The European Commission (EC) has published the final report of its Expert Group (EG) to support monitoring EU Missions. The report builds on existing monitoring and evaluation exercises that are currently underway to monitor Mission goals and impacts, and specifically addresses the impact of Missions on policy and on how the Missions evolve outside the Horizon Europe framework.
The Missions were introduced by the EC in Horizon Europe and aim to build on the programme’s funding initiatives to tackle complex societal challenges through new ways of working. Bringing together R&I, governance, society and combining public and private investments, these collaborative, strategic programmes aim to deliver solutions to global challenges that relate to society and citizens’ needs, and have the potential for strong impact. The five Mission areas are: Adaptation to Climate Change, Cancer, Restoring Oceans, Climate-Neutral Cities and A Soil Deal for Europe, and further information can be seen on the Commission’s Mission web pages.
The announcement of this novel approach to monitor the Missions underlines their strategic importance and the potential for impact on research and innovation as well as society. Specifically, the EG was tasked to develop and deploy a “methodology to monitor EU Missions beyond HE, looking at the contribution of other funding programmes at EU and national, as well as at regional and local levels towards the achievement of Missions’ objectives”.
Using a novel methodology, the EG will not only enable monitoring of the progress of EU Missions to deliver against their main objectives, but also enable monitoring of EU Mission areas beyond Horizon Europe, looking at the contribution of other funding programmes at EU and national, regional and local levels towards the achievement of Missions’ objectives. In addition, through this monitoring the EG will be able to evaluate the contribution of enabling factors including policy interventions, governance approaches and the involvement of end users.
The EU Missions are still at a relatively early stage in their implementation; this is recognised by the EG whose report also proposes recommendations for EU level actions to support roll-out of the Missions approach in a ‘beyond Horizon Europe’ context.