The EU has launched a € 10 billion European Innovation Council

The European Commission launched the European Innovation Council (EIC) on Thursday, with a budget of € 10 billion for 2021-2027. It aims to develop and disseminate breakthrough innovations in Europe. The Commission clarified that the EIC is not just a novelty of Horizon Europe, but is unique in the world because it combines research into new technologies with the program. Accelerator and the Specialized Capital Fund (EIC) to help expand innovative startups and support small and medium-sized enterprises. The EIC will be allocated around € 3 billion from the European Innovation Council budget. At the same time, the EC published the first annual work program of the EIC, which in 2021 opens funding opportunities of 1.5 billion euros and launched applications for two awards - the EU Award for Women Innovators and the European Capital of Innovation. EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Marija Gabrielová said the European Innovation Council was Europe's most ambitious initiative to support the groundbreaking discoveries the Union needs to recover from the economic crisis and accelerate the transition to a green and digital economy. "Investing in visionary research and innovative companies will strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty, expand the activities of Europe's most promising startups and pave the way for the upcoming European innovation area," she explained. The European Innovation Council has several elements that allow it to support pioneering businesses and projects. The EIC Accelerator tool will support small and medium-sized enterprises, especially startups and spin-off companies, to develop breakthrough innovations. The new funding system will help turn research results into innovation, and new measures are being introduced to support women innovators, including a program for women in leadership positions. The funding, announced on Thursday in the first EIC work program, includes € 1 billion for startups and small businesses to develop and expand innovations that have the potential to create new markets or change existing markets. It is a combined funding of between half a million euros and 15 million euros. It is provided in the form of grants, up to a maximum of EUR 2.5 million. Of the total amount, EUR 495 million is earmarked for innovation related to the European Green Agreement and strategic digital and health technologies. The € 300 million will support visionary research that has the potential to lead to breakthrough technological discoveries. Research teams can apply for grants of up to € 4 million. Of this package, € 132 million is earmarked to address five challenges - conscious artificial intelligence, brain activity measurement tools, cell and gene therapy, green hydrogen and engineered living materials. Another amount, EUR 100 million, is intended to transform research results into innovation opportunities.