European Commission forms 11 EU Partnerships worth EUR 22 billion

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Research and Innovation Days 2021

At the Research and Innovation Days 2021 on 23 June, it was announced that the European Commission has launched 11 EU partnerships which will run for 7 years under the Horizon Europe programme. They will focus on research and innovation to help Europe achieve its climate and environmental goals, namely becoming the first climate neutral economy and delivering on the European Green Deal.

Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel commented: “These Partnerships are all about pooling research and innovation resources and ensuring that research results are turned into useful innovations for the citizens. With Horizon Europe we are committed to emerge from the climate crisis, provide sustainable solutions to major environmental challenges and accelerate a sustainable recovery. This will benefit all Europeans.”

What are the 11 European Partnerships?

The new alliances will work on overcoming challenges in various areas and industries, including mobility, technology, and energy. The 11 European Partnerships are listed in a press release on the website of the European Commission:

1. European Partnership for the European Open Science Cloud
2. European Partnership for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Robotics
3. European Partnership for Photonics (light-based technologies)
4. European Partnership for Clean Steel – Low Carbon Steelmaking
5. European Partnership Made in Europe
6. European Partnership Processes4Planet
7. European Partnership for People-centric Sustainable Built Environment (Built4People)
8. European Partnership towards Zero-emission Road Transport (2Zero)
9. European Partnership for Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility
10. European Partnership for Batteries: Towards a competitive European industrial battery value chain
11. European Partnership for Zero Emission Waterborne Transport

A signature ceremony took place on Wednesday 23 June during a plenary session at the Research and Innovation Days 2021. There, a Memorandum of Understanding was adopted and representatives of the industry partners voiced their satisfaction with the agreements.

What is more, Director-General Jean-Eric Paquet spoke about these collaborations, explaining that they are all connected and no partner will work in isolation. Taking a case in point, Paquet noted that the battery partnership will be key to the green transformation, especially with regards to mobility. It follows then, that the battery and mobility partnerships are connected and will therefore work across each other.

A total of EUR 22 billion will be invested in the 11 European Partnerships to help create a greener, more resilient, and sustainable future.