ECIU shared its views on the revised version of the Orientations towards the first Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe document. The online consultation of the European Commission is focused on umbrella organisations, networks with a cross-border dimension and a mission of advocacy relevant to research and innovation such as ECIU.

The consultation is very much focused on impact. ECIU underlined that a broad definition of impact is important, as innovation depends just as much on e.g. business model innovation as on technology. Furthermore, pre-eminence must be given to impact on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Interdisciplinarity, ‘democratising’ innovation, nurturing entrepreneurship and synergies are also key for impact. ECIU gives several concrete examples in its reaction to the consultation, e.g. the major opportunities between Horizon Europe and the European Universities Initiative.

For the full reply on the four questions that were asked by the European Commission, you can download the ECIU response here. Because of the limited number of characters (1500 per reply), the positions and arguments are very to the point.