Critical optimism: The EU Missions have a role to play in the Green Transition
The five EU Missions were set up through Horizon Europe to address global societal challenges by consolidating essential, multisectoral resources, funding support and solutions. The Missions are a relatively new instrument, but how can we be sure that they will deliver on their ambitions alongside the other projects supported by the EU’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme? We have some recommendations from the latest interim evaluation of Horizon Europe’s contribution to the Green Transition.
In 2021, the EU Missions were introduced under the Horizon Europe research and innovation (R&I) framework programme. According to the OECD, the Missions represent a new tool, ‘a new policy approach that consist in joining efforts, resources and knowledge across disciplinary, sectoral and policy silos to collectively address clear, bold and inspirational goals’. One of the backbones of Mission-oriented innovation policy is to further leverage private investment, as public funding alone is insufficient to address major societal challenges related to climate change, environment, health and well-being.
The EU Missions are ambitious in their desired impact, but also in the way they are distinguished from previous and other programmes within the EU policy framework. So, how do the Missions operate in the same ecosystem as other EU R&I programmes and partnerships? One way to understand this is to evaluate the Missions’ performance in key EU priority areas (for instance, the Green Transition). Technopolis Group, alongside partners from AIT, Kerlen, ZSI, Science Metrix, Fraunhofer ISI, recently produced the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe’s contribution to the Green Transition for the European Commission’s DG for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). Before we look at the initial findings of the evaluation, we need to agree on what we mean by ‘Green Transition’.
Pinning down the green transition in the EU Missions
As with many catchwords, the Green Transition exists in a wider microcosm of EU political and legislative targets. For instance, ‘Making a success of the Green and Digital Transitions’ is one the key priorities of the EU’s Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029. The concept has been evoked in the European Green Deal, the European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ package and appears in key legislation (e.g. European Climate Law, REPowerEU, Nature Restoration Law, Net Zero Industry Act), new tools (e.g. Just Transition Mechanism, Important Projects of Common European Interest, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, ETS extension to transport and buildings) and funding packages.
Evidently, achieving the Green Transition is a priority at EU level. It is ubiquitous and cross-cutting, which means that its implementation must be quite nuanced in the context of the EU Missions. Four of the five mission areas cover green-related topics, and thus, are relevant to the Green Transition: Adaptation to Climate Change (Climate Mission); Restore our Ocean and Waters (Mission Ocean & Waters); Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (Cities Mission); A Soil Deal for Europe (Soil Mission). While foundational technology investments are crucial, broader issues of socio-cultural change – including aspects of multi-stakeholder alignment, governance, lifestyles, behaviour change – are important, but often more difficult to implement. Under the Missions, addressing societal challenges requires new ways of working to support the necessary transformative outcomes to achieve the Green Transition.
Evaluating the Missions: Scope & initial findings
We can now look closer at the Horizon Europe interim evaluation report on the Green Transition. In terms of scope, it is worth stressing that the assessment work is substantial, amounting to over 4 000 pages. Moreover, it does not just cover the EU Missions related to the Green Transition; it extends to about 1 000 projects encompassed in two Horizon Europe Clusters (amounting to 25% of the total Horizon Europe budget) but also 21 European Partnerships (institutionalised such as Knowledge and Innovation Communities or Joint Undertakings, co-programmed or co-funded). Furthermore, it analysed the concept of the green transition for all Horizon Europe programme, not only Clusters 5 and 6, and thus analysed the overall monitoring framework.
In terms of approach, the evaluation follows the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), a conceptual framework used to analyse transitions in socio-technical systems (transformative outcomes). It examines how innovations emerge, develop, and potentially transform entire systems by considering interactions between various levels. It comprises 13 subcategories, each of them being composed of several items.
Key insights for the Green Transition
The following insights are complemented by visuals (Source: Survey of Horizon Europe beneficiaries, conducted in May-July 2023) (successful applicants survey), Cluster 5 & 6)). In terms of implementation, we have seen that the EU Missions projects are expanding and mainstreaming innovation beyond the research sector to society.
In fact, sometimes the Mission projects are over-performing 10-15% when compared with other programme parts across the 13 subcategories presented above (i.e. replicating innovative solutions relevant to the Green Transition in new contexts, raising awareness of challenges and potential solutions, etc.).
This would signify success, no? Well, not always; in terms of implementation, we also saw that the Missions projects did not consistently perform better than other instruments, notably in light of the Mission purposes. For instance, attracting private investment does not look better for Mission projects compared to other projects.
In some instances, budget reserved for ‘traditional’ R&I activities were shifted under the Missions umbrella. This is however not their purpose, and doing can impede their deployment and success.
Room for improvement
Reverting back to our initial depiction of the Missions, they have a specific scope and purpose. This means we should not be using them for what is done elsewhere, under other parts of the EU Framework Programme.
Below are a few recommendations. The full overview of recommendations, not just for the Missions but the Framework Programme as a whole, can be found in the interim evaluation here (and it is worth including its Annexes).
- Specialise in specific areas, not covered by other types of partnerships and projects. Prevent overlaps and duplication of work: It is essential to distinguish between various project types like Missions, Partnerships or Standard calls. Assessing and specialising instruments can simplify things.
- Attract more external funding, going beyond the Framework Programme. While some projects can, there needs to be strengthened capacity to attract public and private funding.
- Adopt a stronger portfolio approach to ensure coherence across projects and initiatives. This could involve mixing clusters and instruments, so topics related to the Green Transition are dealt with jointly and enable cross fertilisation. For instance, joint calls could be considered across the Missions to mobilise key industries like ports, shipping, plastic, fishing (e.g. Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking and Mission Ocean and Waters), or European regional development funding could be mobilised to scale-up and duplicate solutions developed within the Framework Programme.
Last but not least, it is important to adapt the monitoring system to (1) follow indicators for the Green Transition (in terms of the development of critical solutions) but also, more specifically, (2) monitor the Mission objectives. For this, an integrated and granular monitoring approach is still needed.
Keeping the EU Mission on the green path
Based on the above findings across thematic clusters, the current monitoring framework is not fit for purpose to monitor the Green Transition. While these observations might cause concern, they are still initial observations. The Missions are still a relatively new instrument, and therefore, it is still too early to assess their overarching effectiveness and EU added value. These observations do not suggest that the Missions will not contribute to the Green Transition, just that there is room for improvement in how we position and monitor the Missions. We have shared recommendations in the report to enhance the monitoring and define the scope of measuring the Green Transition across the Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027).
On a final note, as the EU Missions continue, we will get a better sense of their impact beyond technology and innovation to society at large. This will also depend on other changes in the EU political landscape. In the wake of the June 2024 European elections, maintaining support for the Green Transition during shifting policy landscapes is becoming more and more challenging (particularly around politically sensitive areas like agriculture-related policies). The European Parliament, following its election in June, approved the new College of Commissioners as a whole on 27 November after a debate with President Ursula von der Leyen. Among its new members is Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition. This composition, and their portfolios, will impact policy development and implementation.
Find out more about Technopolis Group’s ongoing work on the Green Transition and other Missions-related efforts.
