Lisbon, Feb. 1, 2021 (Lusa) - The new Horizon Europe programme, the main European Union (EU) initiative to support research and innovation, is to be presented on Tuesday at an international online conference organised by the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU.

The conference is being broadcast from the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon), the seat of the Portuguese presidency. The minister for science, technology and higher education will be attended by Manuel Heitor, and the European commissioner for innovation, research, culture and education, Mariya Gabriel.

Horizon Europe is the EU's current multi-annual framework programme to support research and innovation, with a planned budget of €95.5 billion to be implemented between 2021 and 2027.

Based on three pillars - scientific excellence, global challenges and European industrial competitiveness, and innovative Europe - the programme aims to promote links with the national recovery and resilience programmes of the 27 Member States.

The conference is also attended by the president of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Cristian-Silviu Buşoi, the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, Richard Roberts, the president of BioNTech, Uğur Şahin, the director-general of the European Commission's research and innovation department, Jean-Eric Paquet, the acting president of the European Research Council, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, the chairman of the board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Gioia Ghezzi, among others.  

At the end of the conference, minister Manuel Heitor and European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel are to hold a joint press conference.

JAYG/ADB // ADB.

Lusa