The various work programmes with calls for proposals are drafted by several Programme Committees consisting of delegates of the participating countries in Horizon Europe & Digital Europe.
Representatives from the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) inform on the drafting process and collect input from stakeholders located in Flanders to bring it on the Belgian and European level, which results in a concrete work programme. This input can typically consist of suggestions for new topics, requests for adaptations on scale or content of proposed projects.
Contact details of Horizon Europe programme committee delegates are available here. Contact details of the Digital Europe programme committee delegate are available here.
In 2023, the Commission organised a public consultation on the past, present, and future of the European Research and Innovation Framework programmes. The insights gained from the consultation provide valuable input and will feed into the ongoing strategic planning process for the next Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027, which was launched in Autumn 2022, and into the preparations of the next Framework Programme for Research & Innovation (FP10).
The strategic plan defines the orientations for the Horizon Europe programme (mainly for Pillar II) and outlines the contributions of its various parts. These orientations mirror the political priorities of the European Union, outline the way research and innovation can address them and enable the Commission to better measure impact. The Strategic Plan 2025-2027 is expected to be adopted beginning of 2024. Find out more here.
In September 2023, EWI published a ‘Flemish reflection paper on the tenth European Framework Programme for R&I’ as a contribution to the preparation of the next Framework Programme.
The EITHOS project, funded under Horizon Europe Cluster 3 call “Online identity theft is countered”, aims to develop a “European Identity Theft Observatory System” (EITHOS). The system will provide easy access to information and intelligence about previous and current identity theft related trends to empower EU citizens, Law Enforcements Agencies (LEAs), and policy makers to further contribute to the prevention, detection, and investigation of crimes related to online identity theft. The Cyber and Data Security Lab (CDSL), part of the Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), is one of the 12 partners in the EITHOS consortium, contributing its vast expertise on legal aspects of data protection, cybersecurity and information security law and policy.