The European Commission publishes the EU Missions mid-term assessment
On 14 September, the European Commission published its mid-term assessment of the EU Missions, highlighting progress across all five Missions and recognising the mission-oriented approach as an effective model for addressing complex societal challenges. For ERRIN, the assessment reinforces the case for maintaining and strengthening the Missions in the next EU long-term budget, while ensuring that the next phase is better equipped to translate research and innovation into deployment, scale-up and territorial impact.
The assessment comes at an important moment for the future of the Missions. The Commission's proposal for Horizon Europe 2028-2034 (FP10) foresees funding for the Missions through work programmes covering the period up to 2030. At the same time, discussions are ongoing on the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) as part of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Significant progress across all five Missions
The Commission’s assessment provides evidence of progress towards the Missions’ 2030 objectives.
- The Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change has already exceeded its headline target, with 292 regional and local authorities receiving tailored support, compared with an objective of 150. More than 185 regions and local authorities are testing and implementing almost 1 000 adaptation solutions in real-life conditions.
- The Cities Mission now counts 107 cities with Climate City Contracts. These contracts represent a new framework for integrated urban climate governance and investment planning, while the Mission's wider ecosystem of pilot, twinning and enabling activities is supporting replication beyond the original group of 112 Mission Cities.
- The Mission on Restore our Ocean and Waters has delivered 121 solutions tested across 349 real-world demonstration sites, with 86 regions involved in replication activities and more than 1 000 stakeholder commitments through the Mission Charter. The Commission also highlights the progress of the European Digital Twin Ocean.
- The Mission Soil has established 45 Living Labs, involving more than 500 real sites across Europe, with further Living Labs in the selection process. The Mission has also contributed to the development of methodologies and monitoring systems for soil health.
- The Cancer Mission is estimated to be on track to improve the lives of 2.3 million people by 2030, against its target of more than 3 million. The Mission has also established National Cancer Mission Hubs (through the ECHOS project in which ERRIN is a partner), bringing together national and regional authorities, researchers, healthcare actors, policymakers and citizens.
Importantly, the Commission stresses that headline targets alone do not capture the full value of the Missions. Their contribution also lies in building ecosystems, creating new governance models, mobilising stakeholders, and developing solutions that can be tested, adapted and replicated in different territorial contexts.
The assessment highlights how Missions bring together research and innovation, policy, investment and governance around shared objectives. Rather than focusing exclusively on individual projects, they coordinate portfolios of actions and create environments where solutions can be developed, tested and adapted in real-life settings.
This place-based dimension is particularly relevant for Europe’s regions and cities. The Commission recognises that transformation begins with communities and that Living Labs, demonstration sites, lighthouses and pilot activities provide important environments for testing solutions in local contexts and supporting their replication elsewhere.
The assessment also acknowledges an important limitation of the current framework: Horizon Europe rules were designed primarily around project-based R&I and are not fully suited to the wider scope of Mission activities. Moving solutions beyond pilots towards large-scale deployment requires broader funding and financing toolbox, including support after the project phase.
For ERRIN, this is a critical finding. ERRIN has advocated for the continuation and strengthening of the five EU Missions and the mission-oriented approach in the next MFF. In its input paper, ERRIN highlighted the role of Missions in mobilising place-based innovation ecosystems, connecting stakeholders and accelerating the development, deployment and scaling of solutions.
The Commission's assessment adds new evidence to that argument. It shows that the Missions are now moving from a phase focused on experimentation and coordination towards deployment, scaling, and replication. This transition requires the EU funding architecture to evolve with them.
ERRIN therefore continues to call for EU Missions to be sustained and strengthened beyond Horizon Europe, with a seamless investment journey connecting research and innovation with deployment and scale-up across the future FP10, European Competitiveness Fund and National and Regional Partnership Plans. Stronger coordination between these instruments is needed to avoid fragmentation and ensure that promising solutions do not lose momentum when Horizon Europe projects end.
This is particularly important as the Commission itself notes that the Missions need a more extensive toolbox than Horizon Europe alone can provide to achieve deployment at scale.
Regions and cities must remain at the centre
The assessment also reinforces the importance of the territorial dimension of the Missions. Across the five Missions, regions and cities are not simply beneficiaries of EU funding. They are places where solutions are co-created, tested and implemented, and where different actors – public authorities, researchers, businesses, civil society and citizens – come together around shared challenges.
This is central to the mission-oriented approach advocated by ERRIN. Missions can strengthen territorial innovation ecosystems by connecting actors across sectors and governance levels, helping less and more innovative territories collaborate and enabling solutions to be adapted to different local contexts.
The Commission's assessment points to the growing integration of Missions into broader EU policy frameworks. For example, Mission Soil is linked to the implementation of the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive and the CAP Strategic Plans; the Cancer Mission is contributing to Europe's Beating Cancer Plan; while the Climate Adaptation and Ocean and Waters Missions are increasingly embedded in wider EU policy initiatives (e.g. the upcoming EU Integrated Framework for Climate Resilience; the upcoming Ocean and Water R&I Strategy).
For ERRIN, the assessment represents an important milestone, but not an endpoint. Missions’ full potential will depend on whether Europe can maintain momentum and provide the right conditions for solutions developed through these ecosystems to reach wider deployment. As discussions on the next MFF continue, ERRIN will continue advocating for a strong, place-based and mission-oriented approach to R&I and competitiveness, with clearer links between EU funding instruments and a stronger role for regions and cities. The objective should be straightforward: ensure that the ecosystems built through the EU Missions can continue to deliver, moving from experimentation to implementation, from pilots to scale, and from individual projects to lasting systemic change across Europe.
Looking ahead, ERRIN is mobilising its members around a joint letter to the European Commission calling for the five EU Missions to continue until at least 2030 and for the mission-oriented approach to remain central to the future EU research and innovation framework. ERRIN will further discuss the future of the Missions at an event on 15 October focused on the Missions and mission-oriented approach in the next MFF. Members interested in endorsing the letter or joining the discussion on 15 October are invited to get in touch with Silvia Ghiretti.
Mission-related events this September
For members active in these areas, both Brussels events fall in the same week, a good opportunity to combine networking with consortium-building for 2027 calls.
- Mission Forward: Shaping the Future Through Mission-Oriented Policy (24-25 September, Paris): the OECD's biennial conference bringing together mission practitioners and leading academics from around the world to share best practices and tackle common challenges in mission-oriented policy. This edition focuses on implementation and on evaluating the success of mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs). ERRIN Director Pirita Lindholm will chair a session focused on mission governance, examining how missions are organised and managed to achieve their goals. The event is by invitation only. More info on the OECD website
- EU Cancer Mission Showcase (29 September to 1 October, Brussels): marking five years of the Cancer Mission, bringing together researchers, patient groups and policymakers to take stock of progress and next steps.
- Building strong networks in Cluster 1 Health & Mission Cancer for 2027 calls (28 September, Brussels): a brokerage event helping applicants prepare consortia for the 2027 Cancer Mission and Health Cluster calls. (Registration open until 15 September Home | Cluster Health & Mission Cancer Brokerage Event)