Despite serious efforts deployed at national and European level, the Union sees significant internal disparities in terms of research and innovation performance.
There is significant evidence pointing to the fact that the pathway to economic growth and competitiveness is largely connected to research and innovation. To tap into Europe’s yet unexploited potential in research and innovation a stronger participation in Horizon 2020 coupled with greater commitment by the low-performing Member States and Associated Countries can be instrumental. This focus will enable the European Research Area to function in a more streamlined and homogeneous way, where the individual strengths of every Member State and Associated Country may be optimised.
Furthermore, research and innovation performance is correlated with the efficiency of the national research and innovation systems. Technical assistance and expertise is needed for those low performing Member States and Associated Countries to improve their research and innovation systems and policies.
In addition, participation in the EU Framework Programmes is increasingly dependent on networking and staying connected with partners across the EU. It is imperative for those pockets of excellence in Europe to enter and remain on the "framework programmes grid", thus facilitating access to networks and partnering opportunities.
In order to address the above challenges of research and innovation (R&I) investments, efficiency of national research and innovation systems and networking, Horizon 2020 introduces specific measures for spreading excellence and widening participation through engaging organisations of those countries which could commit more towards the EU research and innovation effort. This will be done in complementarity with the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds), including support for Smart Specialisation Strategy implementation and related pilot action.