The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to reflect on the past, present and future of European Union (EU) Research and Innovation Framework Programmes (FPs).
EAIC Members predominantly provide consulting services to industry, universities, research and technology organisations and public authorities. They have supported vast numbers of proposals, and resulting projects, under the successive FPs. EAIC Members have developed a thorough understanding of the FP features and technicalities. Through the services they provide to their clients, or as applicants and beneficiaries themselves, they benefit from a first-hand insight of the real-life experience with the FPs at various stages (proposal preparation, evaluation, project management and completion).
The present document sets out key challenges that applicants and beneficiaries frequently encounter when preparing a proposal and running a project under the current FP, Horizon Europe (2021-2027). EAIC Members were invited to share their experiences with Horizon Europe to date and the challenges presented below result from a consolidation and prioritisation exercise.
The Past, Present & Future of the European R&I Framework Programmes (.pdf)