The Horizon Papers

On this page, you can find links to the official Horizon Europe work programmes for 2023 and 2024 – the documents that spell out the research topics, timing and budgets the Commission plans.

But Science|Business is also keeping the full history of the drafting process publicly available. On this page, besides the “final” versions of the work programmes, you will also find earlier-stage drafts that were leaked to us in past months. We think it important to maintain a public record of how the programme evolves, in successive rounds of drafting between the Commission and member states. It is a political process – which, so far, the Commission refuses to make transparent.

And never fear: When the next round of leaked drafts start circulating online for 2025-27, Science|Business will again be publishing as and when we find them.

2023-24 Work Programmes

• Health: March 2022, June 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Culture, creativity and inclusive society: early draft, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Civil security for society: January 2022, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Digital, industry, space: January 2022, September 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Climate, energy and mobility: January 2022, June 2022, undated latest draft, FINAL (December 2022)
• Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment: early draft, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• MSCA: March 2022, September 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Widening: early draft, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• Research infrastructures: early draft, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• EIC: July 2022, October 2022
• Missions: Climate Adaptation, July 2022, FINAL (December 2022)
• European Innovation Ecosystems: undated latest draft, FINAL (December 2022)
• General annexes: FINAL (December 2022)
• ERC: final work programme (published by the ERC in July 2022)

2021-22 Work Programmes

• General introduction: January 2020, March 2021*
• General annexes: November 2020, January 2021, March 2021*
• Annex 2: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
• Annex 3: Research Infrastructures, March 2021*
• Strategic plan: November 2020, January 2021
• Model grant agreement: December 2020, February 2021
• Proposal template
• European Research Council: Final work programme 
• Widening and European Research Area
• The European Innovation Council: November 2020, March 2021*
• Research missions: February 2021, March 2021*
• Digital, Industry, Space 
• Digital, industry and space cluster: December 2020 version, February 2021, March 2021, March 2021 version 2
• Health cluster: October 2020; January 2021, March 2021*
• Climate, energy, and mobility: November 2020, February 2021, February 2021 version 2*
• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment: December 2020, April 2021
• Culture, creativity and inclusive society: October 2020, March 2021*
• Civil security for society: September 2020, October 2020, January 2021*
• Missions: April 2021*
• Euratom: February 2021*
• Slides from meeting of the Shadow Strategic Configuration

You can download our 120-page analysis and explanation of the research programme in our own: "Horizon Europe: The Essential Guide."

The official Horizon Europe Work Programmes for 2021-2022 are available on the Commisison's funding & tenders portal.

* documents linking to the European Commission's website 

Editor’s note: This page was last updated 6 December 2022 to add the officially approved work programmes for 2023 and 2024.