spring up anywhere. Horizon 2020 will therefore support twinning of different regions, staff exchanges and – alongside European structural funds –will provide financial support where it is needed to raise performance. These new instruments present Maltese research and innovation actors with the opportunity to create partnerships with established centres of excellence elsewhere in the EU. Such partnerships will help build the capacity that will elevate Malta’s research and innovation system to the highest European standards.
Maltese SMEs were active participants in FP7, capturing nearly 40% of research funding to the islands compared with an EU average of just over 15%, and I want to see them involved strongly again. Horizon 2020 offers more money than ever before for small companies – some €9 billion over the next seven years, including €3 billion through a dedicated SME Instrument. New financing options in the form of risk-sharing to support innovative SMEs could also be interesting for Maltese companies.
These are just some of the very good reasons why I want many more researchers, universities, businesses and innovators from Malta to participate in Horizon 2020. Whether you are a scientist with a ground-breaking research idea; an SME that is ready to test an innovative new product in a brand new market; or a university aiming for excellence - there is a place in Horizon 2020 for you.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science