The European Commission launched a public consultation on the future Single Basic Act (SBA) for Joint Undertakings (JUs), Article 185 initiatives and thematic priorities for the European Partnership portfolio under Horizon Europe 2028-2034.
This is an open consultation. Stakeholders from national and regional administrations, academia, research institutions, industry associations, technology centres, SMEs, start-ups and civil society are all encouraged to participate.
This is a valuable opportunity to contribute to shaping future European collaborative funding instruments. Your views matter – access the survey via the link to the Joint Undertakings consultation❗
The objective is to gather evidence and stakeholder views on how Treaty-based partnerships can better strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, mobilise public and private investment, and support the full innovation journey. It also includes a set of questions on the partnership portfolio in Horizon Europe 2028-2034, beyond JUs and Article 185 initiatives.
The consultation is open until 16 October 2026, and responses will feed directly into the Commission’s impact assessment and the legislative proposal expected at the end of 2026/early 2027. A factual summary report will also be published 8 weeks after the consultation closes.
Among the key proposed changes by the Commission for the next Framework Programme are:
- European Partnerships will remain a key instrument of the programme and work synergistically with the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), ensuring that EU research and innovation investment covers the entire journey from basic research to industrialisation and market uptake.
- European Partnerships will, by default, become tripartite, bringing together the EU, Member States/Associated Countries, and private stakeholders.
- Move towards two main types of partnerships: (1) Work-programme based partnerships, bringing together current co-programmed and co-funded partnerships and (2) Treaty-based partnerships (JUs)
- Proposed to be radically streamlined and simplified – all partnerships will be implemented on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In duly justified cases, implementation is possible under Article 187 and Article 185 TFEU (i.e., Treaty-based partnerships).
- A strategic and coherent portfolio of European Partnerships will be created.
We encourage all our stakeholders with experience of JUs and European Partnerships to respond, and help shape the future of partnerships in FP10.