Catalonia is the third region in the European Union that has attracted the most European funding for research and innovation projects during the first half of the current framework programme, Horizon Europe 2021-2027. According to a Catalan Government analysis, Catalonia has obtained 1.015 billion euros in competitive aid from this European programme in its first three years, from 2021 to 2023. This figure amounts to 3.54% of the European total, double what would correspond to Catalonia in terms of population. Moreover, Catalonia also leads the distribution of funds for the whole of Spain, with 32.6% of the total. These figures represent a 1.6-fold increase compared to the funds attracted in the previous R&D framework programme (Horizon 2020) in the same period. 

Catalan research, at the forefront of fundraising

Research centres and universities have together attracted a total of 631.5 million euros over the first three years of the Horizon Europe framework programme, which represents 61.3% of the European funds received in Catalonia during this period. These data place Catalonia third among European regions with research systems attracting the most Horizon Europe funding, behind only Île-de-France and Upper Bavaria and ahead of states such as Finland, Denmark, Portugal and Ireland.

Business participation leads the number of Catalan beneficiaries

A total of 61% of Catalan funding recipients during the first three years of Horizon Europe are companies. Specifically, 321 Catalan companies have obtained 349 million euros, three times more than in the same period of the previous framework programme, Horizon 2020. In fact, this amounts to 4.23% of the total funds granted to companies and 34% of those granted to Spain.

In the programme's instruments aimed specifically at companies, Catalonia is also the third region in the European Union in terms of fundraising, behind regions that include cities such as Paris and Munich. Particularly noteworthy is the branch of the programme aimed at financing the projects of innovative SMEs and start-ups through the EIT and EIC Accelerator instruments, where the attraction of funds by Catalan companies rises to 10% of the total.

Furthermore, the success rate of applications submitted by companies with the help of ACCIÓ was 23%. This is almost 3 points higher than the average for Catalan companies as a whole (20.4%), which in turn is higher than the EU average (18.7%) and the Spanish average (19.6%).

The profile of the typical Catalan company benefiting from Horizon Europe research and innovation funds is that of a small or micro-company that is less than 20 years old. By sector, ICT and electronics (21.5%), R&D (17.7%), engineering (16.7%) and biotechnology (6.8%) stand out.

What is Horizon Europe 2021-2027?

Horizon Europe 2021-2027 is the European Union's framework programme for research and innovation for the six-year period. With a budget of 95 billion euros, it aims to fund research and innovation initiatives and projects, from the conceptual phase to market, in response to EU policy priorities. In this respect, the programme plans to tackle major global challenges such as the achievement of climate neutrality, the digitalisation of industry or the improvement of people's well-being, among others, through the promotion of RDI projects, mainly collaborative.