The amendments are designed to support the EU missions that started in September 2021. They aim to achieve ambitious health, climate and environment goals by 2030. For example, €126.2 million will be invested in the ‘Adaptation to climate change’ mission. This money will be used, among other things, for coastal reinforcement in the Arctic and the Atlantic sea basin. 129.56 million will go to the cancer mission, to improve prevention, strengthen research capacity and clinical trials. For the mission ‘Restoring our Oceans and Waters’ €117.9 million will be allocated, among others, to protect marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, to fight pollution and to establish a sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy.
For the ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ mission there is €95 million available to, among others, set up a new knowledge repository, investigate the role of soil biodiversity in ecosystem services and define strategies for soil remediation and reuse. The budget for the already established ‘Climate Neutral and Smart Cities’ mission (€119.37 million in 2022) has been increased by almost €6.25 million. The first round of upcoming calls will open on 12 May 2022 and the second round on 24 May 2022.
Innovation ecosystem
More actions are also being taken to boost the European innovation ecosystem. The budget of WomenTechEU, which is supporting more than 100 women-led start-ups this year, will triple to €10 million. €2 Million will be made available for angel investing in the EU, 6 million to the creation of cooperation platforms and networks for the culture sector and creative industries, €3 million to the social impact assessment of green transition policies, €3 million to innovative solutions for the future of democracy, €1.5 million to the observatory on innovation in the public sector and a total of €3.2 million to other (minor) adjustments to the work programme.
Ukrainian scientists
Money has also been set aside to support Ukrainian scientists. For example, under the new MSCA4Ukraine scheme (part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), €25 million is allocated to enable displaced researchers to continue their work in host organisations in the EU and to rebuild Ukraine’s research and innovation capacity as soon as possible. Hundreds of Ukrainian scientists will also benefit from an increased budget of €1 million for the ‘scientists helping scientists’ initiative. Organisations in Russia, Belarus or occupied territories of Ukraine are excluded from support.
For more information, visit the website of the European Commission.
Image: Anton Balazh/Shutter
