HORIZON EUROPE – Widening participation & strengthening the European Research Area

The European Union sees significant internal disparities in terms of research and innovation performance. So greater commitment by the low-performing Member States and regions can be instrumental. This focus will enable the European Research Area to function in a more streamlined and homogeneous way, where the individual strengths of every Member State and region may be optimised. Furthermore, research and innovation performance is correlated with the efficiency of the national research and innovation systems. Technical assistance and expertise is needed for those low performing Member States and regions to improve their research and innovation systems and policies. Moreover, participation in the EU Framework Programmes is increasingly dependent on networking and staying connected with partners across the EU. It is imperative for those pockets of excellence in Europe to enter and remain on the "framework programmes grid", thus facilitating access to networks and partnering opportunities.