Horizon Europe: Enhancing public-private cooperation through Partnerships

25 February 2025 / ,

Within the Horizon Europe programme, Partnerships aim to develop cooperation between public and private actors in the implementation of research and innovation activities aligned with European political priorities. They offer dedicated calls for proposals with specific timelines for each programme. Several calls for proposals are currently open, such as EDTCP, IHI, EIT Food, and EIT Health.

A strategic tool for the Horizon Europe programme

European partnerships arise from cooperation between the European Commission, member states, and public and/or private entities. The aim of these partnerships is to contribute to the implementation of the European Union’s political priorities, such as the Green Deal, the digital strategy or pandemic preparedness. By involving both private and public partners and creating synergies with national and international programmes, the Partnerships help address major Horizon Europe objectives such as health, climate, industry, and the environment. Each partnership develops a strategic research and innovation agenda detailing its vision for the period 2021-2027. Under Horizon Europe, the European Commission has simplified Partnerships by categorising them into 3 types: co-programmed partnerships, co-financed partnerships and institutionalised partnerships.

See the portfolio of European Partnerships

Co-Programmed European Partnerships

With a budget of nearly 8 billion euros from Horizon Europe, co-programmed partnerships are established between the European Commission and mainly private partners. Each organisation is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which sets out the objectives of the partnership, the commitments of both parties and the governance structure.

The calls for projects resulting from these partnerships are regular Horizon Europe calls for projects. They are therefore all integrated into the calls for projects under Pillar 2 of the framework program.

Currently, there are 11 co-programmed partnerships:

  • AI-Data-Robotics (Cluster 4) 
  • BATT4EU (Cluster 5)
  • Built4People (Cluster 5) 
  • Clean Steel – low-carbon steelmaking (Cluster 4)
  • Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) (Cluster 5)
  • European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) (no specific topic)
  • Global competitive space systems (Cluster 4)
  • Made in Europe (Cluster 4) 
  • Photonique (Cluster 4) 
  • Processes4Planet (Cluster 4) 
  • Zero-emission road transport (Cluster 5)
  • Zero-emission waterbone transport (Cluster 5)

Co-Funded European partnerships

Co-funded partnerships are established by Member States and associated countries. These partnerships benefit from funding from national public entities such as research agencies or ministries, as well as from Horizon Europe. Projects selected under these partnerships can be co-financed up to 30% (or 50% in some cases). Calls for proposals mainly target public actors (except the Innovative SMEs program), but it is possible to include foundations and international organisations in the partnership (under certain conditions).

There are currently 14 active co-funded partnerships, for which you can find the call for proposals schedules on the websites of the national research agencies and/or ministries associated with the programme

  • AGROECOLOGY: Accelerating farming systems transition: Agroecology living labs and research infrastructures
  • CETP: Clean Energy Transition Partnership
  • EP PerMed: European Partnership for Personalised Medicine
  • ERA4Health: Fostering a European Research Area for Health Research
  • ERDERA: European Rare Diseases Research Alliance
  • EUPAHW: European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare
  • FutureFoodS: European Partnership for Safe and Sustainable Food Systems
  • SBEP: A climate neutral, sustainable and productive blue economy Partnership
  • THCS: European partnership on transforming health and care systems
  • Water4All: Water4All – Water Security for the Planet
  • Biodiversa-plus : The European Biodiversity Partnership
    • Call for proposal will open in September 2025
  • DUT: European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions
    • Call for proposal will be published in July and open in September 2025
  • InnovativeSMEs (EUREKA): European Partnership on Innovative SMEs
  • PARC: Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals

Institutionalised European partnerships

Institutionalised partnerships were created for cases where no other financing solutions were suitable for their objectives. Special structures dedicated to their implementation were created by the EU Council and the European Parliament.

Currently, there are 20 institutionalised partnerships. Calls for projects are available on the Funding and Tender website or on dedicated sites:

Do you wish to develop a research and innovation project in the topics targeted by the European Partnerships? Contact us for more information at contact@euronovia.eu.