EIC 2026 work programme
Published on: 28/11/2025
This document presents the 2026 European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It sets out how the EIC will allocate its funding of over EUR 1.424 billion for the year 2026 and has been prepared following the advice of the EIC Board.
The Work Programme defines the calls for applications targeting innovative
researchers, startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), scale up companies, and funders and other organisations and individuals interested in innovation.
The focus is on breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations which are high risk and with a high potential for impact and to scale up internationally and become market leaders.
The main novelties of this 2026 WP are:
- Strengthen Pathfinder impact
- Expand Transition eligibility
- Focus on Advanced Innovation Challenges
- A more streamlined Accelerator
- Refine the STEP Scaleup call
- Enhance collaboration, diversity and international reach across Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
The document is available on the EIC website.
The Work Programme has been already presented in several infodays, where the materials and recordings are available:
