EN EN

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 14.9.2026 COM(2026) 467 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE

COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE

COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

On the mid-term assessment of the EU Missions’ progress, achievements and impact

{SWD(2026) 275 final}

1. INTRODUCTION

The five EU Missions were launched in 2021 as a new initiative under Horizon Europe

2021-2027 (1). They address pressing societal challenges – climate change, soil and waters

health, and cancer – by going beyond traditional instruments and placing research and

innovation (R&I) in a new role. EU Missions focus on systemic transformation, requiring

inclusivity, co-design, scaling up, deployment and societal involvement in generating

solutions for major challenges driven by EU policy considerations.

For 2021-2027, the Missions’ budget is EUR 4.837 billion, with their 2024-2027 budget

making up 11% of the total allocated to Pillar II of Horizon Europe. Between the launch

of the EU Missions in 2021 and 2025, the EU contributed EUR 3.337 billion to EU

Missions’ calls via Horizon Europe funding. With this, individual R&I projects remain at

the core of the Missions (2), but they are integrated into a systemic approach around

dedicated calls for proposals to achieve each Mission’s goals. This allows the Missions to

produce societal impact and long-term transformation in line with their objectives.

In the draft Regulation establishing Horizon Europe for 2028-2034 (3) the European

Commission proposed that funding for the EU Missions be awarded on the basis of work

programmes covering the period up to the 2030 budgetary year, in line with their legal

basis and reflecting their added value in the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

The five EU Missions aim to achieve the following objectives by 2030:

• Climate Adaptation: support at least 150 European regions, local authorities and

communities to become climate resilient.

• Cancer: improve the lives of more than 3 million people through prevention, early

detection, treatment and care for not only those affected by cancer, but also their

families.

• Ocean and Waters: restore the health of our ocean and waters by protecting and

restoring aquatic ecosystems, reducing pollution and making the blue economy

carbon-neutral and circular.

• Cities: support at least 100 cities in achieving climate neutrality, while enabling

replication across Europe.

• Soil: establish 100 Living Labs to lead the transition towards healthy soils.

The Missions are expected to achieve their goals and enable meaningful change by

improving coordination between policy areas and governance levels, encouraging the

participation of the general public and stakeholders, attracting investments from outside

Horizon Europe and producing R&I that can be shared, scaled up and have real-life

applications.

(1) COM(2021) 609 final

(2) As of 28 November 2025, EU Missions have a portfolio of 306 projects funded by Horizon Europe.

(3) COM(2025) 543 final

2

2. THE 2026 ASSESSMENT OF EU MISSIONS

This report and the accompanying Staff Working Document present the key insights from

an assessment of EU Missions carried out in 2025 and 2026 (4), assessing the progress of

the five EU Missions towards their objectives and examining how the mission-oriented

policy approach supports their ability to produce change. This exercise follows up on the

European Commission’s commitment, set out in the 2023 Communication “EU Missions

two years on: assessment of progress and way forward” (5), to “producing a further

assessment report on the implementation of EU Missions”.

3. THE EU MISSIONS’ PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND IMPACT

3.1. The EU Missions’ progress towards their goals and high-value

achievements

All the EU Missions have made substantial progress towards their goals. The Climate

Adaptation Mission has already exceeded its target by supporting 292 regional and local

authorities in their climate adaptation efforts, well above its goal of 150. Tailored technical

and financial assistance has equipped these authorities to better understand climate risks,

plan adaptation measures, mobilise investment and strengthen their capacity to deliver

climate resilience. Based on activities supported between 2021 and 2024, it is estimated

that the Cancer Mission will be able to improve the lives of 2.3 million people by 2030,

out of its objective of 3 million. The Mission Soil is expected to exceed its target of 100

Living Labs covering all main soil-climate zones, degradation processes and land uses

across the EU: it has already established 45 Living Labs involving more than 500 real sites

(such as farms) across Europe,and the selection process for another 60-70 is ongoing. The

Ocean and Waters Mission has advanced the EU’s 2030 biodiversity, zero-pollution, and

climate-neutral blue economy goals, delivering 121 solutions, tested in 349 real-world

demonstration sites, engaging 86 regions in replication, and mobilising over 1 000 Charter

Actions from stakeholders. The Cities Mission is performing strongly, with 107 cities

producing Climate City Contracts, comprising political commitments, climate neutral

action plans and investment plans that together identify emissions reduction of 199.68

MtCO2e (6), roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Austria, Romania and

Slovakia. This constitutes an unprecedent commitment and mobilisation around a climate

neutrality framework, with the Mission approach extending beyond the original cohort

through national platforms and city-to-city replication activities.

The EU Missions were intentionally launched with very ambitious objectives, reflecting

the scale and urgency of the challenges they address. These objectives are all bold and far-

reaching but differ significantly in scope and measurability. Hence, quantitative progress

(4) Most of the data underpinning the assessment has been collected in 2025. Precise cutoff dates for specific

data sources are indicated throughout the Staff Working Document accompanying this report.

(5) COM(2023) 457 final

(6) Todeschi, V., Ulpiani, G., Vetters, N., Galioto, C., Banja, M. et al., Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

Mission: 2025 assessment - Monitoring the overall progress and impact of the Cities Mission, European

Commission, Ispra, 2026, JRC146414

3

towards their targets is a limited measure of the EU Missions’ success. In addition to their

headline 2030 goals, all EU Missions have been highly effective at producing tangible

impact tackling societal challenges. This is demonstrated by the following high-value

achievements:

• The Climate Adaptation Mission has mobilised one of the largest climate

resilience coalitions ever assembled at EU level, working directly with more

than 600 regions and local authorities. This includes 333 authorities that have

made a political commitment to the Mission, 292 authorities receiving technical

assistance, and 297 authorities engaged in demonstration projects.Beyond this

broad mobilisation, the Mission is helping regional and local authorities embed

adaptation into governance structures, develop climate-risk assessments and

adaptation strategies, improve coordination across levels of government, and test

innovative resilience solutions adapted to local realities. The Mission currently

supports 185 regions and local authorities that demonstrate nearly 1 000

innovative adaptation solutions in real-life condition (7), while a further 112

territories are preparing the ground for future replication and scaling. Through co-

design with the general public, researchers and local stakeholders, these activities

are helping translate adaptation objectives into concrete action on the ground.

• For the Cancer Mission, all Member States and three Horizon Europe Associated

Countries have joined the initiative coordinating the establishment of the Network

of National Cancer Mission Hubs. This signals an unprecedented political

commitment to transform cancer prevention and care. 19 hubs (8) are expected to

be set up by the end of 2026 and almost half are already in operation. These hubs

replicate the Cancer Mission’s approach at national, regional and local level,

breaking down barriers, bringing together researchers, clinicians, policymakers,

patient organisations, funders and industry representatives to accelerate innovation,

helping to improve equitable access to prevention and care across Europe.

• The Ocean and Waters Mission has developed a growing portfolio of121

solutions for the restoration of the ocean and waters, tested across 349

demonstration sites and replicated these in 86 regions across Europe and beyond.

The Mission has attracted more than 1 000 pledges under its Mission Charter from

public and private actors around the world (9). It has also completed the design of

the core infrastructureof the European Digital Twin Ocean, which is now

accessible to all. The Digital Twin Ocean is expected to be fully operational by

2030 as a public service, providing continually updated information about the

behaviour of marine species, marine circulation patterns, bio-geochemical

processes, economic activities and more.

(7) There are 41 demonstration projects, demonstrating on average 22 climate adaptation solutions.

(8) Hubs are already operational in Poland, Germany, France, Greece, Malta, Netherlands, Bulgaria and

Sweden. They will be operational soon in Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, Hungary,

Italy, Spain, Israel, Croatia and Finland.

(9) Mission Ocean and Waters - Maritime Forum

4

• Under the Cities Mission, 107 cities have committed to a reduction of 76% of

their current greenhouse gas emissions (10), equivalent to approximately 6.6% of

EU-27 emissions in 2024. Through Climate City Contracts, the Mission has

introduced a new framework for urban climate governance and investment

planning, now recognised in the EU Policy Agenda for Cities as one of the

references for integrated urban strategies and investment pipelines. It has also

generated new knowledge, methodologies and tools to help cities tackle complex

climate-neutrality challenges. In parallel, the Climate City Capital Hub is

improving access to finance through advisory and investment support for a EUR

3.24 billion project pipeline. This includes support for 9 city investment funds, a

replicable sustainable bond framework and more than 47 investor engagements.

The European Investment Bank is further supporting at least EUR 10 billion of

investment in Mission Cities through project-preparation advisory services and

dedicated lending for urban decarbonisation and climate-resilience projects.

Finally, the Mission approach is increasingly anchored at national level through

dedicated platforms and programmes that extend its benefits to additional cities.

• The Mission Soil has significantly increased political attention to soil health by

presenting evidence for the first time that 62% of soils are in an unhealthy condition

(11). In addition, the Mission has enabled the development of methodologies to

measure soil health and has built a monitoring system to track progress with 19

indicators at continental scale, supporting the implementation of the Soil

Monitoring and Resilience Directive (12) and the Common Agricultural Policy

(CAP).

The table included in the annex summarises the EU Missions’ progress towards their

respective goals and presents a more complete overview of their high-value achievements.

3.2. Progress since the 2023 Communication and assessment

The 2023 Communication “EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way

forward” found that, less than two years into implementation, the EU Missions had proven

their potential, individually and collectively. However, they needed to improve their

governance, enhance citizen and stakeholder awareness and engagement, and secure more

and better co-investment beyond Horizon Europe, including from the private sector.

(10) Todeschi, V., Ulpiani, G., Vetters, N., Galioto, C., Banja, M. et al., Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

Mission: 2025 assessment - Monitoring the overall progress and impact of the Cities Mission, European

Commission, Ispra, 2026, JRC146414

(11) Soil Mission – Implementation Plan

(12) Directive (EU) 2025/2360

5

Following the 2023 assessment, the European Commission implemented a series of

corrective actions to address the areas for improvement identified in the Communication.

Examples include the decision to hold regular meetings of Mission Managers to improve

horizontal steering, the strengthening of the EU Missions’ monitoring and evaluation

system, the introduction of four prizes linked to EU Missions (13), or the further

development of EU Missions support structures at the national level (14). We now observe

a functioning governance system, especially at the EU level, and strong engagement of

stakeholder communities, including those that are not traditionally involved in R&I.

While increasing co-investment levels still requires attention, this is an expected

consequence of the fact that EU Missions had been setting up the support structures they

needed until relatively recently. As the EU Missions increasingly move from

experimentation and coordination in a preparatory stage towards a phase of deployment,

scaling-up and replication of solutions, their ability to trigger complementary funding from

outside Horizon Europe is expected to grow.

4. THE VALUE OF THE EU MISSIONS’ MODEL

EU Missions are an agile and effective model to deliver progress towards societal

challenges.

The Missions are creating ecosystems that act as a launchpad that accelerates the testing,

adaptation and deployment of solutions, and that ultimately fosters systemic change. These

ecosystems reduce perceived risks for individual actors and strengthen ownership, making

it easier to try new approaches and invest in change.

4.1. Dynamic environments where knowledge is co-created rather than

simply passed on

The Missions generate both new knowledge and concrete solutions to support the

achievement of their objectives. This includes academic outputs with 156 peer-reviewed

publications produced between 2021 and 2025 (15), as well as a wide range of tangible

results, such as monitoring systems, diagnostic tools, restoration infrastructures,

governance frameworks, and financing models that facilitate investment and uptake.

These outputs are the result of a distinct approach to R&I. Missions foster transdisciplinary

collaboration by bringing together scientific knowledge, applied expertise and user-driven

perspectives, while mobilising large and diverse stakeholder communities. These

communities include public authorities, R&I actors, industry, practitioners, civil society

(13) See cross-cutting activities under the Horizon Europe Missions Work Programme 2026-2027.

(14) E.g. see HORIZON-MISS-2024-CLIMA-01-02, HORIZON-MISS-2024-CIT-02-01 under Horizon

Europe Missions Work Programme 2023-2025, HORIZON-MISS-2025-02-CANCER-06, HORIZON-

MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-07, HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-08, “Specific Grant Agreement to the

FPA to reinforce the operations of the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission Platform” under

Horizon Europe Missions Work Programme 2025, and HORIZON-MISS-2026-01-CLIMA-01 under

Horizon Europe Missions Work Programme 2026-2027.

(15) Data extracted on 28 November 2025, pertaining to 306 Mission projects.

6

and the general public, thereby expanding the range of available capacities and accelerating

the uptake of solutions.

Central to this approach are mechanisms for knowledge co-creation. Through these

mechanisms, stakeholders and the general public jointly develop, test and refine solutions,

while sharing data, tools and know-how. This ensures that solutions are scientifically

sound, relevant, legitimate and aligned with real needs.

4.2. A place-based approach that goes beyond individual projects

The EU Missions are not limited to individual projects. They coordinate actions at portfolio

level by connecting multiple actions, actors and instruments around a shared objective, and

aligning research, innovation, policy and investment efforts towards them.

This approach is firmly anchored at local and regional level, recognising that

transformation begins with communities. Through place-based activities such as living

labs, lighthouses and pilot projects, Missions enable solutions to be developed, tested and

adapted in real-life contexts. This grounding ensures that actions address real needs, while

helping local actors to take ownership of those activities and supporting replication in other

places.

To support this work, multilevel governance structures have been put in place to improve

consistency across policy areas and facilitate alignment between EU-level objectives and

local implementation. By doing this, the Missions bring together policy, innovation and

practice in a dynamic way, making the solutions more relevant and encouraging their

uptake.

4.3. Moving solutions beyond pilot settings

The EU Missions have rolled out a diverse range of intervention instruments, combining

funding, advisory support and facilitation. These include cascade funding, pilot and

twinning grants, and complementary funding sources via European Investment Bank

facilities, InvestEU, or BlueInvest.

Together, these instruments support the testing, deployment and uptake of solutions across

multiple projects, while early guidance on financing and procurement strengthens the

ability of local and regional actors to move from innovation to implementation.

The EU Missions have been operating under the rules and constraints of Horizon Europe

– which are built around traditional project-based R&I and are not entirely suitable for the

full scope of the Missions’ activities and objectives. To be deployed on a large scale, these

solutions require a more extensive toolbox than what is available under the Framework

Programme. In particular, better access to funding and financing at different levels will be

needed to ensure the deployment, scaling-up and long-term uptake of solutions after the

project phase.

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5. EU MISSIONS AND THEIR BROADER POLICY CONTEXT

The EU Missions are contributing to broader EU policy initiatives and are becoming

integral components of their delivery.

The upcoming European Integrated Framework for Climate Resilience (16) seeks to

establish a comprehensive policy framework to reduce climate risks and vulnerabilities

across the EU. The Climate Adaptation Mission is already directly contributing to the

ongoing discussions leading up to the initiative by sharing success stories from the wide

range of decision-relevant tools, solutions and structures directly supported by the Mission.

The Cancer Mission and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) (17) are strategically

aligned, sharing a wide-ranging and multifaceted approach to improving cancer outcomes

across Europe. The two initiatives strengthen each other, united by common governance

structures, cross-cutting priorities, and flagship actions that could maximise impact by

2030. The Mission drives forward R&I for the EBCP and ensures national and regional

uptake through its National Cancer Mission Hubs and citizen engagement activities.

Both the European Ocean Pact (18) and the European Water Resilience Strategy (19) provide

continuity to the objectives of the Ocean and Waters Mission, while extending their scope

to additional goals linked to international action, security and resilience. In this context,

the Ocean and Waters Mission contributes directly to both initiatives, including through

the upcoming Ocean and Water R&I Strategy and the OceanEye initiative.

The Cities Mission is a proven, scalable platform that is uniquely positioned to serve as

the backbone of the EU Agenda for Cities (20). With 107 operational Climate City

Contracts targeting the reduction of almost 200 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent and a

consolidated view of the investment demand associated with climate-neutral urban

transitions, the Mission offers the EU Agenda for Cities an operational infrastructure for

immediate impact and long-term transformation in EU policy action on climate change.

The Soil Strategy (21) explicitly relies on the Mission Soil to expand the knowledge base,

for testing, demonstrating and deploying solutions for soil health or enhancing modelling

capacities. Moreover, the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive identifies the Mission

as a key implementation tool, as it will contribute to the future EU soil health data portal,

support monitoring, education and citizen engagement through living labs, and help with

capacity-building in the Member States by addressing data gaps and sharing expertise. The

Mission has also been identified in many 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plans as a relevant

(16) European Climate Resilience and Risk Management – Integrated Framework

(17) COM(2021) 44 final

(18) COM/2025/281 final, Annex: Ocean-related targets in EU legislation and policy

(19) COM(2025) 280 final, Annex II - The key 2027-2033 intermediate targets

(20) COM(2025) 739 final

(21) COM(2021) 699 final

8

tool, and will contribute to the design and implementation of the agricultural chapter of the

national and regional partnership plans under the 2028-2034 CAP.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The EU Missions have matured significantly since the 2023 assessment, now showing a

functioning governance system and strong stakeholder engagement. Their capacity to

trigger co-investment from outside Horizon Europe is expected to grow – including with

the support of the proposed European Competitiveness Fund and National and Regional

Partnership Plans – as they move from experimentation towards a phase of deployment,

scaling-up and replication of solutions.

Their overall approach, rooted in the concept of mission-oriented policy, has demonstrated

its success and made their achievements possible. An innovation under Horizon Europe

2021-2027, the Missions support activities and drive transformative change in ways that

would otherwise not have been possible. The EU Missions are creating ecosystems that

accelerate the testing, adaptation and uptake of solutions. These ecosystems can be

leveraged by other EU and national initiatives as ready-made enabling environments,

becoming an integral delivery tool for broader action within their respective policy

domains.

At the mid-point of their implementation, the EU Missions are advancing towards their

2030 goals, and they are expected to continue delivering impact on societal challenges in

the second half of their lifecycle by further building on their ecosystems rooted in cross-

cutting governance, engagement and co-creation.

ANNEX

Table 1. Overview of EU Missions' progress towards their headline 2030 goals and high-value

achievements.

EU Mission Status of 2030 goal High-value achievements Climate Adaptation

Support at least 150

European regions, local

authorities and

communities to become

climate resilient

327 regions, local authorities and

communities signed the Adaptation

Charter and 292 received tailored

technical assistance.

• 185 regions and local authorities are

testing and implementing nearly

1000 real-life adaptation solutions

through Mission demonstrators,

while more than 110 additional

territories are preparing the

replication and scaling of successful

approaches across Europe.

• Through tailored technical

assistance, peer learning and Mission

activities, regions and local

authorities strengthened adaptation

governance, improved climate-risk

planning, and developed locally

tailored resilience pathways.

• The launch of the 27 National

Adaptation Hubs is laying the

foundation for a stronger multilevel

governance approach to climate

resilience, connecting EU, national

and regional levels and supporting

the scale-up of adaptation solutions

across Europe.

Cancer

Improve the lives of more

than 3 million people

through prevention, early

detection, treatment and

care for not only those

affected by cancer, but also

their families

Based on activities supported between

2021 and 2024, it is estimated that the

Cancer Mission will be able to improve

the lives of 2.3 million people by 2030,

out of its objective of 3 million. The 3

million target will be achieved as

additional projects are funded and more

accurate results become available.

• Between 2021 and 2026, the Cancer

Mission set up 19 National Cancer

Mission Hubs. They are engaging

national authorities, stakeholders

and citizens in cross-policy

dialogues on cancer and accelerating

the adoption of Mission project

outcomes in health systems.

• Between 2021 and 2024, the Mission

provided 62 projects with EUR 480

million in funding, resulting in 23

multicountry clinical trials, 40 new

tools for prevention, detection and

treatment, and over 850

collaborations across research,

healthcare and policy. Taking 2025

into account, the overall investment

comes to EUR 605 million,

supporting 75 projects.

• The Mission invests into the creation

of two digital platforms, aligned with

the future European Health Data

Space: (1) UNCAN.eu data platform,

supporting researchers and data

holders to advance data-driven

cancer research and innovation, and

(2) European Cancer Patient Digital

Centre, supporting patients,

survivors and caregivers with

services and trusted information.

Ocean and Waters

Protect and restore

marine and freshwater

ecosystems and

biodiversity, prevent and

eliminate pollution of our

ocean, seas and waters,

make the sustainable blue

economy carbon-neutral

and circular

The Mission has made progress on all its

2030 EU targets for biodiversity, pollution

and climate neutrality in the blue

economy. It has delivered 121 innovative

solutions tested in 349 real-world

demonstration sites, engaged 86 regions in

replication efforts and secured over 1 000

Charter Actions from stakeholders.

• The Mission has anchored a basin-

level approach, fostering cooperation

at sea and river level through its

lighthouses – an approach that the

forthcoming European Ocean Act

will build on.

• Under the Mission, the design of the

core infrastructure of the European

Digital Twin Ocean – expected to be

fully operational by 2030 – was

completed and is now accessible to

all.

• A range of replication instruments

and financial advisory services are

beginning to turn this foundation into

a larger wave of restoration

investments and projects outside the

initial Mission portfolio.

Cities

Deliver at least 100

climate-neutral cities by

2030 and ensure that

these cities also act as

experimentation and

innovation hubs for others

to follow, to enable all

European cities to become

climate-neutral by 2050

107 cities have formally committed to

climate neutrality and collectively expect

to reduce emissions by around 199.68

MtCO₂e by 2030 (approximately 6.6% of

EU-27 emissions in 2024). In addition,

there has been progress in the cities’

ability to act as experimentation hubs via

the Pilot Cities, Enabling City

Transformation Programmes (105 cities

mobilised) and Twinning Learning

Programme (181 cities mobilised)

initiatives, complemented by national

platforms that are scaling the Mission

approach beyond the original cohort,

already mobilising dozens of additional

cities across Europe. This represents a

significant contribution to EU climate

objectives, while underlining the scale of

effort required to achieve climate

neutrality by 2030.

• The Mission’s Climate City

Contracts have introduced a new

dynamic governance tool for urban

climate governance and investment

planning, now recognised in the EU

Policy Agenda for Cities as one of the

references for integrated urban

strategies and investment pipelines.

• Pilots, twinning and the Mission

Platform have created a European

ecosystem where cities test and

replicate climate-neutral solutions,

positioning Mission cities as

innovation hubs that enable other

European cities to follow similar

paths towards climate neutrality by

2050.

• The Mission has mobilised and

aligned funding and financing

streams around city climate

investments, including a EUR 2

billion lending envelope from the

European Investment Bank for

Mission Label cities, emerging

national funding via national

platforms and emerging private

investment through the Capital Hub.

Soil

100 Living Labs and

Lighthouses to lead the

transition towards healthy

soils

45 Living Labs established, and ongoing

selection for another 60-70. As all Living

Labs will be operating by 2028, the

Mission is expected to exceed its 2030

goal.

• The Mission presented evidence for

the first time that 62% of soils are in

an unhealthy condition, drawing

political attention to soil health.

• Thanks to the Mission, Europe now

has a structured and permanent

ecosystem for producing, gathering,

preserving and disseminating soil

data, knowledge, tools, technologies

and practices.

• The Mission’s Living Labs are

essential innovation infrastructure,

with more than 500 farms, forests and

urban plots in 24 different countries

already involved. The Living Labs

develop, test and support the

adoption of context-specific

sustainable soil-management

practices.

EN EN

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 14.9.2026 SWD(2026) 275 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

EU Missions 2026

Accompanying the document

Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European

Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

On the mid-term assessment of the EU Missions’ progress, achievements and impact

{COM(2026) 467 final}

Table of Contents

I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3

II. The progress of the five EU Missions ................................................................................ 5

1. Adaptation to Climate Change .......................................................................................... 5 1.1. Introduction to the Mission ................................................................................................... 5 1.2. The progress of the Mission .................................................................................................. 9 1.3. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 19

2. Cancer ................................................................................................................................ 22 2.1. Introduction to the Mission ................................................................................................. 22 2.2. The progress of the Mission ................................................................................................ 29 2.3. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 39

3. Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030 .......................................................................... 42 3.1. Introduction to the Mission ................................................................................................. 42 3.2. The progress of the Mission ................................................................................................ 45 3.3. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 55

4. 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 .............................................................. 58 4.1. Introduction to the Mission ................................................................................................. 58 4.2. The progress of the Mission ................................................................................................ 62 4.3. Progress towards the Mission’s other objectives ................................................................ 67 4.4. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 75

5. A Soil Deal for Europe ...................................................................................................... 77 5.1. Introduction to the Mission ................................................................................................. 77 5.2. The progress of the Mission ................................................................................................ 79 5.3. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 100

III. Enabling progress through the mission-oriented approach ........................................ 105

1. Governance ...................................................................................................................... 108 1.1. Strategic planning ............................................................................................................. 108 1.2. Cross-sectoral governance ................................................................................................ 109 1.3. Multi-level governance ..................................................................................................... 111 1.4. Monitoring, evaluation and learning mechanisms ............................................................ 113 1.5. Conclusions on governance .............................................................................................. 116

2. Citizens and stakeholders’ engagement ........................................................................ 116 2.1. Size of engagement ........................................................................................................... 117 2.2. Co-creation/collaboration ................................................................................................. 120 2.3. Diversity of engagement ................................................................................................... 121 2.4. Awareness and Inspiration ................................................................................................ 123 2.5. Conclusions on citizens and stakeholders’ engagement ................................................... 125

3. Pooling of funding and actions ....................................................................................... 126 3.1. Pooling of finances ........................................................................................................... 127 3.2. Pooling of actions ............................................................................................................. 131

EU Missions in 2026 2

3.3. Conclusions on pooling of funding and actions ................................................................ 135

4. Knowledge creation, usage and scaling-up ................................................................... 136 4.1. Creation of knowledge and solutions ................................................................................ 136 4.2. Sharing of knowledge and solutions, development of skills, dissemination ..................... 138 4.3. Deployment and use of solutions ...................................................................................... 140 4.4. Conclusions on knowledge creation, usage and scaling-up .............................................. 142

IV. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 144

List of acronyms .......................................................................................................................... 150

List of figures .............................................................................................................................. 152

List of tables ................................................................................................................................ 154

Annex – Methodological considerations ................................................................................... 155 A. The progress of the five EU Missions ............................................................................... 155 B. Enabling progress through the mission-oriented approach ............................................... 173

EU Missions in 2026 3

I. INTRODUCTION

The five EU Missions were launched in 2021 as a new initiative under Horizon Europe

2021-2027 (1). They address pressing societal challenges – climate change, soil and waters

health, and cancer – by going beyond traditional instruments and placing research and

innovation (R&I) in a new role.

EU Missions go further than traditional project-based R&I approaches. Instead, they set

clear, ambitious and time-bound objectives and mobilise coordinated action around them.

Individual R&I projects remain at the core of the Missions (2), but are integrated into a

systemic approach to achieve each Mission’s goals. This allows Missions to produce

societal impact and long-term transformation in line with their objectives.

The five EU Missions aim to achieve the following objectives by 2030:

• Climate Adaptation: support at least 150 European regions, local authorities and

communities to become climate resilient.

• Cancer: improve the lives of more than 3 million people through prevention, early

detection, treatment and care for not only those affected by cancer, but also their

families.

• Ocean and Waters: restore the health of our ocean and waters by protecting and

restoring aquatic ecosystems, reducing pollution and making the blue economy

carbon-neutral and circular.

• Cities: support at least 100 cities in achieving climate neutrality, while enabling

replication across Europe.

• Soil: establish 100 Living Labs to lead the transition towards healthy soils.

Missions are expected to reach their goals and enable meaningful change by improving

coordination between policy domains and governance levels, promoting the participation

of citizens and stakeholders, attracting investments beyond Horizon Europe and producing

R&I that can be shared, scaled up and have real-life applications.

This document presents the results of an assessment of EU Missions carried out in

2025 and 2026 (3), assessing the progress of the five EU Missions towards their objectives

(section II) and assesses how the mission-oriented approach supports their ability to

produce change (section III). This parallel perspective highlights the Missions’

accomplishment to date, as well as the ecosystems that Missions created to achieve their

goals.

This exercise follows up on the European Commission’s commitment to “producing a

further assessment report on the implementation of EU Missions” included in the 2023

Communication “EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way forward” (4).

(1) COM(2021) 609 final

(2) As of 28 November 2025, EU Missions have a portfolio of 306 projects funded by Horizon Europe. For

2021-2027, the Missions’ budget is EUR 4 837.09 million. Their 2024-2027 budget makes up 11% of

the total budget allocated to Pillar II of Horizon Europe.

(3) Most of the data underpinning this assessment was collected in 2025. Precise cutoff dates for specific

data sources are indicated throughout the text.

(4) COM(2023) 457 final

EU Missions in 2026 4

It is being published at a critical moment in the EU Missions’ lifecycle. Missions are at the

midpoint of their implementation timeline and have transitioned from early portfolio

formation to a phase in which solutions are deployed, replicated and scaled. Compared to

2023, evidence is now available to assess their achievements and early impact. In addition,

there is sufficient time in the remaining part of the lifecycle to adjust the implementation

of EU Missions where needed.

The assessment finds that all EU Missions made substantial progress towards their 2030

goals. All Missions – regardless of quantitative progress towards their respective

objectives – produced high-value achievements that demonstrate their positive impact on

society. These include hundreds of new innovative solutions for climate adaptation,

National Cancer Mission Hubs that are helping integrate the Cancer Mission’s actions into

health systems, the launch of the core infrastructure of the European Digital Twin Ocean,

the commitment by more than 100 cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 76%,

and the development of methodologies to measure and monitor soil health.

Nevertheless, for Missions to continue delivering impact in the second half of their

lifecycle, they will require more effective governance at the national level and, crucially,

additional tools to support the scaling and uptake of solutions after the project phase.

Importantly, the document finds that Missions developed ecosystems that support the

generation, demonstration and uptake of solutions for societal challenges. These

ecosystems are not only means through which Missions can advance towards their

objectives. They are achievements which can be leveraged and valorised within the

policy domains to which Missions contribute, and that will support continued impact on

societal challenges following the lifetime of the Missions.

EU Missions in 2026 5

II. THE PROGRESS OF THE FIVE EU MISSIONS

The following section provides an overview of the EU Missions’ progress towards their

2030 goals, their current impact and main achievements.

A dedicated chapter covers each Mission, which the respective Mission Secretariat

prepared based on data collected via their Mission’s monitoring frameworks (5). Each

chapter consists of an introduction to the Mission which includes an overview of its

objectives and brief description of its activities, an account of the Mission’s advancement

towards its goals based on a selected number of progress indicators, and final remarks

drawing lessons learnt and conclusions. In addition, each chapter includes a dedicated

intervention logic that contextualises the progress presented in the text and details the

causal chain towards the impact produced by each Mission.

Each Mission drafted its chapter in an iterative process lasting around six months which

included third-party review by a contractor and guidance from the European Commission’s

horizontal service in charge of coordinating the EU Missions. To improve coherence, each

Mission developed its chapter based on a common template. However, minor discrepancies

between the chapters remain – notably owing to the different ways in which Missions are

organised.

1. ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

1.1. Introduction to the Mission

1.1.1. Adaptation Mission and objectives

Climate change is reshaping Europe at a speed and scale that no region can ignore.

Heatwaves, water scarcity, wildfires, floods and coastal erosion are now part of daily life,

disrupting communities, damaging economies, and stretching public services. Building

climate resilience has therefore become essential for Europe’s long-term competitiveness,

security and social cohesion.

The EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change (Mission) is at the heart of the EU’s

response (6). It pioneers a new way of working – where R&I, political commitment, and

local action are brought together with a clear, shared purpose. The Mission supports

regions, local authorities, and communities (RLACs) in protecting people, ecosystems, and

economies from mounting climate risks.

Its political relevance has grown through the active steering of the Mission Manager (lead

policy Director at the Commission’s Climate department), the involvement of

Commissioner for Climate, and exchanges with the European Parliament and the Council.

The Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee further

help disseminate lessons and mobilise regional and local authorities across Europe.

Now at its midpoint, the Mission has moved from ambition to concrete delivery. It helps

territories translate the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change (2021) (7) into real-

(5) The annex provides a detailed overview of the methodology underpinning each Mission’s chapter.

(6) SWD(2023) 338 final

(7) COM(2021) 82 final

EU Missions in 2026 6

world action – providing guidance, technical support, and innovative tools that strengthen

preparedness and reduce risks. By creating a direct interface between EU institutions and

local actors, the Mission has sparked momentum, deepened commitment, and fostered a

growing sense of shared purpose at a moment when Europe must urgently scale up efforts

on resilience, adaptation, and nature-based solutions (8).

The Mission is more than a funding programme. It has become a catalyst for coordinated

climate action. It bridges the long-standing gap between scientific knowledge and

implementation by connecting R&I actors – who produce solutions – with policymakers –

who can deploy them. This integrated approach accelerates adaptation and strengthens

Europe’s collective capacity to confront climate risks.

At the core of the Mission is a clear overarching goal: to support at least 150 European

regions, local authorities and communities to become climate resilient by 2030 (see

section 1.2). To achieve this, the Mission advances three interlinked objectives:

I. Prepare Europe for climate disruptions: providing general support to RLACs to

better understand, prepare for, and manage climate risks.

II. Accelerate transition to a resilient future: supporting at least 150 RLACs to

accelerate adaptation efforts and strengthen their capacity for implementation.

III. Build resilience: demonstrating on-the-ground climate resilience solutions in at

least 75 RLACs and prepare them for replication.

Together, these objectives reflect the Mission’s ambition: to shift Europe from

fragmented, incremental adaptation to a strategic, transformative resilience agenda.

1.1.2. Adaptation Mission’s intervention logic

The Mission’s intervention logic (see figure 1) is designed to ensure that its core activities

generate concrete outcomes that build resilience across Europe. It follows a truly mission-

driven approach: mobilising and aligning actors at every level around the shared common

objective, and a clear, time-bound pathway to climate resilience by 2030.

The four key elements that distinguish the Mission intervention logic are:

• Political Engagement. Political commitment is mobilised through the Mission

Charter. By signing it, RLACs make a visible, public pledge to prioritise climate

adaptation. This elevates resilience on political agendas, strengthens awareness of

climate risks, and builds a strong European constituency committed to action.

• Community of Practice. The Community of Practice connects Charter

Signatories, Mission projects, and key stakeholders into a shared arena for learning

and collaboration. By fostering peer learning and collaboration, it strengthens

awareness and operational capacity of RLACs to make progress.

• Technical Assistance. Tailored technical and financial support equips RLACs to

assess climate risks, design adaptation strategies, and access funding. This

structured support improves institutional capacity, accelerates the development of

(8) Climate change is making each summer hotter, harsher, and more dangerous. This is why we have to

radically step up our efforts into climate resilience and adaptation, and nature-based solutions. But we

must also give ourselves the tools to respond”. 2025 State of the Union Address by President von der

Leyen on 10 September 2025.

EU Missions in 2026 7

adaptation plans, and ensures that efforts are grounded in local realities and

strategically designed and actionable.

• Demonstration. Demonstration projects act as living laboratories where

innovative adaptation measures are tested, refined, and validated in real-world

conditions. They reduce implementation risks, provide evidence of effectiveness,

foster stakeholder buy-in and support the scale-up of resilience practices across

Europe.

These elements set the Mission apart from classical R&I initiatives. Nurturing political

engagement, institutional capacity and support through technical assistance are

instrumental to deliver on the Mission objectives. Demonstration projects move

innovations into real-world practice, creating ready-to-scale models. Finally, the

Community of Practice ties all the different activities together, into a coherent strategic

framework.

The Mission is implemented through a diverse portfolio of 64 Horizon Europe projects

(as of December 2025) addressing the full spectrum of adaptation challenges and

representing an EU investment of EUR 596 million between 2021 and 2025. Projects

include Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) that advance scientific knowledge and

methods, Innovation Actions (IAs) that test and demonstrate solutions in real-world

settings, and Cascade Support Projects that provide financial and technical assistance to

RLACs. To ensure coherence and maximise impact across this broad portfolio, the Mission

Implementation Platform (MIP4Adapt (9)) plays a central coordinating role. It provides

bespoke technical assistance, facilitates access to tools and resources, and drives

knowledge exchange through the Community of Practice. MIP4Adapt is the Mission’s

connective tissue, aligning efforts under a shared strategic framework and accelerating

progress towards a climate-resilient Europe.

(9) Mission Implementation Platform (MIP4Adapt) - Portal of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate

Change

EU Missions in 2026 8

Figure 1. Intervention logic of the Adaptation Mission as a policy approach.

EU Missions in 2026 9

1.2. The progress of the Mission

The Mission engages regions and local authorities through a combination of political

commitment, peer learning, tailored technical and financial assistance, and real-world

demonstration projects. This engagement goes beyond participation figures: the Mission

works directly with territories to strengthen governance structures, develop adaptation

strategies and investment plans, improve climate-risk assessments, and implement

concrete resilience solutions adapted to local needs and contexts.

Defining ‘climate resilience’ in precise, measurable terms remains an active area of

research, to which the Mission is contributing (10). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change emphasises that resilience is a dynamic process shaped by exposure, vulnerability,

and adaptive capacity, making it challenging to capture through indicators or metrics (11).

For this reason, the Mission’s progress is assessed through a set of practical indicators that

provide tangible insights into how regions and local authorities are strengthening climate

preparedness and resilience.

This chapter presents four indicators aligned with the Mission’s intervention logic (see

figure 1). They cover: (1) political commitment through the Mission Charter, (2)

participation in and perceptions of the Community of Practice, (3) the provision and results

of technical assistance, and (4) the demonstration of innovative adaptation solutions. These

indicators offer a clearer basis for assessing progress than the Mission’s interlinked

objectives and are complemented by concrete examples of how the participation in the

Mission drives impact on the ground. Table 1 presents an overview of the indicators and

progress made so far (12).

(10) The Mission has dedicated nearly EUR 3 million to the project UNDERPIN (oUtcome iNDicators to

mEasuRe Progress on climate resIlieNce).

(11)FAQ 6: What is Climate Resilient Development and how do we pursue it? | Climate Change 2022: Impacts,

Adaptation and Vulnerability

(12) The annex provides more information on the rationale for the selection of indicator and on the data

collection.

Table 1. Information on indicators used to demonstrate progress of the Mission on Adaptation to

Climate Change.

Theme Indicator Objective measured

by indicator Baseline Target (if any)

Progress value

(as of

December

2025)

1. Political

engagement

1. Number of RLACs

that signed the

Adaptation Mission

Charter.

(I) Prepare Europe

for climate

disruptions

(II) Accelerate

transition to a

resilient future

0 150 RLACs

327 RLACs

(more than

280 million

inhabitants)

EU Missions in 2026 10

1.2.1. Political engagement

At the core of the Mission are the Charter Signatories. These are RLACs that, by signing

the Mission Charter (13), have formally committed to accelerating their adaptation journey

and work towards the objectives of the Mission. By December 2025, 327 RLACs from 30

countries have signed, covering some 40% of the EU territory (14) and representing more

than 280 million inhabitants. Signatories include major regions such as Nouvelle-

Aquitaine, whose population of 6.1 million makes up nearly 9% of metropolitan France,

underscoring the Mission’s reach into territorially and politically significant areas. These

figures represent more than a milestone; they reflect important political momentum at

subnational level, anchoring climate adaptation as a shared European priority that matters

to citizens.

The Charter serves as a clear entry point into the Mission for RLACs, signalling political

commitment and raising the profile of climate adaptation locally. When backed by active

participation in the Mission activities, this commitment is transformed from intent into

action. It pairs political will with the Mission’s scientific and technical backbone through

access to tailored technical support, a vibrant Community of Practice.

(13) See facsimile of the Mission Charter.

(14) See Factsheet ‘EU Mission: Adaptation to Climate Change – Meet the Regions and Local Authorities’

May 2025. There are Charter Signatories from 25 EU Member States and 5 Associated Countries.

2. Community

of Practice

2a. Extent of

participation in the

EU Mission

Adaptation

Community of

Practice

(I) Prepare Europe

for climate

disruptions

0

No specific target.

Qualitative aim for

engaged and diverse

cohort of stakeholders

653

Participants

2b. Perceptions of

European RLACs of

the extent to which

knowledge transfer

through involvement

in the Community of

Practice has

accelerated their

transformation to a

climate resilient

future

(I) Prepare Europe

for climate

disruptions

n/a

2.5 / 5 and progress over

time

[from 1 being ‘not at all’

to 5 being

‘substantially’]

3.32 / 5

3. Technical

Assistance

3. Number of

European RLACs

provided with

technical assistance

and the progress

made in climate

adaptation planning.

(II) Accelerate

transition to a

resilient future

0

150 RLACs

Progress against the

relevant six steps of the

Regional Adaptation

Support Tool (RAST)

292 RLACs

(including 131

completed)

4.

Demonstration

4. Number of

European RLACs

where solutions for

climate resilience are

being demonstrated

(III) Build

resilience

0 75

185

demonstrators

112 replicators

EU Missions in 2026 11

The significance of the Charter therefore extends beyond a simple count of members. It

represents a pioneering political constituency for adaptation in Europe, one that is

increasingly aware of climate risks, empowered with tools and knowledge, and committed

to embedding resilience into local governance. In doing so, it provides a foundation to

catalyse systemic change and deliver on its ambition of a climate-resilient Europe by 2030.

The Mission and its Charter have established a direct channel between the European Union,

its Member States and the RLACs, facilitating multilevel dialogue, which had been lagging

behind.

How political engagement of regions through the Mission drives impact

The Mission Charter has emerged as a powerful driver of political commitment, helping regions elevate

climate adaptation on their agendas and embed it more strategically in governance structures. According

to the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), both the Charter and the Mission

have significantly elevated the importance of adaptation on the political agenda and fostered a more

strategic approach to adaptation challenges (15).

In Małopolska (PL), signing the Charter in 2022 marked a turning point. Mission participation helped

embed adaptation structurally in regional planning. The region became the first in Poland to develop

a dedicated Adaptation Action Plan (2023) and the Regional Adaptation Strategy (to be adopted soon)

will be integrated into key regional strategic documents, including the Małopolska Development Strategy

and the Environmental Protection Programme.

In Normandy (FR), Mission Charter commitment and participation in the Mission have expanded

internal capacities and strengthened adaptation governance structures. It has accelerated the

development of a multilevel coordination between regional departments, local authorities and external

partners. The Mission’s European visibility has reinforced the political legitimacy of adaptation,

making it harder for decision-makers to deprioritise it.

In Southwest Finland (FI), Charter commitment and participation in Mission projects fostered stronger

stakeholder cooperation and improved regional adaptation capacity. Mission meetings – both EU-

wide and regional forum, such as the Baltic Sea Region meeting – serve as crucial platforms for

knowledge exchange and shared learning.

In Suceava, Iași and Roman (RO), Charter signatures and participation in Mission activities have

increased awareness of adaptation needs among local authorities and universities. The Mission has

helped initiate early multistakeholder cooperation. Although progress is still emerging, the Mission

provides a clearer strategic framework for local actors, helping them understand the urgency of adaptation

and define institutional responsibilities. This shared foundation is beginning to support more coordinated

regional action.

These examples show that the Mission has played a decisive role in raising the political priority of climate

adaptation, strengthening governance structures, and anchoring adaptation as a long-term regional policy

objective.

1.2.2. Community of Practice

A strong Community of Practice is at the heart of the Mission, serving as an arena where

RLACs, Mission projects, and other stakeholders connect, exchange knowledge, and learn

from one another. By 31 December 2025, the Community had expanded to 653 registered

members, including 254 individuals from Charter signatories and 254 from Mission

projects (see figure 2). RLAC involvement spans 29 European countries, and this extensive

membership reflects the Mission’s role as a hub for knowledge exchange and a trusted

(15) See ERRIN paper series. Towards the 10th Framework Programme – EU Missions.

EU Missions in 2026 12

space for collaboration. The reach of the Mission community extends well past registration

statistics – 85 Mission events were held between May 2023 and December 2025, attracting

a total of 4 915 individuals. This includes more than 1 520 representatives from Charter

signatories, 250 from other RLACs, 923 from Mission projects, and 2 072 participants

from other stakeholder groups (see figure 3). These events, which are meant for those

directly involved in resilience building at the local level, have provided important

opportunities for networking, peer learning, and strengthening collaboration across the

adaptation community.

Figure 2. Type of participants registered and granted access to the Mission Community’s online

platform Futurium until December 2025 (n=653).

Note: Others’ refers to members of the Community who do not fall within any of the other

categories. These include Member States representatives, Climate Pact Ambassadors, individuals

from regional and national adaptation platforms, as well as representatives of the Mission and the

European Commission.

Figure 3. Participation numbers to the Mission Community’s events between May 2023 and

December 2025 (n=85 events).

Importantly, RLACs increasingly perceive the Community of Practice as instrumental in

advancing their adaptation efforts. Survey results (16) in September 2025 show that 86% of

responding Charter Signatories considered the knowledge gain from involvement in the

Mission Community to have meaningfully accelerated their transformation toward climate

resilience, a notable rise from 58% one year earlier (score of 3 or more in see figure 4).

(16) A survey is circulated every 6-month with the Signatories. For more details see the annex and Fifth

barometer update https://mission-adaptation-portal.ec.europa.eu/document/download/0e9f7a61-a725-

47a0-8f92-6487622f116f_en?filename=Mission%20monitoring%20-

%20Fifth%20Barometer%20Update_Final_clean_111225.pdf

254

35

254

53 57 Charter Signatories

Other RLACs

Mission Projects

Friends of the Mission

Others

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Charter signatories

Other RLACs Mission Projects Friends of the Mission

OthersN o .

o f P

a rt

ic ip

a n ts

EU Missions in 2026 13

The average score also increased from 2.72 to 3.32 on a five-point scale, signalling

growing recognition of its value. These trends demonstrate that the Community is not only

growing in numbers but also strengthening the quality of its engagement – actively

enabling knowledge transfer, mutual support and peer-learning, providing a solid

foundation for accelerating Europe’s climate resilience.

Figure 4. Charter Signatories’ perceptions of the extent to which knowledge transfer through the

Community of Practice has accelerated their RLAC’s transformation to a climate-resilient future

(n=number of respondents).

Illustrative examples of the impact of the Community of Practice

The Mission’s Community of Practice – through the Peer Learning Programme and Thematic Working

Groups – is strengthening individual projects while building a coherent community capable of shaping

adaptation practice and policy across Europe.

Peer Learning Programme: Across two cycles, 30 RLACs participated in structured exchanges, expert

sessions and joint exercises. Satisfaction was consistently high (around 4.6/5), underscoring the value of

learning from peers facing similar adaptation challenges and helping regions move more effectively from

planning to action. Participation in the peer learning programme has supported tangible action at regional

level. For instance, in Hauts-de-France (FR) work on citizen engagement fed into the development of a

regional citizen-engagement scheme, with a strong focus on youth awareness and involvement.

Thematic Working Groups: More than 300 representatives from Mission and other EU-funded projects

now collaborate through the Thematic Working Groups. High satisfaction levels (84% would recommend;

~70% wish to continue their engagement) reflect the benefit of a shared space to compare approaches and

develop common positions. Joint policy papers have proven especially influential, giving projects a

stronger collective voice and greater policy relevance. All outputs are available on the EU Mission

Adaptation Community site (here).

1.2.3. Technical assistance

Tailored technical assistance remains the Mission’s most direct way of helping RLACs

accelerate their progress in climate adaptation. RLACs themselves perceive direct and

hands-on support as “crucial” to develop robust adaptation plans and strategies (17).

(17) See ERRIN paper series. Towards the 10th Framework Programme – EU Missions

EU Missions in 2026 14

By December 2025, the Mission had supported 292 RLACs: 131 had completed their

support cycle and 161 RLACs were receiving ongoing technical and financial assistance

(see figure 5). The scale of this engagement demonstrates that the Mission’s approach

aligns closely with the needs of its target audience.

Figure 5. Total number of European RLACs provided with technical assistance in climate

adaptation planning from the Mission (MIP4Adapt, CLIMAAX, P2R), as of 31 December 2025.

Recognising the diversity of local contexts, the Mission provides multiple forms of

assistance – from advisory services delivered in local languages to comprehensive, longer-

term financial and technical support.

Completed assistance

MIP4Adapt completed technical assistance to 152 Charter Signatories on adaptation

planning (18). The

quality and

relevance of this

support are

reflected in

feedback, with 99%

of beneficiaries

reporting that the

technical assistance

has helped to

accelerate transformation to a climate resilient future (score 3 or more in figure 6). This

demonstrates how structured institutional capacity-building can rapidly enhance

authorities’ ability to act. In addition to self-reported progress, evidence confirms that

technical assistance is yielding concrete, measurable advances in adaptation planning.

Using the Regional Adaptation Support Tool (RAST) as a benchmark, RLACs supported

through MIP4Adapt show significant progress in identifying and assessing adaptation

options, implementing strategies and plans, and developing monitoring frameworks (i.e.

(18) The difference with the numbers in figure 5 are due to the fact that 21 RLACs had completed the

MIP4Adaptation technical assistance but were also receiving ongoing technical assistance from

CLIMAAX and/or P2R.

131 161

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Number of RLACs

Support Completed (up to 31 December 2025)

0

20

40

60

1 (Not at All) 2 3 4 5 (Substantially)

N u

m b

er

Eu ro

p ea

n R

LA C

s

Perception scores

Figure 6. Perceptions of European RLACs about the extent to which the

technical assistance received will help to accelerate their transformation

towards a climate-resilient future (n=112 respondents from 98 RLACs).

EU Missions in 2026 15

RAST Steps 3 – 6 (19), see figure 7). Further details are available in the Fifth Barometer

Update (20).

Figure 7. Progress of climate adaptation planning by European RLACs where MIP4Adapt’s

technical assistance was completed by 31 December 2025 (n=152). Taken from Fourth Barometer

Update.

Note: the scoring has the following meaning: 1=not started, with no understanding of need; 2=not

started, with understanding of need, 3=ongoing, 4=completed, 5=completed to a high standard.

Ongoing assistance

The Mission continues to provide targeted financial and technical support through its two

major Cascade Support Projects: Pathways2Resilience and CLIMAAX.

• Pathways2Resilience is supporting around 100 RLACs over an 18-month period to

co-design climate resilience strategies, action plans and investment plans. Mid-

term findings from the first 39 participants show early transformational effects,

including strengthened institutional capacity, more systemic planning approaches,

and improved cross-departmental collaboration.

• CLIMAAX is enabling 68 RLACs to conduct or update climate risk assessments,

strengthening their analytical capacity and supporting evidence-based decision-

making. Its 22-month support programme allows in-depth stakeholder engagement,

and the CLIMAAX toolbox is increasingly used by national and local

administrations.

Cascade Support Projects create accessible entry points for RLACs enabling easier access

to European support. Newly recruited staff within those projects accelerate the uptake of

tools, knowledge, and methodologies and ensure their integration into regional processes.

(19) The Regional Adaptation Support Tool provides a six-step process for climate adaptation: (1) Preparing

the ground, (2) Assessing climate risks and vulnerabilities, (3) Identifying adaptation options, (4)

Assessing and selecting options, (5) Implementing actions, and (6) Monitoring, evaluation, and

learning. Technical Assistance was provided to RLACs that had completed Step 2, i.e. had assessed

their risks.

(20) https://mission-adaptation-portal.ec.europa.eu/document/download/0e9f7a61-a725-47a0-8f92-

6487622f116f_en?filename=Mission%20monitoring%20-

%20Fifth%20Barometer%20Update_Final_clean_111225.pdf

1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0

Step 3: Identifying adaptation options

Step 4: Assessing and selecting adaptation options

Step 5: Implementing adaptation policies and actions

Step 6: Monitoring, evaluation and learning

Mean progress score (n=152)

Before

After

EU Missions in 2026 16

A further 120 RLACs will receive assistance through upcoming follow-up projects starting

in 2026, putting the Mission on track to exceed its commitment to support at least 150

authorities.

Together, completed and ongoing technical assistance demonstrate the Mission’s dual

focus: reaching as many RLACs possible (with the available resources) while ensuring that

the support delivered is deep, tailored and capable of driving real progress toward climate

resilience.

How the Mission’s technical assistance accelerates regional adaptation

To understand the impact of the Mission’s technical assistance is having on RLACs, it is useful to take a

closer look at individual RLAC experiences through a few cases.

MIP4Adapt: In Andalucía (ES), the co-development of a Practical Guide for Climate Adaptation

Financing is helping municipalities, especially those with fewer resources, access and align funding

opportunities, while complementary training has reinforced interdepartmental collaboration. In

Gothenburg (SE), assistance enabled a systematic review of the city’s adaptation strategy, the creation

of an action plan guide for public departments and private companies, embedding adaptation more deeply

in local governance. In Figueira da Foz (PT), support was catalytic for finalising the municipal Climate

Action Plan and for structuring pilot projects such as urban microforests, while innovative activities like

a climate-themed photo contest engaged schools and communities, creating intergenerational connections

around resilience.

Pathways2Resilience: The region Île-de-France (FR) could shift from limited understanding of climate

investment planning, absence of centralised resources for adaptation and challenges in connecting local

initiatives to a coherent regional approach with a coordinated data observatory system, formalized

partnerships, dedicated resources, and systematic data sharing accessible to all territorial actors.

CLIMAAX: Early results have already influenced policy and investment decisions, such as the planning

of green space in Košice (SK) and the strengthening of risk plans supporting regional responses to extreme

events in Catalonia (ES). Participation of La Réunion (FR) has strengthened the science-based approach

to climate adaptation in this outermost region, enabling access to EU-level expertise in risk assessments

and peer exchange.

Together, these examples show how tailored technical assistance is supporting the Mission’s objective

and enabling context-specific pathways to resilience.

1.2.4. Demonstration

The Mission is driving innovation by supporting on-the-ground demonstrations of

adaptation solutions across Europe. By December 2025, 185 RLACs across 41 Mission

projects were actively testing and implementing nearly 1 000 resilience measures (21).

These demonstrations serve as living laboratories where innovative approaches are co-

created, trialled, refined, and prepared for replication. Their collaborative nature is

reflected in the diversity of participants: 38% research and higher education, 27%

public entities, 19% private companies, and 16% others (e.g. NGOs and networks).

Knowledge transfer is embedded into the demonstrations: 112 RLACs participate as

replicators, ready to adopt the successful solutions. This structure amplifies the impact,

favours scaling of the solutions and strengthens peer-to-peer learning across the Mission.

While demonstrators and replicators are based in EU Member States and Associated

Countries, some projects extend this approach beyond Europe by integrating an

(21) On average, each demonstration projects tests 22 climate adaptation solutions.

EU Missions in 2026 17

international dimension. For example, Coast-Scape combines core demonstration pilots in

Spain, Italy and Germany with replication pilots in Portugal, Spain and Romania, as well

as transfer pilots in Morocco, Mozambique and Colombia, to support uptake in new

contexts. Similarly, CARDIMED has established a resilience alliance that brings together

additional communities, including partners from third countries.

Demonstrations span a broad range of themes – from water management, agriculture and

forestry to critical infrastructure and health. Nature-based solutions play a particularly

prominent role, as a cross-cutting approach offering multiple co-benefits. For instance, this

includes demonstrations addressing urban greening and re-naturing, contributing to the

New European Bauhaus and boosting social inclusion, equitability and liveability in cities.

The wide geographical spread highlights the diversity of adaptation challenges and

solutions across the continent (see figures 8 and 9). Mediterranean countries such as Spain,

Italy, Greece, and Portugal currently host the highest number of demonstrations, reflecting

both their acute vulnerability to climate impacts and their strong engagement in the

Mission. Yet, demonstrations are also underway in northern, central, and eastern Europe,

showing that the Mission is relevant across a broad range of climatic, socio-economic, and

governance contexts.

(a) Demonstrators (n= 185 RLACs) (b) Replicators (n = 112 RLACs)

Figure 8. Map of RLACs involved in cross-border demonstration projects of climate resilience

associated with Mission Projects (categorised by year of Horizon Europe call).

EU Missions in 2026 18

Figure 9. Number of different European RLACs involved in demonstration projects of climate

resilience categorised by Members States/Associated Countries.

Through these efforts, the Mission is demonstrating very concretely what climate

resilience looks like in practice: from restoring rivers and managing water scarcity to

reducing heat stress in urban environments and strengthening cross-border collaboration.

By embedding innovation in real-world contexts, the demonstrations provide a critical

foundation for scaling up solutions, validating what works in practice, and showing how

Europe’s regions and local authorities can translate adaptation plans into tangible action.

How demonstrator regions translate adaptation into action

The examples below show how Mission demonstration projects are delivering concrete adaptation on the

ground. Captured in the Adaptation Stories (22) series on the Mission Portal, they reflect strong demand

from RLACs across Europe to test and implement real solutions – not just plans. Together, they show

how demonstrators help regions move from strategy to implementation, piloting actions that are locally

rooted, scientifically robust, and available for wider replication. They illustrate the Mission’s role in

turning adaptation strategies into investments, governance innovation, and tangible resilience benefits for

communities.

Centro region (PT) is highly exposed

to wildfires. Through integrated

landscape management, small

landowners collaborate to reduce fuel

loads, introduce fire-resistant species,

and create more resilient forests. The

approach delivers ecological gains

while opening up new business

opportunities in rural areas. [Full story

here – from the project RESIST]

Fryslân (NL) is adapting its water

systems and coastal areas to future

climate risks by restoring meanders

and reinforcing dikes with nature-

based solutions. This enhances the

resilience of the regional water systems against climate threats while providing ecological, recreational,

and economic co-benefits. [Full story here – from the project NBRACER]

(22) See the 100+ Adaptation Stories published on the Mission Portal: https://mission-adaptation-

portal.ec.europa.eu/stories-0_en

Figure 10. Coastline restoration, combining nature, coastal

protection, flood risk reduction and improving biodiversity and

in Fryslân (NL). Image Credit: 1DYK

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35

N u m

b e r

o f R

L A

C s

Member States / Associated countries and others

EU Missions in 2026 19

Non-conventional water sources –

such as rainwater harvesting, dry-

stone terrace restoration, and small-

scale aquifer recharge – help address

chronic water scarcity in Aegean

islands (EL). These low-tech, nature-

based measures reduce pressure on

dwindling freshwater resources and

support local agriculture,

demonstrating how traditional

landscape practices can underpin

modern climate resilience. [Full story

here – from the project CARDIMED]

In Transylvania (RO) 40 hectares of

degraded mountain grasslands are

being restored using drones, soil amendments, and native seed mixes. Local farmers, researchers, and

authorities work together to improve soil health, increase water retention, and boost biodiversity, reviving

traditional mountain pastures and rural livelihoods. [Full story here – from the project MountResilience]

In Sardinia (IT), the “Coastal Contract” approach brings together municipalities, regional authorities and

civil society to jointly plan coastal adaptation, aligning ecosystem restoration, risk management and

tourism strategies. This collaborative model strengthens accountability and enables long-term, area-wide

action in regions exposed to sea-level rise and storm surges. [Full story here – from the project:

TransformAr]

1.3. Conclusions

Climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a daily reality reshaping Europe’s

communities, economies, and ecosystems. In this context, climate preparedness is

emerging as a defining priority for Europe’s prosperity, stability and global

competitiveness. As highlighted in the 2025 State of the Union address, the EU must

strengthen its capacity to protect vulnerable regions, safeguard resources, and prepare for

increasingly frequent and severe climate extremes. The Adaptation Mission has become a

cornerstone of this collective effort.

Achievements and progress since the 2023 assessment

Since the 2023 assessment, the Mission has advanced along three main fronts: mobilisation

of actors, strengthening of support structures and progress toward a more systemic and

coherent adaptation ecosystem.

Mobilisation and participation

In just a few years, the Mission has mobilised one of the largest resilience coalitions ever

assembled at EU level. More than 300 regional and local authorities have pledged

political commitment through the Mission Charter, and over 600 RLACs are engaged in

Mission activities – far exceeding the original target of 150. This confirms the 2023 finding

that the Mission is a timely, positive and promising initiative (23) – and demonstrates that

momentum has continued to grow. Charter Signatories continue to rate the Mission highly

(23) European Commission (2023). Study supporting the assessment of EU missions and the review of mission

areas – Mission Adaptation to Climate Change assessment report,

https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/017040

Figure 11. Loading a drone with mineral fertilizer in

Transylvania (RO). Image Credit: MountResilience.

EU Missions in 2026 20

(4.1/5 in terms of relevance to their goals and needs (24)), and early evidence points to its

genuine added value: deeper strategic thinking, stronger governance, and more coordinated

adaptation planning.

Technical assistance and knowledge exchange

The Mission’s Community of Practice has evolved into a vibrant arena for knowledge

exchange. Almost 300 authorities have received or are receiving tailored technical and

financial assistance.

Real-world testing and innovation

Meanwhile, 185 demonstrators across Europe are testing real-life adaptation solutions,

helping ground the forthcoming EU Integrated Framework for Climate Resilience in the

lived realities of local authorities and communities.

Financing and resource mobilisation

Initial indications also suggest that the Mission is helping RLACs mobilise resources well

beyond Horizon Europe, including through dedicated financial advisory services.

According to recent monitoring (25), 81% of adaptation actions reported by Signatories are

financed from local budgets. Synergies (26) with LIFE projects alone represent almost EUR

162 million of complementary investment (see annex) and illustrate how authorities

actively draw on other EU instruments to implement or scale adaptation strategies. These

findings point to a positive trend that should strengthen as technical assistance and work

on adaptation finance deepen local capacities. Synergies have increased elsewhere as well:

the 2026-2027 Horizon Europe work programme dedicates nearly EUR 160 million to

joint calls with other initiatives such as the Cities and Soil Missions, the New European

Bauhaus, and the Circular Cities and Region initiative.

Breadth and depth

The breadth-depth dynamic identified in 2023 has now become one of the Mission’s

defining strengths. Sustained demand from territories broadened participation well above

the original target of 150 RLACs, demonstrating both the relevance of the Mission’s

approach and its capacity to mobilise local and regional actors at scale. At the same time,

maintaining depth remains essential. Targeted instruments – technical assistance,

demonstrators, Adaptation Hubs – offer a “plug-and-play” pathway for territories ready to

advance more quickly. Others can engage at their own pace while still benefiting from a

shared European ecosystem of knowledge and support. In this way, the Mission preserves

breadth while enabling depth where it is most actionable. It remains a pilot initiative by

design: intended to demonstrate a scalable model with strong added value, complementing

and enabling national and regional funding structures, not replacing them.

Multilevel governance

(24) See survey conducted in September 2024 https://climate-

adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/mission/news/news/charter-signatories-share-insights-on-the-missions-impact

(25) EEA (2025) Mission Signatory Reporting Assessment https://climate-

adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/mission/knowledge-and-data/signatory-

reporting/mission_signatory_reporting_assessment.pdf/

(26) “Synergies” here is not to be confused with our definition of “synergies” in the pooling chapter (section

III, chapter 3). Here, “synergies” is used in its general meaning of “combined action or operation”.

EU Missions in 2026 21

The launch of National Adaptation Hubs (27) in 2025 marks a step-change in the Mission

implementation and a strong signal for multilevel governance implementation. With one

Hub in each Member State, the Mission is driving a systemic approach to adaptation –

connecting EU, national and local levels, aligning strategies, and supporting the scale-up

of Mission solutions across the different national territories.

Monitoring

Monitoring is maturing. Biannual Mission monitoring reports (28) and annual signatory

assessments of RLAC progress (29) provide a clearer picture of the advancements, while

new research efforts help address the longstanding challenge of appropriate indicators for

measuring climate resilience (30).

Private-sector engagement

Engagement with the private sector is also evolving, with breakthroughs expected through

the 2025 call on incentives for private adaptation finance and the “Deep Tech for Climate

Adaptation” accelerator challenge launched with the European Innovation Council.

Lessons learnt

As the Mission approaches its mid-point, several lessons are emerging:

• European added value is clear. Peer learning and cross-border collaboration

accelerate adaptation, avoid duplication, and enable cost-efficient scaling of solutions.

• Local capacity remains a bottleneck. Tailored technical assistance is indispensable

for driving a faster, smarter, and more systemic climate adaptation.

• Co-creation drives ownership and impact. Bringing together R&I actors,

policymakers and other stakeholders is a unique strength of the Mission. It ensures that

knowledge is translated into actionable, context-specific solutions.

• Adaptation is local. There is no one-size-fits all approach: climate impacts,

governance systems, and local cultures vary widely across Europe. The Mission’s

place-based, flexible approach is essential. Successful climate adaptation initiatives

require striking the right balance between diversity (reflecting local realities) and

harmonisation (ensuring coherence, efficiency and progress at the European level).

Looking forward

The evidence gathered through this assessment confirms that the Mission is delivering

tangible progress while laying the foundations for longer-term systemic resilience. As

climate risks intensify, no region can adapt alone. The Mission shows how Europe can act

(27) See project AdaptationHubs, which will be extended in the 2026 call.

(28) See Mission Fifth Barometer updates https://mission-adaptation-

portal.ec.europa.eu/document/download/0e9f7a61-a725-47a0-8f92-

6487622f116f_en?filename=Mission%20monitoring%20-

%20Fifth%20Barometer%20Update_Final_clean_111225.pdf

(29) EEA (2025) Mission Signatory Reporting Assessment https://climate-

adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/mission/knowledge-and-data/signatory-

reporting/mission_signatory_reporting_assessment.pdf/

(30) See UNDERPIN project: oUtcome iNDicators to mEasuRe Progress on climate resIlieNce

EU Missions in 2026 22

together – mobilising knowledge, innovation, financing and political leadership to

strengthen resilience across all territories. As the Mission matures and its first projects

conclude, its impact will become increasingly visible on the ground: better preparedness,

stronger governance, and more communities capable of anticipating and withstanding

climate shocks.

The experience generated through the Mission will directly inform the forthcoming EU

Integrated Framework for Climate Resilience (31), grounding it in the realities, priorities

and solutions emerging from Europe’s regions and local authorities. In doing so, it will

help ensure that climate preparedness becomes a defining strength of the European

Union – a cornerstone of its competitiveness, security and social cohesion in the decades

ahead. In this way, the Mission is helping transform climate preparedness from an

aspiration into a shared European capability.

2. CANCER

2.1. Introduction to the Mission

2.1.1. The EU Cancer Mission, its overall goal and selected specific objectives

Imagine a Europe in which cancer is better understood, well prevented, quickly diagnosed,

effectively treated, and the affected have a high quality of life. Despite all the investments

into cancer research so far, there is still much to be understood, 40% of all cancer cases are

preventable, and the affected people suffer too much. With the EU Cancer Mission we

move away from isolated research projects towards a more comprehensive Mission

approach aiming to speed up the process from findings to implementation across the EU

to achieve its objectives.

This move is urgently needed as cancer affects every individual, family, and community,

causing far-reaching consequences that are not limited to the disease itself. Each year,

millions of Europeans are diagnosed with cancer, leading to personal suffering, loss, and

a significant emotional and financial burden on families and caregivers. Cancer also affects

societies and economies, straining healthcare systems, reducing productivity, and

increasing social inequalities across the EU. Every year the EU sees a EUR 200 billion

economic toll.

As one of Europe’s leading causes of death, cancer is a major public health and societal

challenge requiring a coordinated response. With 1.3 million lives lost and 2.8 million new

diagnoses annually, cancer has a significant impact on the EU. Today, 5% of the EU

population lives with or beyond cancer, making survivorship and quality of life an urgent

priority. This need will grow as cancer diagnoses are projected to exceed 3.2 million by

2040 due to ageing, environmental and lifestyle risk factors, and unequal access to

prevention, diagnosis and care.

In response, the EU Cancer Mission was launched in 2021, alongside the Europe’s Beating

Cancer Plan. The Mission aims to improve the lives of over 3 million people by 2030

(31) Announced as ‘European Climate Adaptation Plan’ in the 2024-2029 political guidelines. The

framework is planned for Q4 of 2026

EU Missions in 2026 23

through better prevention, earlier detection, improved treatment, and strong support for

patients and survivors.

The Mission is organised around four major objectives – understanding cancer, prevention

and early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and improving quality of life. The outcomes

of these objectives contribute together towards achieving the overall goal.

The EU Cancer Mission unites research and cancer control, policy, stakeholders, and

citizens to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer more effectively. It contributes to the

advancement of scientific knowledge and helps translating it into societal progress through

national implementation. Thus, this integrated approach leads to better prevention, earlier

diagnosis, more precise treatments, and tailored support for survivors, improving outcomes

and quality of life. It also contributes to reduction of inequalities and improved lives across

Europe.

Hence, the EU Cancer Mission extends past research by connecting science with other

policies, as well as national, regional and local needs, engaging with the public, citizens

and practitioners directly, and promoting innovations that translate into real-world

solutions. The Mission supports R&I across its four objectives, including a strong portfolio

of clinical trials.

The EU Cancer Mission is integrated into Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), the

EU’s policy framework supporting Member States in the fight against cancer. The EBCP

was adopted in 2021, and both initiatives were co-developed, sharing aligned objectives

and a joint governance.

The Mission serves as the R&I engine of the EBCP, generating evidence, technologies,

and solutions for prevention, screening and early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and

quality of life. The EBCP helps implement these solutions across Member States. Key

innovations include an EU-wide framework for prevention and equitable care and the EU

Cancer Screening Scheme to expand early detection. Through its National Cancer Mission

Hubs (32) and citizen engagement activities, the Mission promotes national and regional

uptake, equity, and peer learning. The joint governance (33) of the Mission and the EBCP

connects research, health and digital policies, ensuring close coordination between the

Commission, Member States, and stakeholders. This is achieved through the Subgroup on

Cancer under the Public Health Expert Group (34) and the joint “Beating Cancer Group”

on the Health Policy Platform (35).

(32) ECHoS - Cancer Missions Hubs

(33) Examples include: cancer prevention (e.g. health promotion and vaccination), cancer screening,

personalised cancer medicine, rare cancers (e.g. childhood, adolescent and young adult cancers), public-

private health partnership with industry, non-power health applications of ionising radiation such as

medical radioisotopes and radiation protection, digital policies concerning data sharing and artificial

intelligence, clinical research such as clinical trial infrastructure, treatment optimisation.

(34) Expert Group on Public Health - Public Health - European Commission

(35) EU Health Policy Platform - EU Health Policy Platform

EU Missions in 2026 24

The Mission’s efforts have led to the development of joint flagships, such as the

UNCAN.eu data platform or the European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (ECPDC (36)).

These flagships build on and are integrated with broader policy frameworks, in particular

the European Health Data Space (EHDS) (37). By bringing together research, health and

digital policies, these flagships will be scaled up to the first concrete demonstrators of how

the EHDS will revolutionise data exchange, in cancer as well as other disease areas.

International collaboration is critical, particularly in tackling rare and hard-to-treat

cancers, where the pooling of resources and expertise is indispensable. In recognition of

this imperative, the Cancer Mission has also intensified engagement with key international

partners that share its strategic objectives.

For instance, the US Cancer Moonshot Initiative, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the EU

Cancer Mission, and the US National Cancer Plan share a similar ambition to enhance

cancer prevention, early detection, and equitable care for all individuals affected by cancer.

To facilitate knowledge exchange and explore potential joint initiatives, two thematic

working groups have been established in 2024, focusing on ultra-rare paediatric cancers

and lung cancer screening to foster a structured transatlantic dialogue on cancer. Under

this initiative, two EU4Health projects are underway:

• Partner4VRT aims to strengthen international collaboration to improve patient

outcomes through data-driven insights and innovative therapies. The pilot

observational study focuses on two ultra-rare childhood cancers –

pancreatoblastoma and adrenocortical carcinoma – to expand patient data

availability for robust analysis.

• LAPIN seeks to address knowledge gaps among EU Member States regarding

cumulative tobacco exposure, associated lung cancer risk, and potential screening

eligibility.

Similarly, Japan’s cancer strategy exhibits strong synergies with the EU’s approach,

presenting a compelling opportunity for collaboration. The EU Cancer Mission has

initiated discussions with the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development to

explore avenues for deepening cooperation in cancer research.

On 26 June 2025, a joint event titled "Fighting Cancer: How the EU Cancer Mission and

Japan’s National Cancer Centre Address the Challenge" was co-hosted at the Osaka World

Expo by the EU Cancer Mission and Japan’s National Cancer Centre. The discussions

centred on a shared priority: enhancing quality of life for individuals during and after

cancer treatment, with a particular focus on adolescents and young adults. A follow-up

event was held in Brussels on 2 March 2026.

In the 2026 Cancer Mission Work Programme, EUR 5 million has been allocated to

support the development of a comprehensive capacity-building programme between EU

Member States, Associated Countries and Ukrainian cancer centres. This initiative aims

(36) An operational concept for a European Cancer Patient Digital Centre - Publications Office of the EU

(37) European Health Data Space (EHDS)

EU Missions in 2026 25

to establish a research and innovation capacity-building framework while integrating it

with cancer care delivery.

2.1.2. The EU Cancer Mission’s intervention logic and activities

The EU Cancer Mission creates added value (38) by bringing together different sectors

and disciplines to find solutions for cancer control, both at the European and national

levels. Its intervention logic is built on societal transformation, supported by a strong multi-

stakeholder approach that actively involves citizens, patients, researchers, industry,

philanthropy, policymakers, funders, health tech innovators, and healthcare professionals.

This inclusive framework enables the development and integration of more effective,

sustainable and citizen-centred innovation across the entire cancer pathway.

Figure 12. Intervention logic as outlined in the EU Cancer Mission Implementation Plan (39).

The intervention logic of the EU Cancer Mission explains how its goal is achieved through

four objectives, five transversal priorities, and a coordinated set of 19 scientific, policy,

and societal actions.

• It links research activities, such as generating new knowledge, developing

prevention tools, and improving diagnosis, treatment and quality-of-life solutions,

to expected outputs and long-term impacts for citizens.

• It emphasises that progress relies not only on scientific advances but also on cross-

sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration, supported by shared resources, data

and infrastructures.

(38) COM(2023) 457 final

(39) European Commission (2021). Mission on Cancer: Implementation Plan, Directorate-General for

Research and Innovation, September 2021. https://research-and-

innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/2e87e31f-37f7-4892-ab4f-

2fad7ee1fcc3_en?filename=cancer_implementation_plan_final.pdf

EU Missions in 2026 26

• It also integrates societal transformation by involving patients, citizens, and

stakeholders in communication, engagement and co-creation activities. Altogether,

it shows how research projects and project clusters work together to produce

measurable improvements in cancer outcomes across Europe, with particular

attention to childhood cancer as a cross-cutting priority.

The Mission brings together research, innovation, public and individual health policy

through four main areas of actions:

• Research & Evidence Generation: Building robust evidence base for new policy

actions. This is essential to identify what works, for whom, and under which

conditions, particularly in a disease as complex and heterogeneous as cancer. It enables

policymakers to distinguish promising innovations from ineffective approaches and to

prioritise interventions that deliver the greatest benefit for populations.

• Policy & Implementation: Collaborating with EU Member States and stakeholders to

translate findings into practice. Coordination of this collaboration and early

involvement of decision-makers ensure that research outcomes (such as risk-based or

personalised cancer screening tools) can be implemented e.g. via national cancer plans,

national screening programmes and patient pathways that define how a person moves

through each stage of care: how screening is offered, how quickly diagnostic tests are

performed, how treatment decisions are made by multidisciplinary teams, and how

survivorship or palliative care is managed afterward. This is crucial in cancer, where

timely uptake of research outcomes and innovation improve survival and quality of

life. (see operational objective (4) in figure 12).

• Public Engagement & Equity: Engaging citizens, ensuring equitable access, and

prioritising vulnerable groups, such as children, adolescents and young adults.

Involving the public helps tailor prevention, screening, and care initiatives to real needs

and improves trust in cancer-related innovation and policies, improving also their

uptake. This involvement is essential in cancer because outcomes vary widely across

socio-economic groups, age (e.g. children, elderly) and vulnerable populations often

face barriers to timely diagnosis and treatment. (see operational objective (4) in figure

12).

• Precision, Innovation and Infrastructure: Supporting initiatives that provide

personalised medicine, facilitated data sharing, new diagnostics, and tailored treatment

and care options. Innovative cancer research depends on strong infrastructures that

allow scientists and clinicians to exchange high-quality data and test innovations at

scale. This is vital in cancer, as breakthroughs often rely on carefully selected patient

cohorts sharing similar biomarkers (e.g. the expression of oestrogen receptor on breast

cancer cells), advanced technologies, and rapid translation of discoveries into clinical

practice (see operational objective (1, 2 and 3) in figure 12).

Concrete activities under the EU Cancer Mission include launching research projects

targeting major cancer challenges, prioritising vulnerable groups, rare and hard to treat

cancers, establishing National Cancer Mission Hubs for policy alignment, fostering project

clusters under each of the four Mission objectives understanding, prevention and early

detection, diagnosis and treatment, as well as quality of life.

EU Missions in 2026 27

2.1.3. EU Cancer Mission portfolio and its four objectives

The Mission has a growing portfolio of 62 R&I projects (40), with a budget of EUR 480

million. A few examples are highlighted:

• Understanding Cancer: Projects such as GLIOMATCH (41) and THRIVE (42) are

advancing precision medicine by generating new molecular profiles, identifying

tumour–host interaction pathways, and developing candidate biomarkers for

personalised treatment strategies. DISCERN (43) is delivering large-scale

epidemiological datasets, computational models and validated risk-factor

associations to uncover the health determinants driving poorly understood cancers.

• Prevention and Early Detection: Projects like ONCODIR (44) and SUNRISE (45)

are developing innovative digital tools and strategies for cancer prevention,

targeting both the general population and adolescents. These projects combine

behavioural science, risk-assessment models and personalised recommendations to

support healthier lifestyle choices. Their tools also help public authorities design

more effective prevention campaigns and reach groups that are traditionally

difficult to engage.

• Optimising Diagnosis and Treatment: Initiatives such as DEFINITIVE (46) and

liquid biopsy trials aim to personalise care and improve early cancer treatment

through clinical testing. DEFINITIVE develops next-generation imaging and

radiomics tools to help clinicians more precisely characterise tumours and tailor

treatments to individual tumour biology. MONALISA (47) is conducting a

pragmatic clinical trial in children to demonstrate the efficacy of liquid biopsy for

early detection of neuroblastoma relapse, improving survival chances while

reducing the need for stressful diagnostic procedures.

• Enhancing Quality of Life: The EUonQoL (48) project is creating a harmonised

set of validated patient-reported outcome measures to help patients, clinicians and

policymakers monitor survivors’ wellbeing across Europe. The smartCARE (49)

project developed a personalised digital survivorship passport that provides tailored

follow-up plans, treatment histories, and self-management support. Five projects

(40) The 62 projects come from the first 4 years of the EU Cancer Mission (2021-2024). Taking into account

2025, the overall investment has reached EUR 605 million supporting 75 projects.

(41) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136670

(42) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136622

(43) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101096888

(44) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101104777

(45) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136829

(46) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136953

(47) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101137028

(48) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101096362

(49) SmartCARE - Public Health - European Commission

EU Missions in 2026 28

with over 90 partners across Europe are advancing innovative tools to better

understand and manage late effects of cancer treatment in young survivors.

• Infrastructures for cancer: (1) UNCAN.eu is building a federated European

infrastructure for improving management, sharing and analysis of data. (2) The

Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructure (CCI) flagship initiative builds a unified

European network that integrates cancer care, research, training, and innovation to

ensure high-quality, equitable access for patients across all Member States. By

promoting capacity-building, a shared maturity model, and twinning between

centres, it reduces disparities in outcomes and strengthens Europe’s long-term

leadership in delivering comprehensive, patient-centred cancer care and research.

(3) The European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (ECPDC) is building a trusted,

patient-centred digital platform providing reliable information, guidance on

patient-reported outcomes and experiences (PROMs and PREMs), and a secure

space for peer exchange, aligned with the European Health Data Space framework.

By integrating multiple modules and leveraging existing initiatives, it aims to

empower patients, enhance engagement in care and research, and support

harmonised quality-of-life data collection across Europe.

In line with the Mission approach, projects are grouped into thematic clusters in order to

foster collaboration, facilitate knowledge sharing, and strengthen synergies within cluster

projects as well as with other projects and Mission actions.

As outlined in the Cancer Mission Work Programmes, project consortia engage in

networking and joint activities with other funded projects to maximise coherence and

European added value. To achieve this, projects are organised into thematic clusters that

together build a strong, mission-driven portfolio supporting the Mission’s objectives.

These clusters align scientific efforts, create shared outputs, and feed evidence into

policymaking, while increasing the visibility and uptake of EU-funded results. The

Mission uses clusters to promote shared data management, coordinated policy feedback,

and citizen engagement across all stages of cancer control.

Each project identifies areas for collaboration within its cluster and commits to cooperation

on horizontal topics such as data management, communication, capacity building, and

links with National Cancer Mission Hubs at national levels. Sub-cluster provide platforms

for shared learning, joint engagement, and wider communication further enhancing

collaboration.

EU Missions in 2026 29

Figure 13. Policy webinars and stakeholder dialogues facilitate the translation of research into

actionable policy recommendations.

Policy webinars and stakeholder dialogues facilitate the translation of research into

actionable policy recommendations and connect projects with policymakers, healthcare

providers, patients, and industry. This continuous exchange ensures that scientific evidence

informs cancer policy while stakeholder feedback shapes future research and

implementation priorities.

For example, the “Prevention and Early Detection – Screening” subcluster brings together

six EU-funded projects aligned with the Mission’s objective to reduce cancer incidence

and detect cancers early. These projects collaborate to develop personalised prevention and

risk-based screening tools (e.g. for breast, colorectal, lung, and haematological cancers),

integrate behavioural sciences, digital methods, and real-world data, and engage citizens

in co-creating solutions. The cluster aims to deliver scalable interventions, support policy

updates across Member States, and bridge research to implementation, making prevention

and screening more effective, inclusive, and equitable.

The “Diagnosis & Treatment” cluster advances cutting-edge diagnostics, personalised

care, and therapeutic innovation to optimise outcomes for cancer patients across Europe.

Its projects develop liquid biopsies, imaging biomarkers, and adaptive treatment

algorithms, integrating them into clinical pathways for adult and paediatric cancers. By

aligning efforts, the cluster promotes collaboration, shared infrastructure, and policy-

relevant evidence to accelerate the adoption of innovative diagnostics and treatments at

national and regional levels.

2.2. The progress of the Mission

The following section shares key milestones in the Mission’s expected impact towards its

overall goal and four objectives.

It is essential to note that impact needs time to materialise, particularly in a complex field

like cancer research. Most of the funded Mission projects to date are ongoing (since over

80% of the projects started in 2022 or later). Some of the projects have already delivered

results and a pipeline of tangible results (such as scientific publications, new data

EU Missions in 2026 30

resources, prototypes, clinical evidence, or policy tools) is set up to emerge over the next

few years.

As these outputs mature and are adopted by healthcare professionals, researchers and

policymakers, they will gradually lead to measurable outcomes like improved prevention

strategies, more precise diagnostics and better patient care. Only after this stage can

broader societal and health impacts, including reduced cancer incidence or improved

survival and quality of life, be reliably assessed. To track progress the Mission’s

monitoring system will follow a step-by-step approach, from early project outputs to long-

term outcomes and impacts at population level.

2.2.1. Progress towards the EU Cancer Mission goal

The EU Cancer Mission’s goal of “improving lives” broadly encompasses all four Mission

objectives. It is not limited to access to effective therapies to include better understanding,

prevention, early detection, quality of life, equity, and patient empowerment for those

living with and beyond cancer. Improving lives means lowering cancer mortality and

enhancing survival through more effective prevention (as up to 50% of cancers are

preventable) and less invasive, more precise treatments that reduce side effects and speed

up recovery. Early diagnosis also improves lives by detecting cancer sooner, improving

outcomes, and reducing treatment burdens. The Mission ultimately strives to make high-

quality cancer care and survivorship support more accessible, equitable, and responsive to

people’s needs across Europe.

Since its launch in September 2021, the EU Cancer Mission has made significant

progress. It funded 62 projects, organised 44 stakeholder events with more than 4 000

participants, and held 9 citizen engagement events reaching over 16 000 citizens. It has

also supported policy initiatives under the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to advance cancer

understanding, prevention, and control at both European and national levels. The

estimation of the Mission’s progress towards its goal is based on information retrieved

from deliverables of these projects following a methodology described in detail in the

annex.

Each project contributes to either of the four objectives of the Mission, namely (1) improve

the understanding of cancer, (2) prevent what is preventable, (3) optimise diagnosis and

treatment, (4) improve the quality of life. These four objectives converge to achieve the

overall goal of the Mission.

The defined methodology enables to translate project expected outcomes in number of

people whose lives will be improved. At this stage, the calculation is primarily based on

the expected outcomes of projects and reflects several mitigating measures implemented

to increase its robustness.

For example, to anticipate that not all solutions developed by projects will eventually reach

full (clinical) implementation, a probability factor derived from extensive literature

research has been included for each indicator (50).

(50) See the methodology in the annex.

EU Missions in 2026 31

Based on the above, at this stage of implementation, we estimated that the EU Cancer

Mission via its supported solutions will potentially improve the lives of 2.3 million

people.

The methodology for this estimation is based on combining the target populations of all

Mission projects individually with the probability of success and reach of each

intervention. We have used conservative, evidence-based assumptions and adjusted for

overlaps to produce a realistic projection of the Mission’s overall impact.

This is a significant milestone and clear progress towards the goal. By 2030, when more

projects will have been funded and delivered results, we expect to see a substantial and

measurable impact, with a growing number of people benefiting directly from the Mission.

Based on currently estimated progress, the EU Cancer Mission is well on track to reach

and exceed its goal of improving the lives of more than 3 million people across Europe.

We will periodically reassess the number of people whose lives will be improved, replacing

expected outcomes with concrete results, as they become available.

The Prevention and Early detection and Quality of Life projects are leading to a greater

number of lives improved. The Understanding objective is likely to contribute to the long

term, since it advances knowledge building and underpinning research (see the annex).

These foundational insights will enable future breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapies, and

personalised medicine, amplifying the Mission’s overall impact over time. By linking

short-term benefits for citizens with long-term scientific progress, the Mission ensures both

immediate improvements in wellbeing and sustainable advances in cancer control.

2.2.2. First results delivered by the EU Cancer Mission project portfolio

With an EU contribution of EUR 480 million, the EU Cancer Mission has funded 62 new

projects since 2021, covering its four main objectives. Most projects have been funded

under the “Diagnosis & Treatment” objective (n=20). This is followed by 16 projects under

“Prevention & Early Detection”, 14 projects under “Understanding Cancer”, 9 projects

under “Quality of Life” and 3 transversal Mission projects. Together, this portfolio reflects

a balanced approach across the cancer continuum, from research and prevention to care

and survivorship.

Within this portfolio, some initiatives are already delivering concrete structural results.

4.UNCAN.eu (51), the first completed coordination and support action, developed a

strategic blueprint for a federated European network of cancer data nodes. This blueprint

will be scaled up to help researchers and data holders to work seamlessly with data from

multiple sources and domains. By linking research, health, and digital policies, this

flagship provides a first concrete step toward demonstrating how the future European

Health Data Space can revolutionise data exchange in cancer and other diseases.

The Mission’s portfolio also functions as a powerful driver of collaboration. Through its

projects, the Mission fosters cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration between

project partner organisations. As shown in figure 14, it has established over 850

collaborations, with around 18 organisations per project on average. Collaboration is

(51) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101069496

EU Missions in 2026 32

particularly strong in projects creating new Mission Hubs, infrastructures, and integrated

improvements to cancer care, research, and prevention, bringing together researchers,

clinicians, policymakers, and citizens across Member States in a mission-oriented

framework that moves past traditional funding and helps reduce fragmentation while

maximising collective impact.

Figure 14. Number of project collaborations per Mission objective.

Mission projects unite a wide range of organisations, including universities, non-profits,

research transfer offices, technology partners, public institutions, SMEs, large industries,

and engagement groups. Although it is still early to fully assess the Mission’s added value,

the figures already demonstrate its strong ability to mobilise cross-sector collaboration in

support of its objectives.

This collaborative model also enables the EU Cancer Mission to address complex, cross-

cutting challenges that require coordinated action across disciplines and sectors. One such

priority is childhood cancer: as a transversal focus, significant progress has been made to

advance understanding and better address the needs of children, adolescents, and young

adults (CAYA) with cancer.

Each year in Europe, around 35 000 children and 150 000 adolescents and young adults

are diagnosed with cancer. Despite major progress pushing survival rates to around 80%

cancer remains the leading cause of death in young people, claiming 6 000-8 000 lives

annually.

Addressing CAYA cancer is a core priority of the EU Cancer Mission and EBCP. Between

2021-2024, around EUR 100 million (20% of total Mission funding) was dedicated to this

age group.

This focus continues:

• The 2025 Mission Work Programme allocates EUR 25 million for innovative

multi-country therapeutic trials for paediatric cancer.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Understanding cancer Prevention and early

detection

Diagnosis and

treatment

Quality of life

N u

m b

er o

f co

ll a

b o

ra ti

o n

s

EU Cancer Mission objective

EU Missions in 2026 33

• Over EUR 30 million will support research on environmental exposure and CAYA

cancer risk.

• The Mission facilitates a Rare Cancer Forum in collaboration with the European

Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), launched in March 2026.

• Ongoing engagement with CAYA patients, survivors, and caregivers informing

priorities, including a EUR 36 million topic on managing late effects of treatment.

The EU Cancer Mission has made major strides in addressing cancers in children, adolescents and young

adults (CAYAs) with cancer, investing between 2021-2025 at least EUR 145 million across 21

groundbreaking projects, nearly a third of its portfolio. From unravelling rare tumours (melanoma,

glioma, liver cancers) to pioneering prevention (tackling obesity, digital health tools) and cutting-edge

clinical trials (refractory neuroblastoma, leukaemia, brain and bone cancers), research is translating into

real hope for young patients.

But progress does not stop at treatment. Six dedicated projects – including five on late effects – are

reshaping quality of life and survivorship care, ensuring young survivors thrive beyond cancer.

The next steps are amplifying youth voices, deeper engagement with survivors and local communities to

shape research and policy priorities, accelerating clinical trials, backing investigator-led studies for

smarter, kinder treatments, and prioritising mental health through the European Cancer Patient Digital

Centre.

Several projects funded by the EU Cancer Mission develop living-lab approaches as part

of their methodology, especially for citizen engagement, co-creation, behaviour-change

interventions, and quality-of-life research.

The project “4P-CAN” (52) supports the EU Cancer Mission by addressing societal,

behavioural, economic, and structural barriers that hinder the uptake of effective cancer

prevention, particularly in Eastern Europe. It strengthens population-level prevention by

generating evidence on what works in real communities and how policies can better reach

citizens with diverse needs. Its Living Labs in Romania and Bulgaria create a direct impact

by bringing together citizens, policymakers and clinicians to co-design and test prevention

strategies, ensuring policy solutions are feasible, relevant, and widely accepted.

The project “OncoScreen” (53) contributes to the Mission by developing scalable, citizen-

centred innovations for colorectal cancer screening to improve early detection and reduce

inequalities across Member States. First results include the successful validation of AI-

supported risk stratification models and improved screening workflows tested in pilot

settings, showing strong potential for broader European uptake. It provides policy-relevant

evidence by integrating clinical, technological, and behavioural insights into screening

pathways adaptable to different health systems. Its Virtual Living Lab brings together

healthcare professionals, citizens, researchers, and industry to evaluate screening tools and

processes, ensuring policy recommendations are grounded in real-world usability and

public engagement.

(52) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101104432

(53) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101097036

EU Missions in 2026 34

The project “PREDI-LYNCH” (54) is developing an early cancer prediction tool for people

with Lynch syndrome (LS), a hereditary condition that greatly increases cancer risk. It

creates validated, non-invasive liquid biopsy tests using urine or blood samples that

combine biomarkers with advanced analytics to detect LS-associated cancers (colorectal,

endometrial, urothelial) at very early stages. Initial results show promising accuracy of

selected biomarker panels and predictive models in identifying early tumour signals,

proving feasibility for clinical surveillance. These innovations enable personalised, risk-

based monitoring, reducing invasive procedures and allowing earlier intervention and

better outcomes for high-risk individuals.

The EU Cancer Mission has created incentives for investments outside the EU budget

with Member States and organisations, such as:

• Philanthropy: launching of the FORCE (55) coordination and support action,

which brings together a network of cancer charities to support clinical trials on

refractory and rare cancers (Mission WP 2024).

• National and regional cancer funders: expanding the TRANSCAN (56) research

funders network to support the EU Cancer Mission and EBCP through translational

research consortia, bringing together leading and young cancer scientists (Mission

WP 2025).

• European Investment Bank: providing financial advisory services to support the

development of a network of European Comprehensive Cancer Centres

strengthening research capacity of comprehensive cancer infrastructures in seven

widening countries (57).

2.2.3. Expected outputs from EU Cancer Mission projects

Outputs from EU Cancer Mission projects are expected to be varied and aligned with the

outcomes of each of the four objectives. While most projects will deliver publications,

others will develop new biomarkers, diagnostic tools, or screening programmes for specific

sub-groups. This section reports on Mission outcomes based on projects developing new

tools, programmes, methods, and actions within scope.

Between 2021 and 2024, the 62 projects funded by the Mission are expected to produce

the following outcomes:

• 40 new tools (see concrete examples below) including:

o 10 new prevention and early detection tools,

o 11 novel diagnostic and prognostic tests and methods.

• 10 new scientific outputs for population-based cancer screening programmes.

• 23 multi-country clinical trials to develop new prevention, diagnostic, and

treatment interventions, such as primary prevention programmes targeting schools,

devices, and medicines.

(54) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101213916

(55) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101215179

(56) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/964264

(57) Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Romania, Slovakia

EU Missions in 2026 35

• 321 scientific publications, with 24 projects reporting at least one publication (58).

Concrete examples of tools produced by projects and their outputs are listed below.

A personalised digital prevention platform to help individuals at risk of cancer is being

developed by the “iBeCHANGE” (59) project. The platform uses AI-driven lifestyle

profiling and behavioural data to empower individuals at risk of cancer, such as those who

smoke, drink excessively, eat poorly, are inactive, or experience chronic stress. The tool

integrates adaptive interventions like personalised messages, nudges, and coaching tailored

to key lifestyle factors. It aims to deliver scalable, evidence-based prevention strategies

that healthcare systems and policymakers can use to change population habits and reduce

cancer incidence. Large-scale policy deployment could significantly cut new cancer cases,

lowering treatment costs, reducing hospitalisations, and improving overall wellbeing.

The European Cancer Patient Digital Centre is a flagship initiative of the EU Cancer

Mission and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Its creation is supported by the “EU-CIP” (60)

project (European Cancer Information Portal) The project builds a pan-European digital

tool and content library to improve access to cancer information, empower patients, and

raise policy awareness. The platform will have modular central and local nodes in ten

Member States and will be developed in collaboration with patient organisations to ensure

usability and equity. By integrating with the Knowledge Centre on Cancer and the

European Cancer Information System, EU-CIP will provide a single-entry point for

trusted, multilingual cancer information. This bridges information gaps, supports national

decision-making, and enables cross-border data exchange for better coordination in cancer

control.

An extended-reality (XR) digital tool for rehabilitation and self-management in

adolescents and young adults is being developed by the project “TRANSCEND-XR” (61).

The project has conducted user-centred workshops, created prototype XR modules for

physical and psychosocial recovery, and launched a multicentre study in several Member

States. The scalable, immersive tool helps young survivors regain strength, cognitive

function, and wellbeing while reducing long-term effects like fatigue, pain, and anxiety.

Through engaging, personalised rehabilitation, it supports a smoother return to education,

work, and social life, aiding full reintegration after treatment.

2.2.4. Joint achievements of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and EU Cancer Mission

The Cancer Mission’s joint governance actively involves Member States through both the

Sub-group on Cancer under the Public Health Expert Group (PHEG) and the SPC Cancer

Mission Working Group, ensuring strong coordination across research, health, and social

policies and coherent implementation at EU and national levels. In close alignment with

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), this joint governance has enabled structured

(58) Publications Office, CORDIS - EU research projects under HORIZON Europe (2021-2027), Publications

Office, 2022. As of 26 August 2025: https://doi.org/10.2906/112117098108/20.

(59) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136840

(60) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101073878

(61) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101214413

EU Missions in 2026 36

dialogue with Member States to shape evidence-based EU policy actions and support their

coordinated implementation through aligned funding instruments.

One example of their joint achievements is the revision of the Council recommendation on

cancer screening in 2022, 20 years after its first adoption (62), based on the latest scientific

evidence provided by the RTD Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) (63).

As a follow-up, the Mission supports 15 R&I projects that test innovative prevention

programmes, promote behavioural change, use participative implementation research with

all age groups, and scale up screening and early detection technologies (TRL 5-7). These

projects complement EBCP’s actions to support Member States in implementing the

Council recommendation on screening.

In 2023, the EU Cancer Mission launched a long-term dialogue with young cancer

survivors to better understand their needs during and after treatment and co-create

initiatives to address them, including issues such as discrimination in access to financial

services faced by cancer survivors. This dialogue led to the development of a research topic

in Mission Work Programme 2024 on late effects of cancer treatments and a study on AYA

cancer care in Europe under EU4Health WP 2024. This ongoing engagement of young

survivors also raises awareness of their needs among stakeholders and Member States.

Thanks to the dialogue with young cancer survivors, they were able to contribute to the

design of the European Cancer Patient Digital Centre, a platform that will provide patients

and survivors with reliable information throughout their cancer journey. The Mission

Work Programme 2024 supports the development of the information portal, which is the

first building block of this platform (64). Through this programme, the EU will deliver a

user-tested digital resource that empowers patients, enhances health literacy, and lays the

foundation for future modules on peer exchange and patient-reported outcomes,

strengthening engagement across Europe.

In addition to its investments of EUR 480 million to innovative projects, the Mission

achieved synergies with other EU programmes, notably Horizon Europe (Health

Cluster, Partnerships, EIT Health, EIC), other EU programmes (EU4Health, Digital

Europe, Euratom) and policy initiatives (Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, SAMIRA Action

Plan, Knowledge Centre on Cancer). This approach has led to a cumulative investment

of EUR 3.3 billion in cancer research and innovation under Horizon Europe,

EU4Health, and Digital Europe in 2025 (Figure 15). By working together and combining

resources, the EU can make a significant impact in the fight against cancer and improve

the lives of patients and survivors.

(62) Council updates its recommendation to screen for cancer

(63) Scientific Advice Mechanism

(64) The above referred project EU-CIP was funded within this call

EU Missions in 2026 37

Figure 15. Overview of the EU-funded cancer project portfolio across Horizon Europe (2021-

2024), EU4Health (2021-2024) and Digital Europe (2021-2024).

2.2.5. Bringing solutions to local, regional and national communities

Citizen engagement is central to the EU Cancer Mission, recognising that tackling cancer

requires a collective effort and shared responsibility. While health policy remains a

national competence, the Mission provides a European framework that connects citizens,

stakeholders, and policymakers across Member States. By actively involving patients,

communities, and regional actors, the Mission ensures that R&I meet real needs and

improve lives. Building strong national and regional capacities is key to turning EU

initiatives into local action, fostering ownership, trust, and sustainability, and ultimately

turning European collaboration into tangible health benefits for citizens.

To raise awareness about innovation and prevention, the Mission organised a bus

roadshow in 2024 that visited Poland, Lithuania, and Romania. The campaign brought

interactive information directly to citizens, attracting over 16 000 visitors and reaching 11

million people. The Mission partnered with 66 stakeholders, including ministries, cancer

institutes, and patient organisations to showcase prevention tools such as screening guides,

lifestyle assessments, and digital health solutions from Mission projects, showing how

science supports healthier choices. This outreach created a new way to connect research

with everyday life, fostering trust, awareness, and collaboration across Europe.

EU Missions in 2026 38

Figure 16. Overview of the EU Cancer Mission roadshow.

The EU Cancer Mission supports 23 multi-country clinical trials, including 16 pragmatic

trials, to deliver affordable, personalised diagnostics, therapies, and care interventions.

These trials are already providing access to new treatments for over 3 000 patients with

common and rare cancers. The Mission's integrated approach, which aligns research,

healthcare providers, and policymakers under shared goals, makes it possible to coordinate

these clinical efforts. Unlike traditional funding, the Mission framework fosters

collaboration, data sharing, and joint implementation, accelerating progress from research

to patient benefit across Europe.

The “CCI4EU” project contributes to the EBCP and EU Cancer Mission flagship of

creating a European network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres. It strengthens the

research capacity of Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures (CCIs) integrating care,

research, education, and innovation at regional and national levels. The project defines a

CCI maturity model, maps infrastructures across Europe, and delivers capacity-building

programmes for less developed regions. Its goal is for 90% of eligible patients in Europe

to access CCIs by 2030, reducing inequalities, and improving outcomes. Significant

progress has been made, including the completion of the first mapping of cancer centres,

the maturity model, and targeted capacity-building to close gaps in cancer care.

The National Cancer Mission Hubs, established through the ECHoS project (2023–

2026), play a key role in implementing the EU Cancer Mission at national, regional, and

local levels. All Member States have joined ECHoS to build a pan-European network that

replicates the integrated approach linking cancer research and health policy at the national

level. In this way, the Mission is driving government action on national cancer plans and

support for cancer survivors. Poland launched the first Hub in May 2025, followed by

Malta, Greece, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Israel, Finland, and

Croatia. Overall, 19 countries will have established a National Cancer Mission Hub by the

end of 2026.

EU Missions in 2026 39

Figure 17. Launch of the Polish Cancer Mission Hub.

In parallel, several countries have increased their investments in cancer research and

healthcare, with contributions from EU budget, including the Recovery and Resilience

Fund (RRF) (65) and national budgets. For example:

• The Czech Republic has invested into the development of a Cancer Prevention

Centre and Infrastructure for Innovative and Supportive Care at Masaryk Memorial

Cancer Institute.

• Croatia has purchased equipment for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of

cancer.

• Greece has invested into breast cancer prevention.

• Malta has invested in a cutting-edge cancer treatment and diagnosis facility at Sir

Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre.

• Slovakia is developing diagnostic tests for the detection of gastric and colorectal

cancer.

• Belgium has invested in nuclear medicine radioisotopes for cancer treatment..

• Latvia has invested in introducing new methodological management and guidelines

in the field of oncology.

2.3. Conclusions

With the EU Cancer Mission, we aim to shift from traditional isolated research projects

towards a more comprehensive mission approach, aiming to speed up the process from

findings to implementation across the EU, including the joint deployment of research

outcomes into national cancer plans, screening programmes, and patient pathways,

ensuring real-world impact.

This novel approach allowed the Mission to make considerable progress towards its goal

of improving the lives of 3 million people by 2030 through research, innovation, and

coordinated policy action. Since 2021, it has funded 62 projects with EUR 480 million,

resulting in 23 multi-country clinical trials, 40 new tools for prevention, detection, and

treatment, and over 850 collaborations across research, healthcare, and policy. Early

(65) Projects - European Commission

EU Missions in 2026 40

monitoring indicates that the Mission is on track to improve 2.3 million lives by 2030, with

notable results in prevention, early detection, and quality of life.

Such achievements could only be realised through the Mission’s integrated, challenge-

driven approach, which unites stakeholders from across sectors and Member States under

a single, outcome-oriented framework.

Citizen engagement and outreach activities remain crucially important for awareness

and trust-building, in combination with the core added value of the EU Cancer Mission

that lies in its capacity to accelerate high-impact cancer research and innovation across

Europe. The Mission’s primary contribution is the generation of new scientific knowledge,

clinical evidence, advanced diagnostics, personalised therapies, digital tools, and scalable

healthcare solutions. Through its integrated portfolio of multi-country clinical trials,

transnational research projects, and shared infrastructures, the Mission strengthens

Europe’s scientific excellence and its ability to translate discoveries into clinical and

societal impact. Continued emphasis on research, implementation, and deployment will be

essential to achieve long-term improvements in cancer outcomes and European

competitiveness.

The Mission’s deployment potential lies in its flagship initiatives, such as UNCAN.eu,

the Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures (CCI4EU), and the European Cancer Patient

Digital Centre. All are currently offering some of the envisioned services, which have

delivered tangible results and are ready to be scaled up for integration into health systems.

Through the National Cancer Mission Hubs, these results are being adapted and

implemented progressively at regional and national levels, bridging EU innovation and

citizens’ daily lives. In the coming years more of the envisioned services will be added on

a rolling basis. Once these are in place, they will need to be scaled up as well to achieve

the Mission’s goal until 2030 and continuously reach more people. The initiatives will be

the living legacy of the Mission.

Overall, the Mission is building a European model for equitable cancer control,

demonstrating that when science, policy, and society work together, innovation can reach

people faster and more fairly. Continued investment and commitment after 2030 are

essential to realising the Mission’s transformative potential and turning today’s progress

into lasting health impact for Europeans.

The EU Cancer Mission is being implemented through a wide range of projects,

engagement activities, events, and interdisciplinary policy initiatives across Europe. Its

delivery is complex, as it must operate across different sectors, scientific domains, and

national health systems, while simultaneously addressing citizens’ needs. The joint

governance and co-development of actions between the EU Cancer Mission and Europe’s

Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) have been crucial for aligning R&I with national and EU-

level health policies.

In the future, the services provided by the three flagships should be scaled up with

investments to reach even more people:

The National Cancer Mission Hubs are designed to continue beyond 2030. They allow

countries to tailor cancer strategies to national needs while staying connected at EU level,

using a scalable model that supports long-term sustainability, including through

EU Missions in 2026 41

stakeholder and private funding. The Hubs should sustain policy coordination and ensure

that Mission results are implemented locally and regionally. Scaling up their activities will

strengthen collaboration, spread best practices, and preserve a pan-European network that

promotes equity, knowledge sharing, and innovation in the years ahead.

The UNCAN.eu platform should continue beyond 2030 as it provides a unique European

infrastructure for the management, sharing and analysis of cancer data, which is essential

for scientific discovery and precision medicine. By linking research, health, and digital

policies, UNCAN.eu demonstrates how the European Health Data Space can revolutionise

cancer data use and interoperability across Member States. Building on its early

achievements, UNCAN.eu should be scaled up to expand participation, enhance

integration, and strengthen collaboration. Continued access to harmonised data will drive

innovation and accelerate breakthroughs in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

By 2035, UNCAN.eu aims to become a fully integrated network, delivering tangible

benefits for patients.

The European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (ECPDC) should serve as an empowering

platform for patients, aligned with the European Health Data Space framework. It will

provide reliable information, guidance on patient-centred instruments, and a secure space

for peer exchange. The ECPDC should be scaled up by 2035 to integrate new modules and

expand its reach across Member States. Sustainable funding will be needed to maintain

and grow this trusted, multilingual resource, which will strengthen patient engagement and

support research through harmonised quality-of-life data.

The Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructure initiative should continue beyond 2030 to

strengthen Europe’s capacity for high-quality, integrated cancer care, research, and

innovation. Through its maturity model and capacity-building, it reduces disparities and

ensures broad patient access to top-level infrastructures. The next phase should expand

participation, deepen collaboration, and harmonise standards across Europe. Sustaining

this initiative will secure lasting cooperation, accelerate clinical translation, and maintain

Europe’s leadership in equitable cancer care beyond the Mission’s timeframe.

The EU Cancer Mission’s biggest potential and value come from giving visibility and

delivering resources to combat cancer, enhance collaboration and outreach. Collaboration

improves the tools and solutions, and outreach increases the number of lives improved.

This is achieved through policy events and activities with Council presidencies and

national actors, aligning national and European priorities, showcasing progress, and

mobilising Member States for joint action. These events will reinforce political

commitment and promote the uptake of Mission results into future EU and national cancer

policies. The Mission’s investments in research, innovation, and implementation have

contributed to accelerating progress in diagnostics, personalised therapies, and digital

tools, improving patient outcomes. Strengthening prevention campaigns, National Cancer

Mission Hubs and policymaker engagement will ensure science translates into equitable

health policies more rapidly.

Beyond combating cancer, the approach and the tools developed during the Mission also

serve as a blueprint for tackling cardiovascular disease, thereby significantly reducing the

cost of future endeavours.

EU Missions in 2026 42

We conclude that most of the envisaged Mission activities are well underway. Through

collaboration and outreach we optimised for the best possible impact and will continue to

do so. All current offerings provide benefits to people. Until 2030 more offerings will be

added, and all offerings will be scaled up. By 2030 the matured flagships will have

improved the lives of 3 million people. In the years following 2030, more people can be

reached with possible additional funding.

3. RESTORE OUR OCEAN AND WATERS BY 2030

3.1. Introduction to the Mission

3.1.1. What is the Mission, overall goal and selected specific objectives

The Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030 aims to foster a sustainable marine

and freshwater environment by aligning its goals with the objectives of the European Green

Deal, and more specifically with EU strategies on ecosystem protection and restoration,

pollution reduction, and sustainable economic practices.

The Mission Implementation Plan (66) provides a set of interlinked specific objectives and

targets to be achieved by 2030:

Figure 18. The Mission's specific objectives and targets.

The Implementation Plan also foresees two enablers for the achievement of the above-

mentioned objectives, namely: (a) a Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge System, which

integrates data, models and AI to enhance monitoring, forecasting and planning capacities;

and (b) broad public mobilisation and engagement to connect citizens, communities and

stakeholders with ocean and water stewardship.

The implementation plan foresees two phases for the implementation of the Mission:

• In the first ‘development and piloting phase’ (2021-2025), the Mission rolled out

four ‘Lighthouses’ in major European sea and river basins, as the Mission sites that

(66) Available at: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/d6162cbd-6d09-48fd-

b5b4-d7d2be69972c_en?filename=ocean_and_waters_implementation_plan_final.pdf

EU Missions in 2026 43

are acting as hubs and platforms for the development, demonstration and deployment

of transformative innovations of all forms to reach the three specific Mission

objectives and their targets. In the first phase, each Lighthouse focused on one

specific objective.

• In the second ‘deployment and upscaling’ phase (2026-2030), solutions as those

piloted in the first phase will be further developed and, at the same time, replicated

and scaled up. In the second phase, all Lighthouses address all three specific Mission

objectives.

3.1.2. Brief description of the Mission’s intervention logic and activities

The Mission Ocean and Waters is implemented through an intervention logic (see figure

below) that links five strands of activity to outputs, intermediate outcomes and, ultimately,

progress towards the three specific objectives and the two Mission enablers.

Figure 19. The Mission's intervention logic.

Political mobilisation, governance and Mission communities provide the institutional

backbone. This strand includes establishing and running the four Basin Lighthouses and

their Mission Arenas, National Mission Hubs, the Mission Charter, and the EU Blue Parks

community, the Waterfront Cities/Regions/Islands coalition and the Digital Ocean Forum.

These activities generate outputs in the form of governance structures, communities and

political commitments, including Charter Actions with associated investments. Together,

these outputs underpin outcomes related to strengthened multilevel governance and

Mission communities, large-scale mobilisation and pooling of investments and actions,

and early behavioural and policy change among key institutional actors.

R&I projects and demonstrations for the three objectives provided the Mission's

knowledge and solution base. Projects under the Horizon Europe work programme work

on ecosystem restoration, pollution prevention and elimination, as well as a sustainable,

carbon-neutral and circular blue economy, undertaking research, development, co-

EU Missions in 2026 44

creation and pilots in real environments. They generate knowledge, digital tools and

solution packages including evidence, models, and indicators, monitoring tools, piloted

solutions, operational protocols and early business models. Such outputs generate

outcomes related to sound knowledge and solutions, improved decision support, and

preconditions for uptake and replication.

The Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge System develops the European Digital Twin

Ocean as a public service, integrating major data sources and creating user-facing

applications. This produces shared digital infrastructure, curated datasets, models and tools

that make knowledge accessible and usable. This, in turn, reinforces outcomes related to a

strong digital backbone for planning, monitoring and decision-making across the three

objectives.

Public mobilisation and engagement dedicated projects and cross-cutting actions test and

scale engagement formats such as citizen science, campaigns, blue education, living labs,

youth challenges and art-science collaborations. They generate governance and

community outputs and engagement toolkits that strengthen societal coalitions, increase

awareness and participation, and promote behavioural and cultural change that support

more sustainable practices.

Finally, replication, uptake, scaling and deployment translate the Mission’s foundations

into implementation on the ground. Associated Regions schemes, technical assistance and

support services, investment-readiness and financial advisory (e.g. EU Blue Champions),

alignment of funds through Cooperation Working Arrangements, and the Mission service

portal create deployment, replication and support instruments. They drive the mobilisation

of investments, the deployment and replication of solutions in Basins and Associated

Regions, and the strengthening of institutional implementation capacity.

As a result, across the five groups of activities, the outputs collectively drive a coherent set

of outcomes which contribute to the Mission’s impacts by 2030: restored and better-

protected marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, reduced pollution from key

sources, a more sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy, a fully operational

Digital Twin Ocean system supporting decisions at multiple scales and sustained public

mobilisation and engagement for the protection of the ocean and waters.

3.1.3. Description of the Mission portfolio and its state of play

By November 2025, 81 projects are up and running under Horizon Europe Work

Programmes 2021-2024, with a total EU contribution of EUR 497.6 million. These projects

are testing and demonstrating innovative approaches and solutions to address the Mission

objectives and enablers:

EU Missions in 2026 45

Figure 20. EU contribution to Mission-funded projects under Horizon Europe (2021-2024) (EUR

million).

An analysis (67) of 12 EU funding programmes has identified a wider portfolio of 1 236

projects, adding up to EUR 4.97 billion, which contribute to the objectives/enablers, or to

the Green Deal-relevant targets of the Mission.

3.2. The progress of the Mission

3.2.1. Introduction

The July 2023 Communication “EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and

way forward” (68) considered that the Mission was helping to overcome the current

fragmented governance, and to support the implementation of key EU policies and

legislation related to the seas and freshwater ecosystems and related activities. The

assessment underlined the role of the Charter to increase political support, take concrete

measures and leverage additional funding and resources, and concluded that the Mission

could become a catalyst for synergies and complementarities between EU, national and

sub-national funding programmes. When this assessment was conducted, the governance

structures of the Mission Ocean and Waters were already created, but the first projects

were just starting and not delivering results yet. The Communication concluded that “the

assessment suggests that the Missions are overall progressing in line with their

implementation plans and appear to be on track to achieve their 2030 targets”.

Since then, substantial progress has been made in the delivery of the Implementation Plan

and the monitoring framework of the outputs, outcomes and impacts of Mission activities.

3.2.2. From activities to outcomes: key achievements 2021-2025

3.2.2.1. Research and innovation projects and demonstration sites.

Under Objective 1, 25 Innovation Action projects have developed more than 50 solutions

and are operating 165 local demonstration sites. These sites serve as testbeds for restoration

methods and management approaches, generating both ecological data and operational

know-how for implementing restoration at scale. Together, they provide a diverse set of

(67) https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/sense/app/23f6708b-bad6-4147-

889a-7a2205964cd0/sheet/9758dd27-b8ac-43f3-8336-8120db0ae19a/state/analysis

(68) COM(2023) 457 final

EU Missions in 2026 46

tested solutions and practices that can be adopted and adapted by other regions and

stakeholders.

Projects addressing marine ecosystems combine new ecological knowledge creation (e.g.

improved hydrodynamic models of reefs, improved knowledge about the functioning of

marine ecosystems within specific geographic regions and their links with human

activities, or better monitoring tools) and pilots for the restoration in different marine

ecosystems. Nature Based Solutions (NBS), such as habitat restoration (coral and oyster

reefs, kelp beds) or green infrastructure are tested in 4 projects (69), mostly in the Atlantic-

Arctic Sea Basin. These projects expand the Mission’s solution base and provide concrete

demonstrations that can later be replicated in other sites.

The Mission, with 6 funded projects (70), has created the EU Blue Parks community,

bringing together European networks, national and regional authorities and agencies,

projects and initiatives in the EU to identify challenges, share tools, solutions and good

practices, and promote innovative approaches. The Mission helped gain momentum

and increase the rate at which marine protected areas are designated and properly managed.

It also developed and demonstrated novel practices for optimal selection, designation, and

effective management of protected areas, including strict protection. In this way,

governance and communities are directly linked to practical support for implementation.

Projects addressing freshwater were launched both in the Danube River basin and from a

cross-basins perspective. In the Danube Basin, 4 projects (71) address the restoration of

fresh and transitional water ecosystems, 2 projects (72) focus on protection and restoration

of migratory fish habitats and 3 projects (73) on the management of Sediments. In addition,

4 cross-basins projects (74) are developing innovative solution for the protection and

restoration of European natural lakes. A joint project (75) together with Missions Climate

Adaptation and Soil focuses on increasing landscape water retention capacity at regional

scale. Key knowledge outputs include new tools for modelling flows and water quality,

citizen-science mapping platforms, and sediment contamination assessment methods.

Nature-based solutions are also very present in most projects, testing them for different

contexts of water management and ecosystem restoration and protection.

(69) https://a-aagora.eu/; https://climarest.eu/; https://bioprotect-project.eu/ and https://pharosproject.eu/

(70) https://www.blue4all.eu/; https://oceancitizen.eu/; https://effective-euproject.eu/;

https://protectbaltic.eu/; https://submariner-network.eu/blue-connect/ and

https://seamphoni.eu/np4/home

(71) https://dalia-danube.eu/; https://www.danube4allproject.eu/; https://dawetrest.eu/ and

https://restore4life.eu/

(72) https://danubelifelines.eu and SWIM (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101215230)

(73) https://danserproject.eu/; https://innosed.eu/ and https://sundanseproject.eu/

(74) https://eurolakes.eu/; https://ferroproject.eu/; https://futurelakes.eu/ and https://procleanlakes.eu/

(75) https://spongeworks.eu/

EU Missions in 2026 47

Under Objective 2, 10 IAs were launched to tackle marine pollution, especially in the

Mediterranean basin. 6 projects (76) address litter and microplastics pollution, including

from fishing gears, 2 projects (77) focus on chemical pollution, and 2 joint projects (78) with

the Mission Soil address nutrient pollution in the landscape-river-sea system. Projects are

further developing innovative solutions such as AI-enabled drones, underwater robots,

biodegradable nets, and electrochemical sensors. Citizen engagement is central, with

partnerships in fisheries and agribusiness, and tools like mobile apps for beach cleanup.

Finally, under Mission Objective 3, 14 IAs were launched to support the transformation

of the blue economy, focusing on areas not covered by other initiatives such as the

Waterborne Technology Platform or the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership. In the

Baltic and the North Sea basins, projects have developed innovative solutions for lowering

the impact of marine aquaculture and the multi-purpose use of marine space (79), for

bringing sustainable algae-based products and solutions to the market (80), for community-

driven business models of regenerative ocean farming (81) and for green and energy-

efficient small-scale fishing fleets (82). Other projects already cover all EU basins, focusing

on innovative nature-inclusive concepts to reconcile offshore renewables with ocean

protection (83) or on reducing the environmental impacts of fisheries (84). Key outputs

include breakthrough prototypes and business models, AI and digital tools supporting

decision-making and paving the way for commercial scalability and cost-efficiency of

innovation in these sectors. Co-creation and stakeholder involvement also enhance

deployment potential.

(76) https://remedies-for-ocean.eu/; https://seaclear-project.eu/; https://inspire-europe.org/;

https://nettagplus.eu/; https://searcular.eu/ and https://upstream-project.eu/

(77) https://imermaid.eu/ and https://rhemediation.eu/

(78) https://www.path4med.eu/ and https://www.seacure-project.eu/

(79) https://olamur.eu/ and https://ultfarms.eu/

(80) https://algaeprobanos.eu/ and https://www.locality-algae.eu/

(81) https://www.c-faarer.eu/ and https://coolblueproject.eu/

(82) https://h2-seas.eu/; https://www.refest-project.eu/ and https://seaglow.eu/

(83) https://nid4ocean.eu/ and https://sunbioproject.eu/

(84) https://eco-catch.eu/; https://marineguardian.eu/ and SEA4FUTURE

(https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101212647)

EU Missions in 2026 48

The production of 121 Mission

solutions (85) registered in the Mission

Portal database signals that the Mission

is already generating a broad range of

tangible outputs – including nature-

based restoration methods, monitoring

tools, pollution-reduction technologies

and blue-economy prototypes – that can

be taken up by authorities, operators

and communities.

The 349 local demonstration sites put

in place in the above-mentioned IAs

highlight a wide territorial footprint for

testing and demonstration, with

solutions being tried in varied

ecological and socio-economic

contexts. This provides a strong

empirical basis for understanding what

works, under which conditions, and how approaches can be adapted to different basins,

regions and communities. At the same time, they act as real-world showrooms, where

potential up-takers – such as regional and local authorities, utilities, port and water

operators or businesses – can see solutions in operation, assess their performance and risks,

and build confidence to replicate or scale them up in their own territories.

How the Mission is demonstrating solutions to address the main drivers of ocean and water

degradation

Marine restoration: CLIMARESThas developed and implemented practical restoration tools such as

nature-based coastal protection barriers to counter permafrost-related erosion in Svalbard, seagrass

restoration and transplantation in Ireland, large-scale native oyster reef restoration with shellfish farmers

in the Bay of Quiberon in France, lobster-restocking and soft-bottom ecosystem restoration in Galicia,

and brown algae and rocky habitat restoration in Madeira, with replication sites established in Sweden,

Greece, Germany, Croatia and Cyprus.

Freshwater restoration: DALIAdemonstrated integrated solutions for restoring river connectivity,

improving water quality and strengthening climate resilience across the Danube River Basin. Key

solutions include real-time water-quality and biodiversity monitoring systems, sediment and habitat

restoration methods, fish migration and connectivity measures, and basin-scale decision-support tools

enabling coordinated management across borders. Danube Basin authorities are preparing replication

actions. Notably, river basin and water authorities in Hungary, Austria and Romania are engaging with

DALIA toolkits and monitoring approaches to support implementation of Water Framework Directive.

Pollution: SeaClearhas developed a robotic system for underwater litter collection from the seabed and

the water column. The system consists of a total of up to eight unmanned vessels, combining cutting-edge

artificial intelligence developed by academic experts with the proven robotic capabilities of industry

partners to identify, collect, and manage marine trash efficiently. SeaClear2.0 has already run live field

(85) https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-

programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/eu-missions-horizon-europe/restore-our-ocean-and-

waters/mission-solutions-library?f%5B0%5D=mission_funded_projects%3A1

Figure 21. Localisation of the Demonstration Sites.

Note: two demonstration sites are located in

Svalbard and in Brazil and not reproduced in the

map.

EU Missions in 2026 49

demonstrations in Europe’s third busiest seaport (Hamburg, DE), in major tourist sites (Venice, IT &

Marseille, FR) and in a region with intensive mariculture activity (Bistrina bay, HR).

Blue Economy: ULTFARMShas demonstrated that the combination of low-trophic aquaculture within

offshore wind farms across the North and Baltic Seas (Belwind (BE), Borssele (NL), Anholt & Samsø

Denmark (DK), and FINO2 & 3 (DE)) is feasible and commercially viable. Beyond the multi-use of

marine space, the solutions demonstrate further benefits for nutrient reduction, biodiversity benefits and

scalable benefits for large offshore deployment, and the methodologies for offshore wind and aquaculture

co-location are already being replicated in 5 regions in Europe and Morrocco. These illustrative examples

showcase the coordinated portfolio of tried and tested, scalable and evidence-based solutions for restoring

ocean and freshwater, addressing the main drivers of the degradation while boosting the blue economy

sector.

3.2.2.2. Replication, uptake and deployment of solutions

Replication and deployment

activities aim to transform

solutions developed by projects

into wider outcomes by

supporting their adoption in new

regions and contexts. In most

Mission projects, cascading

funding allow Associated

Regions outside the initial

demonstration sites to build

capacity to implement the

innovative solutions developed in

the projects. By December 2025,

86 Associated Regions have been

selected for funding, and calls are

ongoing for additional 54 regions.

This indicator is an early but

important signal that solutions

and support provided through

Mission projects and instruments are starting to move beyond the original consortia into a

broader set of territories. This marks the beginning of the transition from project-level

experimentation to more systematic deployment and scaling.

Dedicated support and technical assistance is also provided to support the Mission

communities, notably through 4 projects (86) that were launched in 2025 to support the

deployment of Community-led actions and transition agenda across the 4 Basin

Lighthouses. Other Mission Service Contracts support encompasses feasibility studies,

technical assistance, transition agendas, pilot actions, networking, knowledge exchange

and support services. By December 2025, 159 European regional and local authorities

are involved as beneficiaries in the grants, or as recipients of technical assistance.

(86) https://blueactionbanos.eu/; https://blueactionaa.eu/; https://sos2learndbs.eu/ and

https://tascrestoremed.eu/

Note: An associated region is localized in New Zealand

and not reproduced in the map.

Figure 22. Localisation of the Associated Regions.

EU Missions in 2026 50

The pilot scheme ‘EU Blue Champions’ (87) was launched end-2023, in collaboration

with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and supported by the BlueInvest platform,

which provides financial advisory to 20 projects to grow their business. Some of the

winners might also qualify for EIB venture debt.

The Mission Ocean and Waters service portal (88) provides a comprehensive one-stop-

shop for stakeholders, offering essential tools, contacts, knowledge, matchmaking,

financing, and support for the successful execution of the Mission.

How the Mission is enabling the replication, uptake and deployment of solutions

Associated Regions: Under the DaWetRest project, Associated Regions are replicating and deploying

solutions for the restorations of wetlands and floodplains across the Danube and Black Sea and also in

southern Spain, enabling mutual learning, promoting seamless knowledge transfer and reinforcing the

EUs dedication to sustainable development. For instance, the Municipality of Danilovgrad in central

Montenegro is implementing floodplain restoration actions through the ZetRest initiative; the

Municipality of Poti in Georgia, is developing a restoration roadmap for the Paliastomi Lake and Kaparcha

Connectivity; the Municipality of Samandağ in Türkiye, advancing renaturalisation actions in the Lower

Orontes/Asi River area; and the Andalusia region in Spain, working on coastal blue-carbon habitat

restoration best practices.

Technical Assistance: 34 beneficiaries across 17 countries have received technical assistance to islands,

ports, and fisheries communities, helping them develop and scale innovative solutions aligned with the

Mission’s objectives, with a strong focus on ecosystem restoration and blue economy innovation. This

includes the island community of Chalki (EL) to assess the feasibility of renewable energy for electric

ferries, including funding strategies and technical reports. The project has since then attracted interest

from national energy transition programmes, demonstrating how Mission support can leverage additional

investments for sustainable island mobility.

Blue Champions: A total of 20 technology companies have received advisory support from the EIB to

grow their business. Some of the winners might also qualify for EIB venture debt, a type of loan designed

specifically for early-stage, high-growth companies. WSENSE (IT) is a deep-tech company recognised

as an EU Blue Champion receiving ongoing scale-up advisory support. A spin-off from Sapienza

University of Rome, WSENSEe has pioneered the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), delivering the

first patented, cable-less mesh networks that allow multi-vendor underwater sensors, robots, and buoys to

communicate wirelessly. The scale-up has raised over €25 million in total funding.

These examples highlight how the Mission’s funding mechanisms are starting to accelerate project

maturity, de-risking investments, attract private capital, and propel innovations toward market readiness,

enabling replication and scaling of solutions across Europe.

3.2.2.3. Political mobilisation governance, communities for protection and

restoration

The Mission established four regional Basin Lighthouses (89) for the Atlantic-Arctic,

Danube (including the Black-Sea), Mediterranean Sea, Baltic and North Sea. These are

hubs and platforms for cooperation at basin level with Member States, regions and other

stakeholders that support the development and deployment of solutions. The Lighthouses

(87) EU Blue Champions unveiled: 20 companies will receive advisory support to grow their business

(88) Mission Ocean and Waters service portal | Research and Innovation

(89) https://bluemissionaa.eu/; https://ecodalli.eu/; https://bluemissionmed.eu/ and

https://bluemissionbanos.eu/

EU Missions in 2026 51

are driving the implementation of the Mission at basin level, co-creating roadmaps for

transformation through regional Mission arenas and setting up innovation ecosystems.

• Under Objective 1, regarding Marine Ecosystems, the Basin Lighthouse CSA

“BLUEMISSIONAA” mapped thousands of initiatives and connected over 14 000

stakeholders in the Atlantic-Arctic area, building an ocean restoration innovation

ecosystem to take root, replicate, and scale, and developing (90) the digital platform

WaveLinks, cataloguing 5 900 projects and 346 innovative solutions and services,

making the Readiness Levels Index visible to researchers, investors, and change-

makers, and turning isolated efforts into a shared movement towards a healthier and

restored ocean. Regarding freshwater ecosystems, the Basin Lighthouse ECODALLI

aimed at centralising governance structures through innovative solutions for

ecological restoration, protection, and preservation of the Danube basin, fostering a

stronger innovation ecosystem via a well-connected Living Lab system and a digital

portal linked to the Mission Implementation Platform.

• Under Objective 2, the Basin Lighthouse CSA “BLUEMISSIONMED” established

in the Mediterranean Sea a Mission infrastructure based on 7 national and regional

Mission Hubs, Living Labs, community platforms and enabling services, to connect

policy priorities, territorial needs, innovation ecosystems and societal actors, and

support the deployment of innovative solutions across diverse Mediterranean

contexts.

• Under Objective 3, the Basin Lighthouse CSA “BLUE MISSION BANOS”

completed four full innovation cycles between 2023 and 2025 across the

Baltic/North Sea area. These cycles encompassed the entire basin, from Norway

and Sweden to the Baltics, Poland, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and

northern France, engaging 500 organisations of regional and local stakeholders in a

structured process. The cycles translated Mission challenges into actionable agendas

and locally anchored solutions, promoted knowledge sharing, solution development,

and scaling of impact.

In addition, the CSA CO-WATERS (91) recently started the work to foster involvement of

waterfront cities, regions and islands in the Mission Ocean and Waters.

3.2.2.4. Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge System

The Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge System, including the emerging European

Digital Twin Ocean, underpins all Mission objectives by integrating diverse data streams

and modelling capabilities relevant to marine and freshwater ecosystems and blue

economy sectors. By connecting data from Copernicus, EMODnet, national monitoring

systems and Mission projects, it improves monitoring, forecasting and assessment of

ecosystem status, pressures and the effects of protection and restoration measures. The core

infrastructureof the European Digital Twin Ocean, EDITO (92), conceived as a public

(90) With BlueMissionBANOS and Prep4Blue (https://prep4blue.eu/)

(91) https://www.co-waters.eu/

(92) Supported by the 3 projects https://edito-infra.eu/; https://edito-modellab.eu/ and

https://www.edito.eu/

EU Missions in 2026 52

service and a public good, was unveiled at the United Nations Ocean Conference (June

2025, Nice) and is accessible to all. It allows exploring and exploiting data and tools in

time and space, for instance to predict and assess the impact of climate scenarios and

human activities, to inform decisions on different topics. It also allows users to contribute

to the EU DTO with their own data and models. Other 8 Mission-funded projects

contribute to the integration of biodiversity monitoring data (93), of socio-ecological

models (94) and inland waters (95) into the Digital Twin Ocean. All these activities will

interact with and contribute to the Ocean Observation Initiative, OceanEye (96),a core

delivery mechanism of the European Ocean Pact, to position the European Union as the

world's leading provider of ocean intelligence.

3.2.2.5. Public mobilisation and engagement

Public mobilisation and engagement activities reinforce Mission action under all

objectives by involving citizens and stakeholders directly in marine and water restoration

solutions. 12 Mission projects experiment with an extremely large set of approaches to

increase citizens’ awareness and engagement. This ranges from citizen science actions (97)

to blue education (98), responsible seafood consumption (99) or co-design of a long-term

vision (100). Projects also cover art-science collaborations (101), to transcend purely

technical discourse and mobilise deeper behavioural and societal change.

These activities create communities and networks around specific places and issues,

encourage behavioural change, and give local actors practical tools and methods to

participate in monitoring and management. By linking citizens, schools, NGOs, authorities

and experts, public mobilisation activities increase the social and political space for marine

and water restoration, complementing the more technical and institutional pillars described

above.

Another essential element of public and stakeholder mobilisation and engagement is the

Mission Charter (102). By December 2025, 1 017 Mission Charter Actions (and their

associated EUR 8 billion in planned investments - which also include EU funded projects)

demonstrate a high level of stakeholder engagement and financial mobilisation around the

Mission’s objectives. These Actions, undertaken by public authorities, businesses, research

(93) https://digi4eco.eu/; https://dto-bioflow.eu/ and https://ednaquaplan.com/

(94) https://ecotwinproject.eu/; https://seadito.eu/; https://seadots-project.eu/ and https://www.surimi-

project.eu/

(95) https://ideation-euproject.eu/

(96) COM(2026) 268 final

(97) https://cs-mach1.eu/; https://www.plastic-pirates.eu/en and https://otters-eu.aua.am/

(98) https://blue-lights.eu/; https://probleu.school/ and https://shoreproject.eu/

(99) https://www.mrgoodfish.com/; https://www.verifish.info/

(100) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101213933

(101) https://www.flowhorizon.eu/; https://crowdusg.net/partart4ow/ and https://submariner-

network.eu/tidal-arts/

(102) https://maritime-forum.ec.europa.eu/theme/research/mission-ocean-and-waters_en

EU Missions in 2026 53

organisations and civil society actors, create additional pathways for implementing and

scaling Mission-related solutions.

Figure 23. Mission Charter Actions.

The Mission Ocean and Waters has benefited from strong international engagement,

reflecting the connected nature of the world’s ocean. The sea and river basin Lighthouses

include and work closely with riparian third countries. The Horizon Europe funded projects

include participants from 47 countries including non-EU ones, bordering the Arctic,

Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. 42 of the demo-sites where solutions are being tested

and around half of the Associated Regions where solutions are being replicated are in

countries beyond the EU-27. Moreover, partners from 179 countries spanning the entire

globe have submitted pledges to the Mission Charter.

How the Mission is mobilising Member States, regions, local authorities and other stakeholders

through the Mission Charter

National Authority: Italy pledged its Marine Ecosystem Restoration (MER) EUR 400 million

programme. Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), it combines active

restoration (e.g. replanting seagrass meadows, oyster beds, and coral forests across 11 sites) with passive

protection (removing ghost nets in 15 locations and establishing 18 new eco-mooring fields in Marine

Protected Areas) measures. Cutting-edge mapping technologies (LIDAR, AUVs, ROVs) will be used to

survey 70+ deep-sea habitats, while a new oceanographic research vessel – equipped with hybrid

propulsion and silent-class technology – will increase the Mediterranean ocean monitoring.

Regional Authority: the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten (SE) is rewilding 100 km of

streams and 103 hectares of river habitats degraded by a century of timber floating and industrial

modification under the Torne River International Watershed (TRIWA) LIFE project. The TRIWA LIFE

project restores river ecosystems by reintroducing boulders, deepening pools, and removing artificial

barriers to revive natural water flows and spawning habitats, while strategically placing trees and

reopening side channels to enhance biodiversity, sediment control, and fish shelter. This cross-border

effort not only boosts biodiversity but also rebuilds resilient fish populations, supporting local fisheries

and Indigenous Sámi communities that depend on these species.

EU Missions in 2026 54

Port Authority:the Port of Vigo (ES) is transforming concrete breakwaters and seawalls into

biodiversity-rich "green infrastructure". Using bio-enhancing concrete, textured surfaces, and science-

based designs, the project boosts marine life colonisation, improving water quality, fish stocks, and noise

reduction (up to 50%) while acting as a carbon sink. Beyond ecology, the living structures enhance

durability by leveraging benthic communities to reduce erosion and maintenance costs. This scalable

model demonstrates how industrial ports can reconcile economic activity with ecosystem restoration,

setting a new standard for sustainable coastal development.

Civil society:Plastic Cup(HU) has evolved from a river cleanup initiative into a basin-wide movement,

combining direct action, education, and systemic prevention. Since its launch, it has removed over 300

tonnes of litter from the Danube and recycled 200 tonnes, while engaging thousands of volunteers in

cross-border cleanups. But its most transformative impact lies upstream: In Ukraine’s Latorica and Uzh

rivers, Plastic Cup partnered with local activists and waste firms to intercept over 700 tonnes of household

waste before it reached the Danube. By installing collection points, organising community cleanups, and

advocating for better waste policies, the project tackles plastic pollution at its source.

These initiatives showcase how the Mission successfully mobilises governments, scientists, businesses,

local communities and civil society to deliver scalable, nature-positive solutions across ecosystems.

3.2.3. Progress towards the 2030 targets

The above-described developments demonstrate that, by 2025, the Mission has put in place

the key building blocks to advance the EU’s 2030 biodiversity, zero-pollution, and climate-

neutral blue economy goals.

First, the Mission developed a diversified portfolio of innovative solutions and tested

them in a wide range of ecological and socio-economic contexts. This means that, for many

typical restoration, pollution or blue economy challenges, there are now concrete,

documented solution packages that can be deployed by authorities and practitioners.

Second, the Mission has created a network of demonstration sites and pilots where these

solutions are applied under real-world conditions. These sites are beginning to deliver

tangible improvements under Mission 2030 targets, and generate practical lessons on

implementation, costs, benefits and enabling conditions. They form the base of a growing

marine and freshwater restoration (103) practice across basins.

Third, replication instruments and financial advisory services are beginning to turn this

foundation into a wider wave of restoration investments and projects outside the initial

Mission portfolio.

Fourth, the Mission has established communities, governance structures and technical

assistance mechanisms that make it easier for authorities and stakeholders to design and

implement restoration measures.

Finally, digital and engagement enablers have strengthened both the knowledge base and

the societal foundation for restoration. Digital twins and integrated information systems

provide better evidence and tools for planning and monitoring, while citizen science, youth

engagement and education initiatives are building awareness, skills and long-term

stewardship.

(103) In the wide acceptation of “restoration”, i.e. under the three Mission objectives.

EU Missions in 2026 55

To provide a concise view of progress, a small set of four headline indicators is used that

cut across all three specific objectives. They track the pathway from core outputs (solutions

and demonstration sites), through early outcomes (replication in Associated Regions), to

mobilisation (Mission Charter Actions). These indicators have a 2021 baseline of zero and

are monitored through the Mission Monitoring Dashboard. However, no target for these

indicators was included in the 2021 implementation plan, that was focusing on specific

objectives.

Indicator Goal or Specific

Objective measured Baseline 2021

Target

(2030) Progress value (by December 2025)

1. Number of Mission

Ocean & Waters

solutions produced

Measures progress in

the production of

solutions in all three

SOs

0 n/a 121 solutions

2. Number of local

demonstration sites

Measures the territorial

footprint of testing and

demonstration

activities contributing

to all three SOs

0 n/a 349 local demonstration sites

3. Number of

Associated Regions

replicating Mission

solutions

Direct outcome

indicator capturing the

transition from project-

level outputs and

support (solutions,

technical assistance,

cascading grants) to

real-world uptake

contributing to all three

SOs

0 n/a 86 unique Associated Regions with

active replication of Mission solutions.

4. Number of Mission

Charter Actions

Measures stakeholder

mobilisation

supporting all three

SOs

0 n/a 1 017 Mission Charter Actions

registered in the Mission Charter

database

Taken together, these indicators show that the Mission has, by late 2025, built a

momentum on solutions, territorial reach, replication and mobilisation. In

combination, as also pointed out by the first Mission Monitoring Assessment from the

European Environment Agency (104), these milestones mean that the Mission is already

contributing to the designation and more effective management of marine protected areas,

to the restoration and/or depollution of marine and freshwater ecosystems, and to the

fostering of a climate neutral and circular Blue Economy. Full restoration can take longer

than the 2021–2030 timeframe for many interventions, but the Mission has accelerated

learning, coordination and capacity-building, and has created a pipeline of restoration

actions and investments that is expected to continue delivering benefits well after 2030.

3.3. Conclusions

The Mission Ocean and Waters has completed its first phase, which set up the

structures for delivery, political engagement and stakeholder mobilisation, testing and

demonstrating solutions, and piloting different innovative approaches. The second

deployment phase will focus on consolidating and institutionalising the various

(104) https://water.europa.eu/marine/europe-seas/eu-mission-restore-our-oceans-and-water

EU Missions in 2026 56

instruments and services that have been set up to ensure the Mission reaches its 2030

targets. During that phase, the focus of the Mission and the intensification of efforts until

2030 will consist of working along four main areas.

Political anchoring of the Mission

The Mission has put a strong emphasis on mobilisation and community-building in its first

phase. This has resulted in a network of actors, investments, and commitments that can be

mobilised to deliver on the EU policy objectives. It has notably generated a stakeholder

mobilisation process that contributed to the inclusion in the political agenda of the new

Commission of key ocean and water policy initiatives, the European Ocean Pact (105) and

European Water Resilience Strategy (106), which follow a systemic “source-to-sea

approach” to the restoration of the ‘hydrosphere’ put forward by the Mission. The

implementation of these initiatives will build on and take forward some of the activities

launched by the Mission and can support the next stages of their implementation beyond

R&I.

The Ocean Pact and the Water Resilience Strategy announced several actions that

explicitly build on the achievements and initiatives of the Mission and will contribute to

the achievement of the shared targets of the Mission and the two initiatives, notably with

the planned Ocean and Water R&I Strategy and with the Ocean Observation Initiative.

These initiatives should help shape and structure the future programming of ocean and

water R&I in the next MFF, including in the next HE, as well as deployment under the

European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), and the National and Regional Partnership Plans

(NRPPs).

These initiatives will leverage and continue successful assets and aspects of the Mission

Ocean and Waters, notably:

• Basin Lighthouses: The Mission helped consolidate the basin-level approach and

ensure cooperation at sea and river basin level gathering maritime, environment

policies and R&I cooperation. Through the upcoming “Ocean Act”, Member

States will also be encouraged to move from a national approach to a sea basin

level approach, building i.e. on the Mission basin Lighthouses.

• European Digital Twin Ocean: Will be fully operational by 2030, not just as a

European programme, but as a public service for citizens and a global asset.

Through the Ocean Observation Initiative, the EU is building a robust, integrated,

and multidisciplinary European Marine Knowledge value chain – transforming

data into action, and science into solutions for all.

• EU Blue Parks Network: The EU Blue Parks community brings together

European networks, national and regional authorities and agencies, projects and

initiatives in the EU to identify challenges, share tools, solutions and good

practices, and promote innovative approaches for designation and management of

Marine Protected Areas, including strict protection.

(105) COM(2025) 281 final

(106) COM(2025) 280 final

EU Missions in 2026 57

• Blue Champions: Developed together with the EIB, this scheme helps accelerate

the development of innovative ocean-related technologies and support projects

aimed at scaling from demonstration to operation.

Supporting deployment and scale-up, including investments and funding

Establishing a clear ‘funding pipeline’ across the innovation cycle, between different

programmes and funding streams is a priority for the Mission, in line with the EU Start-up

and Scale-up strategy, the Ocean Pact and WRS and the proposals for the next MFF.

The Mission has developed a portfolio of solutions and piloted a range of support

instruments. The upcoming phase has to structure this support more coherently (including

through links with Start-up and Scale-up Strategy initiatives, the BlueInvest, and Blue

Champions scheme), closely monitor and assess its impacts. The final objective will be

that national, regional and local authorities and relevant stakeholders have access to the

relevant information and guidance/assistance to support them in deploying these solutions

in their territories. In addition, authorities and stakeholders need access to a coherent

funding framework that actively supports implementation. This means not only aligning

EU, national, regional, and private investment sources, but also strengthening the ability

to access, combine, and leverage these instruments effectively. The goal is to create a fit-

for-purpose, self-sustaining, and dynamic investment ecosystem that accelerates delivery

and maximises impact.

The deployment itself will need to be covered by other EU programmes and other public

and private sources, as the current Horizon Europe 2028-2034 proposal foresees continued

funding for the Missions until 2030 but will not fund the deployment and scaling-up.

Strengthening the governance

To strengthen connections at national level, the Mission will aim to systematically connect

policy owners responsible for Ocean and Water policies. It will ensure that national

authorities responsible for planning decisions on the ocean and waters are made aware of

the innovative solutions developed by the Mission and can thus support their deployment

including through future Multiannual Financial Framework(MFF) programmes, such as

the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and National and Regional Partnership Plans

(NRPP). It will also allow the policy owners to be more directly involved in the steering

of future Mission activities, which to date only happens as formal interactions with

Member States and Associated Countries in the Horizon Europe Strategic Programme

Committee Working Group.

The Mission will also focus on deepening and consolidating the basin-level approach.

Until now, cooperation at sea and river basin level is largely split between maritime policy

(sea basin and macro-regional strategies), environment policy (regional sea conventions

and river commissions) and R&I cooperation (e.g. sea basin alliances, partnerships and

SRIAs, including international science diplomacy efforts). The new CSAs to be launched

in 2026 under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 will further consolidate the

Lighthouses, gear them towards supporting the deployment of solutions (107) and

(107) Horizon Europe Mission WP25 includes a EUR14.2 million action to fund coordination and support

actions for each of the four Mission Basin Lighthouse, which will cover all Mission objectives.

EU Missions in 2026 58

strengthen the delivery of the sea basin level approach, as envisaged by the European

Ocean Pact.

Completing the monitoring system

The current Mission monitoring system is still focused on activities and outputs (projects,

demo site, etc.) and does not systematically capture the concrete impacts of demonstrations

and pilots (e.g. tons of plastics removed or prevented, ecosystem surfaces restored, etc.).

Progressing on the assessment of impacts, as well as on costs and benefits of solutions,

will help convince investors about the added value of innovative solutions.

Work is ongoing with the Lighthouse CSAs and Mission projects to integrate the PESTEL

analytical framework and Theory of Change, to define Mission Outcome KPIs capturing

both internal progress and external enabling conditions, and to develop a consistent

approach to assess how the Mission activities described above 1) accelerate the

achievement of Mission objectives and targets; 2) ensure leveraging of resources and

investments and 3) increase readiness at local level to deploy innovative solutions at scale.

This will feed into the above-mentioned monitoring of the Mission’s impacts undertaken

by the European Environment Agency (EEA) through a set of indicators to quantify the

impact of Mission projects and activities towards its 2030 targets, in line with related EU

policies and their monitoring frameworks at EU level.

4. 100 CLIMATE-NEUTRAL AND SMART CITIES BY 2030

4.1. Introduction to the Mission

The EU Mission 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030 supports 112 cities across

EU and Associated Countries (AC) in achieving climate neutrality by 2030, acting as

innovation and investment hubs for broader EU decarbonisation by 2050, in line with the

European Green Deal. Shifting from traditional R&I approaches, the Mission applies a

systemic, mission-oriented approach that directly addresses urban emissions – accounting

for over 70% of the global CO2 emissions (108) – through integrated action across mobility,

buildings, energy, waste, circular economy, and digital infrastructure. It combines a

portfolio-based investment planning, large-scale pilots and demonstrators, and tailored

capacity building to help cities move from isolated projects to coherent transition pathways

that can be replicated across Europe. President von der Leyen reaffirmed this role at the

2025 Covenant of Mayors ceremony, emphasising that the Cities Mission is central to

transforming European cities into hubs of innovation and to testing, advancing and scaling

solutions that deliver real benefits for citizens and society (109).

(108) https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Past-the-peak-Accelerating-climate-action-in-C40-cities?.

This global figure includes emissions beyond cities (e.g. emissions physically taking place well outside

a city but “triggered” by the cities). The estimate for EU-27 using the Eurostat definition of cities (i.e.

more than 50,000 inhabitants) would be 36% of greenhouse gases (GHG) coming directly from cities.

(109) Speech by President von der Leyen at the EU Covenant of Mayors Ceremony 2025. Brussels, 16 October

2025.

EU Missions in 2026 59

The Mission has two general objectives (110):

(1) Deliver at least 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030.

(2) Ensure that these cities also act as experimentation and innovation hubs for others

to follow, to enable all European cities to become climate-neutral by 2050.

Those can be broken down into eight specific objectives (111):

(1) Develop city-focused Climate City Contracts (CCC) including investment plans for

innovative and climate neutral solutions.

(2) Support Research & Innovation pilots and demonstrators to scale-up and replicate

solutions.

(3) Develop synergies with existing Commission initiatives.

(4) Provide cities with access to EU-wide skills and expertise and help them connect

in international networks to accelerate climate action.

(5) Support the delivery of GHG emissions reductions in Mission cities as outlined in

their CCCs.

(6) Establish robust monitoring and learning mechanisms.

(7) Help cities develop innovative governance to overcome a silo approach and ensure

buy-in and commitment at all levels.

(8) Mobilise investment funding to achieve climate neutrality through the Investment

Plans.

The central mechanism for cities seeking to become climate-neutral by 2030, as part of the

Cities Mission, is the development of a Climate City Contract (CCC), a holistic plan

composed of three key components: a political commitment, a Climate Neutrality Action

Plan (CNAP), and an Investment Plan (IP). The CNAP defines the decarbonisation

pathway through an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, quantified targets, an

emission gap analysis and a portfolio of actions. The IP identifies the financial needs,

instruments and funding strategies to implement these actions. The CCCs are co-created

with local stakeholders and, where possible, aligned with national and regional

frameworks.

The Cities with credible CCCs receive the Mission Label – an EU endorsement designed

to acknowledge the city’s work and improve access to finance and policy support for

implementation. The process is central to achieve the main objective of the Mission

because it embeds a shift from fragmented project support to coherent, mission-driven

investment strategies. The relevance of Climate City Contracts is also recognised in the

recent EU Agenda for Cities (112), which identifies them as an example of integrated urban

development frameworks that can support cities and facilitate access to flexible financing

(110) European Commission (2021). European Missions – Implementation Plan: 100 Climate-Neutral and

Smart Cities by 2030. Publications Office of the European Union. https://research-and-

innovation.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-09/cities_mission_implementation_plan.pdf

(111) The Cities Mission’s framework of specific objectives was refined from the seven originally included

in the implementation plan to the eight in the current framework to strengthen clarity and accountability.

(112) COM (2025) 739 final

EU Missions in 2026 60

through the EU Cities Platform, encouraging their broader uptake and scaling. Also, the

CCCs provide the analytical foundation for evaluating the Mission’s expected impact.

Horizon Europe has allocated over EUR 600 million (113) to support the Cities Mission

from 2021 to 2025. This includes the creation of the Mission Platform (114), managed by

the NetZeroCities consortium, which offers guidance, capacity-building, access to

technical and financial resources, as well as a pilot and twinning programme to test and

replicate systemic innovation. As part of the Mission Platform, the Climate City Capital

Hub – operational since June 2024 – offers tailored financial advisory and supports

investment structuring, including the use of guarantees and blended finance.

The bulk of the budget coming from the Horizon Europe Cities Mission work programme

is employed to constitute a coherent R&I projects portfolio, which currently includes

around 40 collaborative R&I projects (115) organised across five thematic clusters:

• Mobility and transport: this cluster currently includes projects focused on inclusive,

safe and sustainable urban mobility, mobility management and behavioural change,

public transport systems, smart and shared zero-emission transport solutions, and

active mobility. Projects support the redesign of streets and public spaces, promote

modal shift towards walking, cycling and public transport, and develop integrated

mobility services for climate-neutral cities. Examples include ELABORATOR on

sustainable urban mobility living labs, REALLOCATE on climate-friendly active

transport, UPPER on strengthening public transport systems, and MOBILITIES FOR

EU on shared and zero-emission mobility solutions.

• Built environment and energy systems: this cluster includes projects focused on

Positive Clean Energy Districts (PCEDs), and digital twin applications for energy

and urban district planning. The projects aim to accelerate scalable and replicable

district-level energy transitions. Examples include ASCEND and EXPEDITE.

• Urban planning and management: this cluster includes projects focusing on AI-

enabled urban planning, digital twins, peri-urban integration, urban logistics, and

rethinking urban public space management. The projects support integrated

planning approaches and data-driven governance for climate-neutral cities.

Examples include TWIN4CITIES, DYNACITY, ALTHEA, NEXTLOGIC, and

CLIMABOROUGH.

• Circular economy and green industry: this cluster includes projects addressing

circularity in industrial systems, resilient infrastructure, and cross-sectoral

approaches linking cities, industry, and climate mitigation strategies. Examples

include CIRCUIT and SYSTEMICO.

• Nature and environment: this cluster includes projects focused on urban greening,

renaturing, climate resilience, and zero-pollution strategies. The projects develop

nature-based solutions, participatory regeneration approaches, and integrated

(113) This figure is an approximate sum of the annual contributions in the Horizon Europe work programmes

to the Climate-neutral and Smart Cities Mission.

(114) http://netzerocities.eu/

(115) As of 28 February 2026.

EU Missions in 2026 61

actions on air quality and noise reduction. Examples include Commit2Green,

GreenInCities, and HARMONIE.

These projects involve 83 Mission cities – some of them in multiple consortia – and

complement the activities of the Mission Platform by generating new knowledge,

accelerating innovation and providing tested solutions that cities can integrate into their

transition pathways. Additionally, two dedicated projects have been launched to support

Ukrainian cities in aligning their reconstruction with climate neutrality pathways, ensuring

that the Mission’s benefits contribute to resilience in crisis contexts.

Several of the projects in the Cities Mission portfolio are the result of synergies created

with other parts of the Horizon Europe programme, including partnerships, EU Missions

and other initiatives. In particular, the Cities Mission works closely with the Mission on

Adaptation to Climate Change, including through joint Horizon Europe on urban greening,

ecosystem restoration and climate resilience. Cooperation also extends to the Climate City

Capital Hub, where the Adaptation Mission contributes EUR 12 million to support the

development of financial solutions for climate-resilient urban investments. Additional joint

actions connect the Cities Mission with the Cancer Mission on active mobility and health

co-benefits, and with initiatives and partnerships such as the New European Bauhaus

Facility (116), the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (117), the Built4People

partnership (118), the 2Zero partnership (119), the Connected Cooperative and Automated

Mobility partnership (120), the Zero Emission Waterborne Transport partnership (121), and

the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (122), linking urban climate action with circular

economy, sustainable mobility, and hydrogen deployment in cities.

The Cities Mission has also developed a strong international dimension. Twelve non-EU

cities from the EEA, Western Balkans, UK, Türkiye and Israel, are part of the Mission

cohort, complemented by a further 12 Ukrainian cities associated through the

SUN4Ukraine Partnership programme and in collaboration with the U_CAN project. In

parallel, the Mission has contributed to shaping global action on urban climate neutrality,

notably through the launch in 2021 of the Urban Transitions Mission (UTM) (123), a

complementary international initiative that engages a growing cohort of over 130 cities in

50 countries across world regions, including 12 EU Mission cities. Building on European

experience, the UTM supports the global scaling of net-zero urban solutions while

fostering knowledge exchange and partnerships that also benefit European cities. It is co-

led by the European Commission, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy,

(116) https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/funding/new-european-bauhaus-facility_en

(117) https://circular-cities-and-regions.ec.europa.eu/

(118) https://built4people.eu/

(119) https://www.2zeroemission.eu/

(120) https://www.ccam.eu/

(121) https://www.waterborne.eu/partnership/partnership

(122) https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-

institutions-and-bodies/clean-hydrogen-joint-undertaking_en

(123) https://urbantransitionsmission.org/

EU Missions in 2026 62

and JPI Urban Europe. Together, the EU Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and

the global Urban Transitions Mission form a coherent ecosystem that reinforces the role

of cities as key drivers of climate action, innovation and systemic change. Through the

Climate City Capital Hub and partners such as the European Investment Bank and the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Mission also strengthens access

to investment expertise with relevance beyond the EU core market. Building on these

foundations, the Mission could further support cooperation with enlargement,

neighbourhood and other partner countries by sharing practical solutions on urban

mobility, buildings renovation, clean energy, circular economy and citizen engagement,

thereby reinforcing Europe’s influence in sustainable urban transformation.

The Mission is entering the delivery-oriented phase, following a first phase focused on

mobilisation, commitment-building and the development of CCCs. This current phase is

characterised by the implementation of CCCs, preparation of investment pipelines, and

deployment of projects. This assessment evaluates whether Mission actions in the first

phase have created the enabling conditions – integrated, systems-based approaches,

governance capacity, financing, technical assistance, knowledge transfer – needed for

these outcomes to scale.

The Mission intervention logic is summarised in the image below.

Figure 24. Intervention logic for the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission.

4.2. The progress of the Mission

Overall progress toward climate-neutral cities by 2030

While reaching full climate neutrality by 2030 remains ambitious, Mission Cities are

clearly moving in that direction at a pace and scale that would not have been possible

without the Mission. CCCs have provided structured pathways for implementation,

helping cities refine baselines, strengthen inventories and prepare investment pipelines.

EU Missions in 2026 63

This progress is reflected in two central achievements:

• 107 cities have formally committed to climate neutrality through a reviewed CCC

and have received the Mission Label.

• These cities collectively expect to reduce around 199.68 MtCO₂e by 2030 (124), a

mitigation potential equal to approximately 6.6% of EU-27 emissions in 2024,

signalling that Mission Cities can make a material contribution to Europe’s

decarbonisation.

Together, these developments illustrate how the Mission is driving cities toward its

overarching objectives and positioning them as innovation and investment hubs for

Europe’s wider transition.

Indicator Goal or SO measured by

the indicator Baseline Target (if any)

Progress value (as of

data cut-off date)

Number of CCCs

submitted by the

Cities and Mission

Labels awarded by

the Mission Manager

Develop city-focused

CCC including

investment plans for

innovative and climate

neutral solutions.

0 in 2022 At least 100 CCCs

submitted by Cities

and awarded with

the Mission Label by

2025

106 CCCs from 107

cities (125) as of 28

February 2026

Expected MtCO2e to

be reduced by

Mission Cities

through their CNAPs

as set out in their

CCCs, based on

emissions reductions.

Support the delivery of

GHG emissions

reductions in Mission

cities as outlined in their

CCCs.

Recent

emissions

baseline (2015-

2023)

Climate

neutrality (126) by

2030 as set out in

Cities Mission’s

CCCs

199.68 MtCO2e equal

to a 76% reduction

from aggregate recent

baselines. (Based on

107 Labelled cities)

107 cities have committed to climate neutrality by 2030

As of 28 May 2026, 107 out of 112 Mission cities, from 33 countries, have submitted CCCs

to climate neutrality, and received the Mission Label. These cities represent a diverse urban

sample in terms of size, geography and baseline emissions. This exceeds the Mission’s

(124) Todeschi, V., Ulpiani, G., Vetters, N., Galioto, C., Banja, M. et al., Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

Mission: 2025 assessment - Monitoring the overall progress and impact of the Cities Mission, European

Commission, Ispra, 2026, JRC146414

(125) Eindhoven and Helmond submitted a joint CCC.

(126) In the Cities Mission, climate neutrality by 2030 is defined as achieving a net-zero balance across five

sectors (stationary energy, transport, waste, Industrial Processes and Product Use -IPPU, Agriculture,

Forestry, and Other Land Use -AFOLU) covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions and Scope 3 waste-related

emissions, for seven greenhouse gases. Residual emissions are expected to stay below roughly 20% of

a recent baseline, not as a fixed target but as an orientation to maximise reductions at source. For more

information, please refer to the annex.

EU Missions in 2026 64

original target of having at least 100 CCCs submitted by the cities and positively reviewed

by 2025.

This achievement is crucial, because,

through CCCs, the Mission turns ambition

into actionable plans. They combine action

plans and investment plans that generate

structured project pipelines. CCCs enable

cities to engage with the EU, national and

regional authorities, with investors and with

their citizens to deliver on their ambitious

climate neutrality objective. CCCs also

create added value by fostering

collaboration across different parts of city

administrations, breaking down silos and ensuring that climate action is embedded across

policy areas. Finally, CCCs encourage systems-based approaches, linking governance,

finance, implementation, citizen engagement, and social innovation in an integrated

framework that strengthens the legitimacy and effectiveness of urban transitions.

A major added value of the Mission has been

to trigger the establishment and systematise

the updating of emissions inventories, the

refining of sector coverage, and the

improvement of transparency thanks to the

CCC process. Concrete examples include

Sofia, which built a 2022 inventory based on

its 2018 Covenant of Mayors dataset and

shared raw inputs for traceability; Pecs,

which compiled a 2021 inventory and

derived a 2030 Business As Usual (BAU)

scenario; Kranj, which added waste and

Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use

(AFOLU) to its inventory; and Bucharest

(District 2), which assembled a 2016 baseline

and set out a workflow to add further scopes.

Finally, Differdange developed its first inventory from scratch as part of the CCC process,

with due diligence.

These refinements reflect the Mission’s role as driver of methodological alignment,

establishing a shared foundation across a highly diverse cohort of cities. Crucially, CCCs

are not a one-off reporting exercise, but living plans: cities are already refining them as

they move into implementation, ensuring a feedback loop between planning, action, and

monitoring that will reinforce further this trajectory.

Five cities are still preparing their CCC. However, all are receiving tailored support to

address their specific challenges, whether in terms of governance, data or capacity gaps.

Figure 25. Cities Mission Label ceremony,

Vilnius, May 2025.

Figure 26. Cities Mission Climate City

Contract.

EU Missions in 2026 65

Stakeholder mobilisation has also become a defining feature of CCC development,

reinforcing their role as shared transition frameworks. Across Mission labelled cities, more

than 3 000 (127) stakeholders, including businesses, utilities, universities, NGOs, and

cultural institutions, have committed to supporting local climate-neutrality pathways.

While engagement levels vary, several cities have mobilised exceptionally broad

coalitions: Porto 226 stakeholders, and Oslo 139, and cities like Valencia, Malmö and

Tampere show particularly strong business involvement. Others, such as Izmir and

Valladolid, stand out for their mobilisation of civil society (128). Importantly, over one third

of all stakeholders come from the private sector, underscoring their central role in a

transition where 90% of the investment needs to come from non-municipal actors. In

Vitoria-Gasteiz, for instance, major companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Michelin and

PepsiCo have pledged substantial decarbonisation investments. These examples

demonstrate how CCCs are helping cities build coalitions for delivery, aligning local actors

behind shared objectives and strengthening the governance foundations needed for

implementation.

Cities project 199.68 MtCO2e in emissions reductions by 2030, a material

contribution to Europe’s decarbonisation (129)

For the 107 Mission Cities with CCCs submitted and labelled by 28 May 2026, recent

baseline emissions (130) amount to approximately 262.82 MtCO2e. The actualised

reductions (131) that Mission cities expect to deliver by 2030 correspond to 199.68

MtCO2e, equal to a 76% reduction from their aggregate recent baselines. This is a

substantial contribution, representing around 6.6% of all EU-27 greenhouse gas emissions

in 2024 (132), roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Austria, Romania

and Slovakia (133). The corresponding residual emissions amount to 62.89 MtCO2e (24%).

Figure 27 shows the aggregate recent baseline emissions of the 107 Mission Cities, the

recalculated reduction potential by 2030, and the residual emissions, presented separately

for all Mission Cities (EU+AC), EU cities only, and AC cities only (134).

(127) Based on the analysis of 95 CCCs.

(128) NetZeroCities – CCC Highlights – A diverse ecosystem of supporters

(129) Todeschi, V., Ulpiani, G., Vetters, N., Galioto, C., Banja, M. et al., Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

Mission: 2025 assessment - Monitoring the overall progress and impact of the Cities Mission, European

Commission, Ispra, 2026, JRC146414

(130) The most recent GHG emissions inventory data available for a city, which is used as a reference point

to measure progress towards reducing emissions.

(131) The values expressed in this chapter result from an actualisation process. Please consult the

methodological annex for full details.

(132) https://climate-energy.eea.europa.eu/topics/climate-change-mitigation/greenhouse-gas-emissions-

inventory/intro - data consulted on 6 July 2026

(133) The combined annual emissions of Austria, Romania and Slovakia in 2024 are 196.145.9198.0 MtCO2e.

(134) The high reduction potential of the AC group is largely driven by Istanbul, whose baseline emissions

exceed 50 MtCO2e due to its very large population and economic scale.

EU Missions in 2026 66

Figure 27. Mission impact based on recalculated emissions reduction (135)

These values are projections based on the CCCs that cities have only recently finalised.

Given that measures are only beginning to be implemented, presenting actual reduction

figures at this stage would be misleading. Instead, these projections offer a realistic

snapshot of ambition and establish the starting point for monitoring real reductions over

the coming years.

The analysis shows that Mission Cities have set ambitious 2030 reduction targets and are

strongly aligned with the Mission’s climate neutrality objectives, with cities demonstrating

how innovative, integrated portfolios underpin high-ambition targets (136). Kalamata

(94.2%) combines an ambitious target with a coherent cross-sector action portfolio and

strong delivery levers (digital, monitoring, citizen participation). Münster (85.4%) shows

high ambition with an integrated approach that connects climate action to budgeting and

finance, while ensuring fairness and broad citizen participation across all measures. Oslo

(93.3%) links an annual Climate Budget to a public Climate Barometer and complements

this with a thorough residual-emissions strategy (including Carbon Capture and Storage –

CCS – at Klemetsrud) and targeted action in hard-to-abate sectors.

Cities begin from varying starting points, leading to variation in how they define climate

targets and inventories. In sectoral coverage, all cities include energy and transport, while

almost all also cover waste. Many others further extend to Industrial Processes and Product

Use (IPPU), and Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU). A few also went

above and beyond what was required to include non-waste Scope 3 categories (137), such

as supply chains or out-of-boundary transport. Baseline choices also differ including older

reference years or business-as-usual projections. Some cities are still clarifying how to

separate reductions from existing strategies versus new CNAP actions. Others are tackling

(135) Todeschi, V., Ulpiani, G., Vetters, N., Galioto, C., Banja, M. et al., Climate-neutral and Smart Cities

Mission: 2025 assessment - Monitoring the overall progress and impact of the Cities Mission, European

Commission, Ispra, 2026, JRC146414

(136) Targets are recalculated based on the actualisation method applied to emissions reductions. See the

methodological annex for further information.

(137) In addition to the GHG emissions that arise directly from within a city and those associated with energy

used within the city, there are also a variety of emissions that occur outside a city’s boundary, yet related

to its activity and consumption. These emission types are collectively referred to as ‘Scope 3’.

EU Missions in 2026 67

hard-to-abate emissions; for instance, Oslo targets emissions from incineration plants,

waterborne navigation, heavy vehicles, private cars, and construction sites. These

differences reflect the breadth of approaches across the Mission, that the CCC process has

made comparable, creating a common framework while respecting local contexts.

Overall, the Mission is catalysing progress: helping cities refine methodologies, align

practices, and strengthen credibility, not despite their differences, but precisely by

structuring them into a comparable, collective trajectory. The direction of travel is toward

more realistic, traceable, and comparable targets. As implementation advances, this shared

foundation will support the shift from projected results to measurable reductions.

4.3. Progress towards the Mission’s other objectives: scaling and replication,

capacity building, investment, and monitoring

Cities are piloting innovations and identifying scalable and replicable solutions

Cities are natural innovation testbeds, and they are piloting innovations and developing a

growing portfolio of solutions ready for scaling and replication. Since 2022, 99 Mission

Cities and four Mission-minded cities (138) have engaged in 68 pilots across three cohorts

of the Pilot Cities Programme (139), complemented by 26 projects in 48 cities through the

Enabling City Transformation programme, the evolution of the Pilot Cities Programme.

Together, these pilots have mobilised 101 Mission Cities, creating the Mission’s largest

testing ground for systemic solutions across energy decarbonisation, sustainable mobility,

the built environment, and governance. These pilots enable cities to experiment with

innovative approaches, evaluate impact, and prepare for scaling and replication.

A key driver of replication has been the Twinning Learning Programme, which pairs Pilot

Cities with Twin Cities in a structured, mission-wide peer-learning framework. Today, 181

cities are engaged, making it the largest peer-learning initiative under the Cities Mission.

* The figure reflects the inclusion of 6 cities that served in more than one capacity (pilot and twin) across

different cohorts

(138) Mission-minded cities are cities within the EU or Horizon Associate Countries that share the ambition

of becoming climate-neutral and smart but are not part of the initial cohort of 112 Mission Cities

selected for the EU's climate-neutral and smart cities mission.

(139) A two-year programme where selected European cities test and implement innovative and systemic

solutions to rapid decarbonisation across urban systems https://netzerocities.eu/pilot-cities-programme/

Pilot Cities

Programme (PCP)

Enabling City

Transformation

Programme

(ECTP)

Total of

PCP and

ECTP

Twinning

programme

Selected projects 68 26 94 68

Selected cities 103 48 105 181*

Countries 32 19 32 34

Mission Cities 99 48 101 100

Mission Minded

Cities 4 / 4 75

EU Missions in 2026 68

Twinning enables cities to follow, adapt and replicate solutions developed by pilot cities,

while sharing their own good practices to support mutual learning. Cities have already

advanced replication plans in areas such as renewable energy communities, neighbourhood

climate managers, and data-driven investment models, demonstrating tangible and scalable

pathways for transferring knowledge across the cohort.

Example – Cologne (Germany): Replicating Spanish one-stop-shop models for neighbourhood

energy renovation

As part of the Twinning Learning Programme, Cologne

is developing a mobile Neighbourhood Energy Office

inspired by Spanish pilot activities under URBANEW.

The replication practice focuses on the energy

rehabilitation of private buildings. Cologne is

transforming its existing “Treffpunkt Solar” advisory

centre into a mobile One-Stop-Shop that will tour

neighbourhoods over a two-year pilot phase. The mobile

office brings tailored guidance directly to citizens,

tenants and homeowners, addressing building renovation and heating transition, including heat pumps,

insulation, photovoltaic systems and window replacement (140).

Example – Penteli (Greece): Replicating Bristol’s net zero investment model for Nature-Based

Solutions

Penteli is adapting Bristol’s Net Zero Investment Co-

Innovation Lab to design new financing mechanisms for

reforestation and sustainable land use following severe

wildfires. Building on its strong commitment to climate

resilience, Penteli is exploring additional innovative

financing models alongside traditional public–private

partnerships and energy community schemes. In particular,

the municipality is assessing how municipal land could be

ringfenced or leveraged as an asset to support investment

in nature-based solutions. Options under consideration

include the creation of a dedicated reforestation or climate

fund, the establishment of a municipal development

company under Greek law, and the development of a carbon credit scheme to finance mountainside

restoration. Inspired by Bristol’s experience in mobilising private investors through structured market

engagement, Penteli aims to create a locally adapted Net Zero Investment Co-Innovation Lab that can

generate financially viable models for climate-resilient land use (141).

Taken together, these developments show that the Mission is not only supporting

experimentation but actively fostering a portfolio of innovative solutions while creating

the conditions for scaling and replication across Europe (142). Pilots generate the practical

insights needed for cities to advance towards climate neutrality, while twinning ensures

that solutions tested in one context can be adopted, adapted and multiplied in others.

The Mission is strengthening the policy, governance and funding environment needed

for cities to deliver their Climate City Contracts

(140) NetZeroCities - Twinning Replication Booklet

(141) NetZeroCities - Twinning Replication Booklet

(142) A first overview of the wide range of innovative solutions being tested, scaled and replicated by Mission

Cities is available through the NetZeroCities case studies collection: https://netzerocities.eu/case-

studies/

Source: NetZeroCities – Twinning

Replication Booklet

Source: NetZeroCities – Twinning

Replication Booklet

EU Missions in 2026 69

The Cities Mission has fostered synergies and alignment with EU policy and funding

frameworks, has established a structured investment support architecture, and strengthened

national governance structures, creating a more coherent enabling environment for the

implementation of CCCs.

EU policy alignment

Between 2020 and 2025, the Mission has helped create new opportunities for cities across

a wide range of EU strategies, action plans, and legislative acts (143). These include, among

others, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (2020), the Zero Pollution Action Plan

(2021), REPowerEU (2022), the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2024), the

TEN-T Regulation (2024), the European Declaration on Cycling (2024), the State of the

Energy Union (2024), the European Affordable Housing Plan (2025), the EU Ports

Strategy (2026). Such references are a strong signal of political relevance: they show that

the Mission is not operating in isolation and EU institutions increasingly channel EU

funding and technical assistance towards measures pioneered by Mission Cities.

Moving forward, the recent Policy Agenda for Cities (2025) takes the support for the

transformative work of Mission cities to the next level as part of a broader effort to upgrade

and streamline the landscape of EU initiatives for cities. It explicitly recognises integrated

urban strategies such as Climate City Contracts as key frameworks to structure urban

investment and planning, encouraging their wider use to facilitate access to financing and

support the implementation of climate neutrality pathways.

The Mission, together with the Climate Adaptation Mission, has also gained recognition

across EU institutions: the Council, European Parliament and Committee of the Regions

have repeatedly highlighted its contribution to EU climate and urban policy, affirming its

strategic role in delivering mitigation and adaptation objectives.

EU funding alignment and support

This embedding in EU policy also translates into funding and support. At least 8 EU

programmes and instruments explicitly reference the Mission, among them Horizon

Europe, CEF-Transport, LIFE, European Urban Initiative (EUI), Digital Europe and the

European Innovation Council (EIC) - where the Mission is cited directly in calls, award

criteria, or guidance. For example, all CEF-Transport calls since 2022 include Mission

participation as an award criterion, and successive LIFE Climate Action calls (2022–2025)

encourage applicants to demonstrate synergies with Mission objectives.

(143) Sustainable & Smart Mobility Strategy (COM(2020) 789); Zero Pollution Action Plan (COM(2021)

400); European Missions (COM(2021) 609); New EU Urban Mobility Framework (COM(2021) 811);

REPowerEU Plan (COM(2022) 230); EU Save Energy (COM(2022) 240); Digitalising the Energy

System – Action Plan (COM(2022) 552); EU Missions two years on (COM(2023) 457); Revision of

the SET Plan (COM(2023) 634); Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2024/1275;

European Declaration on Cycling C/2024/237; TEN-T Regulation (EU) 2024/1679; Mission Charter /

Label Report (COM(2024) 231) ; State of the Energy Union 2024 (COM(2024) 404); Report:

Implementation EUI 22-24 (COM/2025/41 final); An EU Agenda for Cities: Driving Growth and

Prosperity (COM(2025) 739) (; EU Port Strategy (COM(2026) 112); Environment Council – “EU

Missions as a tool for local climate action (Dec 2023 and Dec 2024); Committee of the Regions CDR-

1474-2024 (Opinion C/2025/280).

EU Missions in 2026 70

In addition, cities draw on a broader set of relevant EU instruments, such as CEF-Energy

(EUR 5.84 billion 2021–2027), CEF-Digital (EUR 2.1 billion 2021–2027) and the Social

Climate Fund (EUR 65 billion 2026–2032), that provide essential co-financing pathways

for infrastructure, skills, digitalisation and social measures relevant to their Climate City

Contracts.

Cohesion Policy represents a major funding channel for urban climate investment. The

Mission does not modify Cohesion Policy allocations. However, Climate City Contracts

provide a structured strategic framework that can inform programming choices, project

pipelines and territorial investment strategies. In this sense, the Mission contributes

indirectly by improving coherence between city-level neutrality plans and cohesion policy

programmes.

A structured investment support architecture

Recognising that access to funding is often constrained by limited investment readiness

rather than funding scarcity alone, the Mission has established a structured investment

support architecture. The Mission has created, in synergy with the Climate Adaptation

Mission, a dedicated financial architecture – the Climate City Capital Hub – within the

Mission Platform to strengthen cities’ investment readiness and translate their Action and

Investment Plans into financeable projects. The Hub builds financial structuring capacity

and enables mobilisation of investment through blended arrangements combining public,

private and philanthropic capital, applied for the first time at scale within the Mission

context. The Hub does not operate financial instruments and does not replace existing

advisory or lending actors. Rather, it strengthens coherence across a fragmented

investment landscape. Through its assignments, it progressively develops and codifies

replicable investment approaches – for example in district heating, building renovation and

clean mobility – with the objective of reducing transaction costs and supporting scale

across the Mission. This institutional mechanism lays the groundwork for pipeline

development and future investment mobilisation.

In addition, the EIB supports Mission cities through two complementary channels. The

advisory services, and ELENA grants, focus on project preparation, including pipeline

development, pre-feasibility analysis, and assessment of risks and financing options to

make projects investment-ready. The advisory support complements – but is distinct from

– the Capital Hub’s coordination role.

Next to that, the EIB has set aside a dedicated EUR 2 billion lending envelope available to

Mission cities. This represents a significant source of investment aligned with the

Mission’s objectives and complements Mission-established instruments such as the

Climate City Capital Hub, which strengthens financial structuring capacity and enables

blended financing models that can help unlock EIB lending as well as additional public,

private and philanthropic capital.

Examples of support delivered by the Capital Hub and EIB to Mission cities.

EU Missions in 2026 71

The Capital Hub enabled Marseille to finance its climate strategy through its

first green and social bond by designing a Sustainable Financing Framework

aligned with international market standards. It defined which climate and

social projects could be financed, established transparent governance and

reporting rules, and guided the independent review process, resulting in a

strong Second Party Opinion from Moody’s and a high Sustainability Quality

Score (SQS 2), confirming the credibility of the approach. In addition to

transaction itself, the assignment created a tested and reusable model for other

Mission Cities with borrowing capacity to access capital markets,

demonstrating how the Capital Hub converts climate plans into bankable,

market-ready investment.

Under its advisory mandate supporting

the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, the European

Investment Bank signed agreements with six Greek cities –

Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kalamata, Kozani and Trikala –

to help them prepare investment programmes and strengthen

project pipelines aligned with their climate and smart city

objectives. EIB Advisory experts work with each municipality to

structure and prioritise multi-sector investments in sustainable

mobility, energy efficiency, renewable energy, nature-based

solutions, circular economy and smart infrastructure, reinforcing

local capacity to implement bankable projects. This tailored

support directly underpins the Mission’s objective of enabling cities to move from strategy to delivery of

climate-neutral and climate-responsive urban development.

Strengthened national governance and multilevel coordination

At national level, the Cities Mission has strengthened the administrative, financial, and

policy capacity of Mission Cities through national platforms and targeted support via the

Mission Platform. In addition to Mission Cities, national platforms have also significantly

extended the Mission’s reach and impact by mobilising and supporting additional cities to

adopt Mission-aligned climate-neutrality objectives and approaches. By mid-2025, ten

operational national platforms were active across Member States such as Austria,

Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden, with 9 more close to set-up and

8 under preparation. This represents a rapid expansion since 2023, when new structures

such as Greece’s CLIMANET, Romania’s M100, and Portugal’s Cidades pelo Clima were

launched, and existing platforms significantly enlarged their reach (e.g. Austria grew from

10 to 47 cities, Sweden from 23 to 48). Through these platforms, the Mission approach is

increasingly being adopted beyond the original cohort, helping to create a broader

community of cities working towards climate neutrality using similar methodologies and

governance models. These platforms have enabled multilevel governance models that

directly link local commitments to national strategies, and help unlock funding, technical

expertise, and stakeholder engagement.

Example – Romania: Scaling the Cities Mission through the national M100 platform

Romania launched the M100 Mission Mirror Hub in 2023 to extend the Cities Mission approach at

national level. Led by five ministries and the National Authority for Research, the platform mobilised ten

Romanian Mission minded cities to develop Climate City Contracts with a 2035 horizon, recognised

through a national Mission Label in 2025. Together with the three Romanian cities participating in the

EU Cities Mission, these cities benefit from capacity building, peer learning and expert support

coordinated under the M100 Academy and M100 Ecosystem. The initiative combines national, European

Source: European Investment Bank

Source: Capital Hub

EU Missions in 2026 72

and bilateral funding and aims to mobilise around EUR 1 billion in investments by 2035 across sectors

such as energy, mobility, buildings and industry.

Example – Austria: scaling the Cities Mission through a national public–public partnership model

Austria’s Climate-Neutral City Mission (Klimaneutrale Stadt) introduced an innovative public–public

partnership (ÖÖK) model in 2023 to support cities in implementing climate neutrality strategies. The

Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) together with the Climate and Energy Fund

established formal cooperation agreements with 10 pioneer cities, each receiving EUR 2 million in

dedicated R&I funding to strengthen local capacity and launch city-level innovation projects.

The initiative subsequently expanded as additional cities joined to develop climate neutrality roadmaps,

reaching 47 participating cities, representing around 41% of

Austria’s population. In total, national programmes have

provided around EUR 519 million in funding for projects

relevant to the Austrian Climate-Neutral City Mission between

2022 and 2024, supporting innovation in areas such as energy

systems, mobility and urban regeneration.

Activities within the pioneer cities have already contributed to

measurable progress, including 4.8 MtCO₂ emissions

reductions in Austria since 2023, alongside large-scale

deployment of renewable energy, district heating, heat pumps

and neighbourhood-level climate neutrality projects.

Example – Italy: National programme supporting Climate City Contracts implementation

Italy has launched a national programme to support the nine Italian cities

participating in the EU Cities Mission, allocating EUR 11.8 million

through the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE). The

funding supports the implementation of actions linked to the cities’

Climate City Contracts in areas such as sustainable mobility, energy

systems and building renovation. By aligning national funding with the

Climate City Contracts, the programme strengthens coordination

between local, national and EU levels and helps cities move from

planning to implementation. It also reinforces national governance for the Mission and creates a

framework that could be extended to additional cities pursuing climate neutrality.

Taken together, the alignment across EU policies and programmes, combined with

strengthened national platforms, illustrate how the Mission is building the multilevel

structures and the cross-sector collaboration, aligning regulatory, strategic and financial

tools needed for cities to implement their CCCs. This ecosystem of support, spanning from

the EU to the national level, creates the conditions for cities to accelerate their transitions

and deliver systemic, long-term climate action.

The Mission is shaping a coherent investment demand and making the business case

for climate-neutral cities

Analysis of the Investment Plans, conducted by Bankers without Boundaries (BwB), from

28 Mission Cities, supported by the NetZeroCities Economic Model, indicates that full

implementation of the measures identified across the Mission cohort would require around

EUR 307 billion in capital investment for all 100 EU-located Mission Cities to meet the

2030 climate-neutrality target. Modelled projections show that this investment could

generate approximately EUR 308 billion in direct operational savings by 2030, mainly

through more efficient buildings, cleaner transport systems and reduced energy

consumption. When wider co-benefits such as improved air quality, better health and

reduced noise are included, the total economic value rises to about EUR 394 billion.

Source: SIR Anna Pirato

Source: MASE

EU Missions in 2026 73

Overall, this implies a net positive economic impact of roughly EUR 87 billion. These

figures represent ex ante estimates of potential value.

The development of the Investment Plans has also made visible, for the first time, the

aggregated demand emerging across Mission Cities. Instead of isolated local plans, the

combined investment intentions reveal a coherent pipeline covering building renovation,

zero-emission mobility, district heating, renewable energy and digital systems. By making

this demand visible at scale, the Mission is helping create new markets for climate-neutral

urban solutions. This, in turn, strengthens the conditions for innovation, industrial growth

and enhanced European competitiveness in strategic sectors. In this sense, the Mission not

only guides cities on their climate-neutral pathways but also supports a wider market-

shaping dynamic that will be essential for accelerating progress in the years ahead.

The Mission is equipping cities with the capacities and tools to deliver their climate

neutrality pathways.

A core objective of the Mission is to build the skills, knowledge and support structures that

cities need to plan and deliver their transition to climate neutrality. Strong progress is

evident across all dimensions of the Mission Platform’s offering, from knowledge

resources, to learning programmes, to tailored advisory services.

The Mission Platform’s knowledge portal has become a central entry point for city

practitioners across Europe. It hosts 1 077 resources (144) (including documents, factsheets,

case studies, videos, Climate City Contracts, and guidance materials), which have

collectively attracted 820 346 total views, and 550 926 unique views. This high level of

engagement highlights the demand for practical knowledge to support systemic transitions.

To date, 1 960 city officers, 690 representatives from public authorities, representing 471

cities, as well as 3 690 local partners are active users of the portal.

Cities are not only accessing resources, but also making extensive use of the Platform’s

tools and learning opportunities. 67 cities use the NetZeroPlanner (145) tool to model

scenarios and prioritise investments. 70 cities have joined six seasonal schools (146), and

180 cities are engaged in the Twinning Learning Programme (147). In addition, Best

Practices sessions (148) have brought together 12 cities as presenters and 19 cities as

(144) Data extracted from the NetZeroCities Mission Platform knowledge portal, as of 15 October 2025.

(145) A planning and simulation tool developed under NetZeroCities that allows cities to model climate

mitigation scenarios, prioritise investments, and track progress towards climate neutrality. Available at:

https://netzerocities.app/netzeroplanner

(146) The Seasonal Schools are part of an extensive Capability Building Programme for Mission offering both

online and offline learning opportunities. These in-person events are tailored to guide cities in their

pursuit of climate neutrality, facilitating the robust support for the development and implementation

phase of CCCs.

(147) A 12 to 20-month initiative designed for knowledge sharing and the transfer of good practices between

selected Twin Cities and the cities that joined the Pilot Cities Programme.

https://netzerocities.eu/twinning-learning-programme/

(148) Meetings where Mission Cities showcase on-the-ground experiences and innovations (e.g. citizen

engagement, urban mobility, energy renovation), enabling participants to compare approaches, ask

questions, and reflect collectively on shared challenges and learnings.

EU Missions in 2026 74

participants, while Policy Labs (149) and National Workshops (150) have involved 46 cities

increasing exposure to replicable approaches and shared challenges.

Direct support is ensured through 18 dedicated City Advisors, 13 City Finance Specialists

and structured City Support Groups, which provide hands-on guidance on governance,

finance and technical issues. In 2025 alone, they delivered more than 420 one-to-one

advisory sessions, while cities have submitted over 120 implementation support requests

in the first half of the year. The City Expert Support Facility has launched 39 procurements

to help cities design investment projects, integrate resilience, and prepare funding

applications.

This combined architecture of knowledge, tools and tailored support has played a decisive

role in enabling all 112 Mission Cities to advance their Climate City Contracts, including

the 107 cities that have already received the Mission Label. Altogether, these developments

show that the Mission Platform has become a central hub for knowledge exchange and

expert support, enabling cities to access the skills, experience, and networks they need to

implement their Climate City Contracts and sustain progress toward climate neutrality.

The Mission is establishing a coherent monitoring system to track progress and guide

implementation

By October 2025, the Mission has put in place a coherent and transparent monitoring

system that helps cities track their transition and adjust their implementation pathways over

time. At its core is a Comprehensive Indicator Framework (151), which supports cities in

tracking both direct impacts, such as GHG reductions, and wider co-benefits, such as

economic, social, governance dimensions. All 107 Mission Cities that have received the

Mission Label have developed CCCs with GHG baselines, targets, and measures that

should be updated at least every two years. This iterative process embeds monitoring into

implementation and fosters reflexive learning as cities refine their plans.

At the aggregate level, the NetZeroCities Barometer and Dashboard (152) bring together

data from the CCCs, the reporting platforms CDP-ICLEI Track (153) and

MyCovenant (154), and public datasets to provide a coherent, EU-wide picture of ambition

and progress. To reduce reporting duplication and administrative burden, the Mission

Platform has established agreements with both CDP-ICLEI and MyCovenant platforms to

streamline data flows and ensure consistency across systems. The Barometer and

Dashboard make it possible to assess city trajectories in a comparable way, while

preserving the specificities of local contexts.

(149) Mission-oriented forums where Mission Cities present policy challenges and co-develop

recommendations with peers and experts to inform EU decision-making.

(150) In-country peer-learning events bringing together cities, national/regional authorities, and stakeholders

to strengthen collaboration and build enabling support structures for climate neutrality.

(151) https://netzerocities.app/resource-4120

(152) https://netzerocities.app/barometer

(153) https://www.cdp.net/en/disclose/why-disclose#cities

(154) https://mycovenant.eumayors.eu/site/landing

EU Missions in 2026 75

With the Indicator Framework now fully operational and used, Mission Cities benefit from

a shared language and methodology for tracking progress. This harmonised approach

strengthens credibility, supports learning across cities, and creates a transparent monitoring

architecture that not only tracks emissions but also captures governance innovation and

systemic transformation. Importantly, the Barometer has also become a key

communication tool, offering policymakers, investors, and citizens a clear snapshot of

progress and reinforcing accountability of the Mission as a whole.

While the Barometer and Dashboard have already begun to inform reporting, their full

potential will unfold as cities enter deeper implementation. As more data becomes

available over time, these tools will increasingly support future assessments by providing

a richer evidence base for understanding progress, challenges and impacts across Mission

Cities.

4.4. Conclusions

By 2026, the Cities Mission has made substantial progress toward its 2030 objectives,

establishing the foundations required for cities to advance from preparation to delivery.

The Mission has exceeded its central milestone, with 107 cities submitting a Climate City

Contract and receiving the Mission Label. These Contracts provide quantified emissions

baselines and targets, detailed action portfolios and investment plans, and governance

commitments that collectively shift cities from fragmented initiatives to coherent transition

pathways. Across these 107 cities, projected reductions amount to 199.68 MtCO₂e by

2030, corresponding to a 76% decrease from aggregate recent baselines and representing

approximately 6.6% of all EU-27 emissions in 2023. These figures reflect ambition and

offer the first comprehensive picture of the mitigation potential of Europe’s leading cities

while setting the baseline for future annual monitoring.

The CCC process has strengthened cities’ analytical and governance capacities, enabling

more robust inventories, expanded sectoral coverage, and improved transparency. It has

also mobilised more than 3 000 stakeholders, including major businesses, utilities, civil

society organisations, and research institutions, underscoring the Mission’s ability to align

local actors behind shared climate-neutrality objectives. This coalition building is central

to delivery, since the majority of investment and implementation lies beyond municipal

control.

Strong progress has also been made in supporting innovation, scaling and replication, in

line with the Mission’s objective of enabling cities to act as experimentation hubs for others

to follow. Through the Pilot Cities and Enabling City Transformation Programmes, 101

Mission Cities are currently testing systemic solutions across energy, the built

environment, mobility, digitalisation and governance. The Twinning Learning Programme

now connects 181 cities, forming the Mission’s largest peer-learning network and

accelerating the transfer of solutions outside the initial pilot sites. Together, these activities

have produced a growing portfolio of tested approaches that, once replicated at scale, can

support wider European urban transition efforts.

The Mission has further strengthened the policy, governance and funding environment

needed for implementation. It is now referenced in major EU strategies, action plans and

legislative acts and EU programmes, a sign of increasing institutional recognition and

EU Missions in 2026 76

alignment. National platforms have expanded rapidly, with ten fully operational and a

further seventeen at various stages of development, helping cities with aligned national

regulatory frameworks and co-financing opportunities. These developments illustrate how

the Mission is contributing to the emergence of multilevel governance structures that

support Mission cities in implementing their CCCs. By extending Mission methods and

support to additional cities, national platforms also contribute directly to the second

objective of the Mission. This enables additional cities to follow climate-neutrality towards

2050.

In addition, the Mission has provided, for the first time, a consolidated view of the

investment demand associated with climate-neutral urban transitions. Analysis of 28

Investment Plans indicates that Mission Cities will require around EUR 307 billion in

capital investment to meet their 2030 targets. Modelled projections suggest that these

investments could generate EUR 308 billion in direct operational savings by 2030 and

EUR 394 billion when wider co-benefits are included, demonstrating a positive economic

case for climate-neutrality. Making this investment demand visible also contributes to

shaping future markets for climate-friendly urban solutions and clarifies where financial

structuring and advisory support are needed.

Capacity building has been another area of strong advancement. The Mission Platform’s

knowledge portal now hosts more than 1 000 resources dedicated to more than 470 cities,

with thousands of practitioners engaged. Cities are making extensive use of analytical

tools, learning programmes, and tailored advisory support, including more than 420 one-

to-one advisory sessions delivered in 2025. This ecosystem of support has played a

decisive role in enabling all 112 Mission Cities to progress in their CCC development or

refinement and to prepare for implementation.

Finally, the Mission has established a coherent monitoring system that supports both local

and aggregate tracking. The Comprehensive Indicator Framework provides a harmonised

methodology for assessing GHG reductions and co-benefits, according to which labelled

cities have committed to updating their CCCs at least every two years. The NetZeroCities

Barometer and Dashboard now integrate data from CCCs and major reporting platforms,

creating a unified, EU-wide view of the trajectory of Mission Cities. This monitoring

architecture improves comparability, reduces administrative burden and supports

transparency to policymakers, investors and citizens.

In sum, the Mission has mobilised cities at scale, established consistent methodologies,

strengthened governance capacity, clarified investment needs, and built mechanisms for

innovation, learning and monitoring. These developments constitute the essential

groundwork for the transition from planning to delivery. At the same time, several

challenges will determine the success of the Mission’s second phase. Key priorities include

accelerating investment mobilisation by helping cities bundle projects into bankable

portfolios and strengthening access to EU and national programmes and innovative

financing solutions, deepening national anchoring across all Member States to ensure that

national platforms provide consistent regulatory alignment and co-financing, strengthening

scaling and replication mechanisms so that the work done so far translates into widespread

uptake – in line with the Mission’s 2050 objective, enhancing monitoring to move from

projected to actual emissions reductions, and providing targeted support to cities where

EU Missions in 2026 77

tailored assistance can accelerate progress, especially in governance capacity, investment

readiness and cross-departmental coordination.

The Mission has therefore generated the essential enabling conditions for climate-neutral

cities by 2030, yet achieving this ambition will depend on the ability to accelerate

implementation, secure investment at scale, and ensure that solutions tested in the first

phase expand rapidly across the full cohort. This is also central to the Mission’s second

objective: enabling labelled cities to act as innovation and experimentation hubs for all

European cities on the path to climate neutrality by 2050. The direction of travel is clear,

and the second phase of the Mission will be decisive in converting structured plans and

projected outcomes into measurable, system-level transformation.

5. A SOIL DEAL FOR EUROPE

5.1. Introduction to the Mission

The Mission A Soil Deal for Europe (Mission Soil) aims to lead the transition towards

healthy soils across Europe by 2030. Its flagship objective is to establish a network of 100

Living Labs. As a first contribution, the Mission Soil estimated that 60-70% of soils in the

EU were unhealthy, due to one or several forms of soil degradation, such as erosion, loss

of organic carbon, excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), pollution, compaction,

etc. (155).

The Mission is pursuing eight specific objectives that address these drivers of degradation

but also consider the EU’s global “soil footprint” while improving “soil literacy” in our

society (156).

These objectives are translated into 4 building blocks (operational objectives): 1) research

and innovation, 2) Living Labs and Lighthouses, 3) soil monitoring, and 4) soil literacy

and citizen engagement in all land uses.

Figure 28. The Mission Soil’s four operational objectives (building blocks) and eight specific

objectives.

(155) Caring for soil is caring for life, Report of the Mission Board for soil health and food, September 2020.

(156) European Commission (2021). Mission Soil Implementation Plan. https://mission-soil-

platform.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-

07/soil_mission_implementation_plan_final_for_publication.pdf

EU Missions in 2026 78

The Mission is establishing a continent-wide network of Living Labs as novel

instruments for place-based, user-driven innovation for healthier soils, covering all land

uses and major soil types (biogeographical regions, see section 5.5.2.2). Living Labs are

further complemented by specific sites that have shown their potential for improving soil

health, functioning as “Lighthouses” for demonstration and dissemination of innovative

approaches.

The Living Labs and Lighthouses support the overall Mission’s objective of leading the

transition towards healthy soils. Activities related to other operational objectives, for

example, the cross-scale, inter- and transdisciplinary R&I programme (157) feed into the

Living Labs so they can engage with local actors to test innovative solutions on real sites

(more than 1 000 expected, see section 5.5.2.2), adapt solutions to the local context and

boost upscale of innovations. For this reason, the first Living Labs call was launched in

2023 and the first Living Labs started to work in 2024, once the projects expanding the

‘knowledge base’ were in place, the capacities for soil health monitoring strengthened and

the soil community was more aware, engaged and mobilised (158).

Figure 29 presents a summarised version of the overall Mission’s intervention logic:

Figure 29. Overall Mission Soil intervention logic (159).

(157) Social sciences, humanities, and the arts in the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”

(158) For example, the Mission Soil Manifesto and the first annual event were launched in 2023 (see section

5.2.4). The success rate of the Mission Soil calls has evolved from 42.3% in 2021 to 10.3% in 2024,

showing the increasing interest, awareness and preparation within the soil community.

(159) Elaborated from Janssen, M.J. (2025). Missions at the interface of innovation and transition policy -

Teaching materials. Mission-oriented Innovation Policy Observatory, Utrecht University, The

Netherlands.

Widespread

access to data

& knowledge

on SSMP and

remediation

techniques

EU Missions in 2026 79

The ambitious Mission’s programme for R&I, with more than 60 Horizon Europe-funded

projects (September 2025), aims to increase knowledge and improve soil-management

practices across all EU Member States and 15 Associated Countries. Calls for project

proposals have been designed to eventually address all eight specific objectives and to

maximise synergies, between Mission projects as well as with other relevant R&I and

policy initiatives (see Section 5.5.2.1).

The Mission places soil literacy and citizen engagement (operational objective 4) at the

core of its approach, recognising that healthy soils require informed and active

participation from society. The Mission raises awareness and understanding of soil

functions, threats and benefits through education, communication and participatory

activities, empowering citizens, farmers and communities to take action. This engagement

complements the other three building blocks. Together, these elements reinforce each

other, ensuring science-based, inclusive and measurable progress towards healthy soils by

2030. Through individual R&I projects and through dedicated support for the EU Soil

Observatory (EUSO, run by the Joint Research Centre), the Mission is making progress

towards more harmonised and complete monitoring of key soil-health parameters. While

comparable baseline data were missing for many indicators when the Mission was

launched, these gaps are gradually being closed, enabling the measurement of trends in

soil-health development for an increasing number of parameters; examples are presented

in Section 5.5.2.3. Table 2 summarises progress against the eight Mission specific

objectives.

5.2. The progress of the Mission

The Mission Soil’s progress is reported in this section against its four operational

objectives, as defined in the Implementation Plan:

1. Build capacities and the knowledge base for soil stewardship;

2. Co-create and upscale place-based innovations to improve soil health in all places;

3. Develop an integrated EU soil monitoring system and track progress towards soil

health;

Table 2. Soil degradation indicators developed for the Mission specific objectives.

EU Missions in 2026 80

4. Engage with the soil user community and society at large.

5.2.1. Build capacities and knowledge base for soil stewardship (operational

objective 1)

Mission’s operational objective 1 (Mission Implementation Plan, MIP) is to build

capacities and the knowledge base for soil stewardship.

This objective addresses the need to close knowledge gaps related to the eight Mission

specific objectives, and to improve access to this knowledge for potential users.

Figure 30. Intervention logic in relation to operational objective 1.

Figure 31 shows progress by Mission projects in addressing knowledge gaps organised by

the Mission’s specific objectives. All 8 specific objectives are well covered by the on–

going projects. Some objectives are supported by many projects, such as ‘soil literacy’,

others as ‘global footprint’ by much less. It is due to programming choices following the

implementation logic and policy needs and due to the bottom-up spirit of Living Labs

implementation. The Mission’s implementation is continuously monitored and gaps

identified in the Mission Implementation Plan continuously re-assessed by the Mission

Secretariat with the support of the SOLO project, the Mission Board and the Joint Research

Centre. The SOLO project identifies remaining knowledge gaps, drivers, bottlenecks, and

novel R&I approaches to be considered in the updated Mission Soil roadmap that will be

available in 2026.

EU Missions in 2026 81

Figure 31. Contribution to the eight Mission Soil specific objectives by Mission-funded projects.

The graph shows how Mission projects have already addressed almost all the specific

objectives, and particularly those related to “innovation hotspots” in the Mission

Implementation Plan. These are areas of strategic importance for the Mission, such as

carbon farming (SO2), soil pollution and restoration (SO4) or soil biodiversity (SO6).

Some objectives (in particular SO3 ‘soil sealing and urban soils’ and SO7 ‘reduce the EU

global footprint on soils’) are addressed in ongoing and future calls (for example, SO7

(160)).

The first Mission projects started in July 2022, and so far, three out of 63 have been

completed (considering also that 2 of the 3 had strong preparatory focus (161)).

Consequently, it is challenging to measure knowledge production via outputs, such as

publications, as numbers remain limited at this stage. This section therefore reports

expected and achieved values of selected output indicators. Expected values are drawn

from grant agreements for 29 Mission Soil-funded projects running up to August 2029

(around half of the 63 running projects). Achieved values are based on continuous Horizon

Europe reporting for 43 projects, as of 30 June 2025.

(160) Mission Soil call topic HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-05: EU global footprint on soils

(161) PREPSOIL: Preparing for the ‘Soil Deal for Europe’ Mission; NATI00NS: National engagement

activities to support the launch of the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe’ 100 Living Labs and

Lighthouses

15

32

9

30

22

42

3

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

SO1 Land

degradation

SO2 Soil

organic

carbon

stocks

SO3 Soil

sealing and

urban soils

SO4 Reduce

soil

pollution

SO5 Prevent

erosion

SO6 Soil

structure

and

biodiversity

SO7 Global

EU footprint

on soil

SO8 Soil

literacy

N u m

b e r o f p

ro je

c ts

E U

c o n tr

ib u ti o n to

p ro

je c ts

( m

ill io

n E

U R )

Specific objectives

Mission-funded projects fully or partially contributing to the eight Mission

specific objectives (SO)

Total budget, fully contributing, million EUR Total budget, partially contributing, million EUR

Total number of projects

EU Missions in 2026 82

A standard indicator of research activity is the number of peer-reviewed scientific

publications generated by projects. Based on the currently available information, more

than 300 publications (302 identified so far) are expected by 2029. By June 2025, 108 peer-

reviewed publications have been reported, including journal articles, monographs,

conference proceedings, and preprints (18 out of the 43 projects), including publications

in high-impact journals produced from Mission Soil projects (162).

To contextualise these figures, the Horizon Dashboard provides useful comparative

parameters, such as publications per project and publications per EUR 10 million grant.

These can be benchmarked against each other and compared with those from other similar

parts of the Programme:

Table 3. Publication by Mission soil projects compared to Horizon Europe Cluster 6 (163).

Indicator Value for the

Mission Soil

Reference Value

Publications per EUR 10 million by projects

with grant agreement signed in 2022 (164)

3.5 Cluster 6 2.8

Number of publications per project 2.0 Cluster 6 1.8

These indicators show that, in terms of scientific output and knowledge, Mission projects

are successful also in comparison to other parts of Horizon Europe (for example, Cluster

6).

In addition, a comparative analysis between soil-related projects funded under Horizon

2020 identified by the JRC (165), Mission Soil-funded projects and Mission Soil Living

Labs shows that, while maintaining the level of scientific output, the Mission has been

more able to involve non-research beneficiaries, such as NGOs, associations, public

organisations, regional and local authorities, citizens, businesses or land managers (166)

(figure 32), improving diversity and stakeholders involvement.

(162) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01628-3;

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025RG000883

(163) Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

(164) Only projects with grant agreements signed in 2022 have produced publications.

(165) Arias Navarro, C., Panagos, P., Jones, A., Amaral, M.J., Schneegans, A., Van Liedekerke, M., Wojda,

P. and Montanarella, L., Forty years of soil research funded by the European Commission: Trends and

future. A systematic review of research projects, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, ISSN

1351-0754, 74 (5), 2023, p. e13423, JRC132377.

(166) Non-research organisations: private for-profit entities, public bodies and other; research organisations

include also higher or secondary education establishments (public or private).

EU Missions in 2026 83

Figure 32. Comparison by types of beneficiaries in H2020 soil-related projects, Mission Soil

projects and Mission Soil Living Labs.

There are 1 377 organisations involved in the 63 Mission Soil-funded projects, and a large

number of unique organisations (909). The Mission and the Living Labs show a high level

of unique participants (167), emphasising diversity, especially considering the size of the

soil scientific community.

Figure 33. Unique participants versus total participants in Horizon Europe Pillar II, Cluster 6,

Mission Soil projects and Mission Living Labs.

In terms of outputs, projects funded through the Mission Soil are developing more than

160 tools for soil health assessment and monitoring.

By integrating various types of data (climate, topography, soil health), the AI4SoilHealth data cube can

revolutionise soil management in Europe by enabling precision agriculture, predictive analysis to

forecast future soil conditions and potential issues and integrated decision making. The project also

incorporates both traditional laboratory and physic-chemical methods, such as spectroscopy, soil

penetrometers, and Ion Selective Electrodes for key measurements (e.g. pH, salinity), making testing

more accessible to farmers, advisors, and citizen scientists.

(167) Number of distinct organisations involved in projects. One organisation participating in several projects

is only counted once.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

H2020 Mission Soil

projects

Mission Sol living

labs

Non-research type of beneficiaries vs.

research organisations in soil-related

R&I projects

Research organizations Non-research

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pilar II Cluster 6 Mission Soil Mission Soil

living labs

Percentage of unique participants

EU Missions in 2026 84

The ECHO project is developing a Citizen Science Platform, including a mobile app and a toolbox for

citizens to monitor and gather data on soil biodiversity. This citizens-science project has assessed 16 500

sites and created a long-term open access repository with a direct link to the EUSO (EU Soil Observatory).

The number of soil educational materials developed (i.e. courses/modules for soil

education in primary and secondary schools as well as in universities) currently amounts

to 57. The overall output is expected to reach a value of at least 160, including:

programmes, curricula and guidelines; training materials, such as videos for soil advisors

and farmers; training modules for citizen science; a European atlas of soil education and

training; tools and manuals to support organisations to engage with quintuple-helix

stakeholders; etc.

The NBSOIL Academy stands as a pioneering two-year training prototype aimed at empowering existing

and aspiring soil advisors to effectively deploy nature-based solutions. It is a blended training programme

where participants engage with soil health and nature-based solutions experts, demonstration sites,

advisory services, and other Mission projects. It comprises 3 modules from foundation-tier (60 hours) to

advance-tier (240 hours).

As concerns the actual delivery of training sessions, the number is above 400. More than

7 000 teachers/students/researchers have participated in upskilling activities. The

participants in training include (self-)trained teachers/students, school heads, young

scientists, and BA/MA/PhD students.

Another interesting indicator is the number of open soil datasets, also available in the

Horizon Dashboard. All open datasets produced by Mission projects will be captured by

the SoilWise project and exported to the EU Soil Observatory for stakeholder use and to

support the implementation of the Soil Monitoring Law. The current SoilWise prototype

repository shows already 34 000 records catalogued.

The Mission project SoilWise and the Mission Soil Cluster on Data and Knowledge Management

provide an integrated and actionable access point to scattered and heterogeneous soil data and knowledge

in Europe, making them FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). In its first 24 months,

SoilWise delivered two working prototypes of the SoilWise Catalogue, allowing users to access 33 743

records, from historic datasets (11 833) and publications to policy reports and unstructured content (other

knowledge types 22 090). The catalogue runs on a scalable infrastructure and already harvests metadata

from trusted sources, including CORDIS, OpenAIRE, Zenodo, ESDAC, BonaRes, PREPSOIL, the FAO

Soils Portal, the EEA Datahub, and ISRIC. Dedicated tools assess and enrich metadata quality, improving

traceability, completeness, and standard compliance. The Mission Soil–attributed records are 1 178,

including 338 datasets and 840 knowledge objects.

Close to 80 communities of practice (CoPs) (168) are expected to be supported under

Mission Soil-funded projects (LOESS, HuMUS, NOVASOIL, PREPSOIL, SoilValues,

CURIOSOIL, DeepHorizon, MONALISA, and Soiltribes).

Considering that many of the Mission Soil-funded projects are still in their initial stages, it

is too early to report on their outcomes. They deal with behavioural and environmental

changes and other achievements (e.g. citations after the publishing of an article) that take

(168) Communities of Practice (CoPs) typically comprise stakeholders from education, research, community

initiatives and policymaking, who share a common interest in promoting soil health and education. For

example, see LOESS.

EU Missions in 2026 85

time to materialise and measure. Nevertheless, data on initial results (from impact sections

of Mission Soil projects) for some projects for the following indicators are:

• Land managers and other “users” of soil health ecosystem services involved in R&I

activities – 16 055 in just six projects for which there is available information

(BENCHMARKS, NBSoil, Soil O-live, DeepHorizon, Hort2thefuture, and

LILAS4SOILS).

• Number of municipalities and regions pursuing citizen-identified soil-related

objectives – 154 in seven projects (HuMUS, NBSoil, PREPSOIL, GOV4ALL,

LILAS4SOILS, Path4Med, and Spades). These are typically municipalities/regions

involved in pilot activities related to soil health, e.g. on alleviating grazing pressure

and defining new methodology to get an integrated territorial system in land

management regarding water resources, hydrological systems and soil.

• Number of businesses and companies developing strategies for valorising soils in

their production and supply chains – 265 in just four projects with available

information (BENCHMARKS, NBSoil, Soil O-live, and Path4Med). This type of

behavioural change includes, e.g. farms applying sustainable practices and novel

solutions and businesses in value chains that have adopted soil health incentive

schemes.

• Number of participants in co-creation (169), engagement (170), and networking

events – 35 385 under just 12 projects. They include participants in symposia and

seminars (LOESS), workshops (AI4SoilHealth), conferences (CURIOSOIL),

community of practice webinars (DeepHorizon), open days (Hort2thefuture). The

reported values for participants so far show that more than 13 600 participants

have been involved in such events under twelve Mission Soil-funded projects.

These include participants in cluster events, networking events, conferences, online

presentations, workshops, etc.

The knowledge developed by the Mission significantly contributes to policies related

to soil health. The recently adopted EU Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive (the Soil

Monitoring Law, SML) (171) refers to the Mission as a key instrument for the

implementation of the Directive. The Mission has also provided relevant support during

its design (for example, on the estimation of unhealthy soils). The Mission is firmly

embedded in 18 out of 28 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans, basis for

the allocation of CAP funds in Member States. Overall, fifteen policy initiatives mention

(169) Events related to co-creating R&I visions, agendas, policies or frameworks.

(170) Events related to co-creating R&I action plans or technology roadmaps; engaging actors in collecting

data for the project, analysing data for the project, providing resources, monitoring and/or evaluating

R&I results, testing & experimenting with innovative R&I solutions, contributing to scientific

publications or patent applications; debating R&I findings and implications for them.

(171) Directive (EU) 2025/2360 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 November 2025 on soil

monitoring and resilience

EU Missions in 2026 86

and rely on the Mission actions to achieve their objectives, including the Soil Strategy

for 2030 and the SML (172).

Cooperation with global actors for soil health has been largely strengthened. For

example, on 3 December 2023, the European Commission and the Gates Foundation

announced cooperation on soil health challenges through the Mission Soil (173) that has

translated into specific investments. The Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Challenge

Programme 2026 (174) is a high-risk approach that promotes explicit collaboration with the

Mission Soil. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is a signatory of the Mission Soil Manifesto.

The Mission Soil collaborates closely with UNESCO (175) on soil health, including

through participation in the SOILSCAPE project, creating a soil literacy portal, among

other things; and collaboration around the network of soil sentinel sites. The Mission has

also a permanent cooperation with FAO through the Global Soil Partnership with specific

actions in several areas (176). The European Science Alliance for Agriculture and Food

(ESAAF), a European coalition of leading agricultural and life sciences institutions (177),

highlights the Mission Soil as fundamental in gathering all the relevant stakeholders across

value chains with a strong portfolio approach, where stakeholders work across project

boundaries and have extended the impact of the individual projects greatly (178). CIRAD

is also a signatory of the Manifesto and a partner in the SoilWise and FENIX projects,

strengthening knowledge exchange and storage while promoting sustainable soil

management.

5.2.2. Living Labs and Lighthouses - Co-creating and upscaling place-based

innovations to improve soil health (operational objective 2)

The Mission Soil counts on Living Labs (LLs) and Lighthouses (LHs) (operational

objective 2) to drive the European transition to healthy soils by 2030. More specifically, it

aims to set up a network of 100 Soil Health Living Labs with minimum of 1 000 testing

(172) EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (COM(2020) 380 final); EU Action Plan “Towards Zero Pollution

for Air, Water and Soil” (COM(2021) 400 final); EU Climate Adaptation Strategy (COM(2021) 82

final); EU Forestry Strategy – New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 (COM(2021) 572 final); Sustainable

Carbon Cycles Communication (COM(2021) 800 final); Communication on Safeguarding Food

Security and Reinforcing the Resilience of Food Systems (COM(2022) 133 final); Communication on

Ensuring Availability and Affordability of Fertilisers (COM(2022) 590 final); Communication from

the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-

friendly agriculture for a healthy environment” (C(2023) 2320 final); Nature Restoration Law

(Regulation (EU) 2022/869); Vision for Agriculture and Food (COM(2025) 75 final); European Water

Resilience Strategy (COM(2025) 280 final); Communication on Boosting Biotechnology and

Biomanufacturing in the EU (COM(2024) 137 final); EU Life Sciences Strategy (COM(2025) 525

final).

(173) European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to cooperate on soil health challenges

in Sub-Saharan Africa - Agriculture and rural development

(174) Challenge Programme 2026 – Harnessing biology for climate-resilient and healthy soils

(175) UNESCO signs Mission Soil Manifesto

(176) For example, World Soil Day contests.

(177) Members – ESAAF: Aarhus University, Julius Kuehn-Institute (JKI), INRAE, Spanish National

Research Council (CSIC), Wageningen University & Research, Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

(178) ESAAF supports Soil Mission as a key driver for healthy soils by 2030

EU Missions in 2026 87

sites and 100 Lighthouses, distributed evenly across all European biogeographical regions,

in order to encompass all European pedoclimatic conditions (179).

The Mission Soil is unique in positioning LLs at its core (180), recognising them as

drivers of user-centric, co-created innovation crucial for systemic societal change.

Mission Soil LLs are user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary R&I ecosystems

that involve multiple partners to co-design, test, monitor and evaluate solutions in real-life

settings for improving soil health. Mission Soil LLs comprise multiple experimentation

sites that vary by land-use type – agriculture, (peri-)urban, forestry, (post-) industrial, and

natural environments. They can evolve into LHs when demonstrating exemplary

performance in terms of soil health improvements, thus serving as models for effective soil

management.

Figure 34. Intervention logic in relation to operational objective 2.

5.2.2.1. The added value of Living Labs

Living Labs and Lighthouses are working directly with users in real-life settings, making

sure that co-created solutions are improving soil health, ecosystem services and are in line

with people’s values, priorities and economic realities.

They adapt knowledge from research and combine it with tacit knowledge, in order to

produce solutions that are fit to the diverse contexts found on EU territory, beneficial in

terms of ecosystem delivery and economically viable for the managers.

(179) Biogeographical regions broadly correspond to pedoclimatic regions of Europe and were chosen to align

with its usage in other European programmes and instruments: Biogeographical regions in Europe.

(180) Mission Soil Board’s view on Soil Health Living Labs under Horizon Europe

EU Missions in 2026 88

While the co-creation concept plays a key role in producing results that are adapted to

the needs of the local actors (e.g. farmers, industries), it also helps to respond to the

overall European and international policies and overarching rules.

By involving multiple actors – academics, policymakers and citizens – in their

governance and implementation, LLs have the capacity of reshaping the dynamics of

climate/environmental policies.

5.2.2.2. Expected benefits of working with Living Labs to achieve the objectives of

the Mission Soil

Living Labs and Lighthouses are a core element of the Mission through which already

existing and new knowledge created under the R&I programme (operational objective 1),

and knowledge from actors on the ground, including from CAP EIP Operational Groups,

is further transformed into innovations with real impact and a high potential for rapid

uptake by land managers and other relevant actors (e.g. industry, consumers etc.) across

Europe.

Furthermore, Europe exhibits significant diversity in soil characteristics, encompassing 13

distinct biogeographical regions. This heterogeneity is further compounded by the wide

range of cropping and production systems, as well as by diverse socio-economic and

cultural contexts, which reflect varying levels of readiness to adopt sustainable soil

management practices and innovations. Taken together, these factors increase the

complexity of the overall situation.

Consequently, no single, uniform solution can adequately address soil-related challenges

across Europe. Instead, solutions must be tailored to local conditions, from which they

can subsequently be scaled up to enhance the uptake of sustainable soil management

practices and innovations. This underscores the need for place-based approaches that

are responsive to local and regional specificities. In this regard, Living Labs constitute

an appropriate and effective instrument.

Furthermore, in the field of sustainable soil management, several persistent challenges

remain, most notably the insufficient translation of existing knowledge into practice,

resulting in a continued knowledge–practice gap. To address this gap, Living Labs once

again represent a key mechanism. They offer dedicated environments for participatory,

practice-oriented research, facilitate the co-design of solutions, and enable the assessment

of impacts at farm, landscape and ecosystem levels. As such, they serve as important

enablers and brokers of knowledge and innovation.

5.2.2.3. Advancing on the path to 100 Living Labs

The Mission LLs are rolled out in three, interconnected phases: 1) the induction and pilot

phase (2021-2024); 2) the expansion and innovation phase (2025-2026); 3) the scaling up

and mainstreaming phase (2027-2030).

In the induction and pilot phase, the early implementation efforts focused predominantly

on preparatory activities (capacity building, stakeholders’ engagement, mapping

regional needs).To that end, from 2021 to 2023, two preparatory actions were

implemented to support the progressive deployment of the Mission, establishing the basis

for subsequent operational LL activities.

EU Missions in 2026 89

Building on these foundations, the first two waves of 9 living lab projects were introduced

through the 2023 and 2024 Work Programmes (so called first and second wave LLs). As

a result, 45 Living Labs are now established via these nine projects with the first 25 LLs

starting operations in September 2024 and next 20 in 2025.

The implementation is continuing to the expansion and innovation phase, with the Work

Programme 2025, which has published new calls for proposals. Under these calls, four

further projects (and consequently 20 further LLs) are foreseen for funding. The Work

Programme 2026-2027, which has been adopted in December 2025, has calls for another

ten projects and 50 LLs, (Table 4), ensuring continuity, reaching and even overpassing

the objective of 100 LLs.

Table 4 shows the current status and planned evolution of the Mission Soil LLs and LHs

network.

Table 4. Number of experimentation sites is 10-20 per each LL, so target values are calculated

accordingly. The number of experimentation sites may increase during the project. The number of

Lighthouses is expected to increase during the project lifetime.

Calls for

LLs

LLs start

date

No of

projects

No of

LLs

No of

experimentation

sites (181)

No of LHs Mission Soil

LLs phases

2023 Q3 2024 5 25 370 60 Induction and

pilot 2024 Q4 2025 4 20 297 20

2025 2026 4 20 200-400 20 Expansion and

innovation 2026 2027 4 20 200-400 20

2027 2028 6 30 200-400 20 Scaling up and

mainstreaming

Current total for the

Induction and pilot phase 9 45 667 60

Target (2030) 23 100-110 1000-2000 100-110

Achieved 42,85% 45% 33-66% 60%

Within these projects, LL experimentation sites evolve dynamically. They may be

predefined during proposal development, co-created during implementation, or established

using the FSTP instrument (182). As a result, their number typically increases over the

course of each project, as well as the number of land managers involved. Finally,

Lighthouses serve as demonstration environments for tested practices and developed

solutions. Consequently, they are expected to emerge in the later stages of project

implementation, once sufficient evidence and outputs have been generated. Currently,

there are 60 Lighthouses established under the first wave of LLs from the 2023 call (Table

4).

Concerning the biogeographical coverage, the first 45 LLs are gradually covering the

majority of European biogeographical regions (figure 35), while the subsequent calls are

(181) These numbers reflect information supplied by the Living Labs in May 2025 and may change, usually

increasing, with new sites that the Living Labs incorporate via open calls for small grants to land

managers such as farmers.

(182) Cascade Funding Calls / Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP)

EU Missions in 2026 90

prepared in a way that they target underrepresented regions, ensuring ultimate balanced

coverage of the Mission LLs across Europe.

Figure 35. Distribution of the Mission Soil Living Labs across the European biogeographical

regions. The map has been produced by the SOILL project, the support structure for Living Labs.

Concerning the land use, among the first 45 LLs launched during the Induction and Pilot

Phase (2023–2024), the majority of LLs focus on agricultural land use, followed by urban,

forestry, natural/semi-natural and industrial areas. The types of partners are diverse, with

private for-profit entities being the most represented, followed by "Other" stakeholders,

with significant involvement from academic, research, and public institutions (figure 36).

Figure 36. Land use and type of partners for the LLs 2023-2024 (Induction and pilot phase).

Finally, the first 45 LLs are contributing to achieving the Mission Soil specific objectives

(MSO), covering all MSO, with the one on conserving soil organic carbon being addressed

by 71% of LLs, followed by the MSO on soil biodiversity (69%) and preventing erosion

(64%). Around 65% of LLs are directly working on improving soil literacy (table 5).

EU Missions in 2026 91

Table 5. Mission Soil specific objectives coverage for 2023 and 2024 LLs.

Standout example in a wider landscape of LLs excellence - The LILAS4SOILS Living Labs project

LILAS4SOILS tests Carbon Farming Practices (CFP) in farms managed by individual farmers in 5

Living Labs across 6 countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Israel.

The project makes use of cascade grants mechanism to involve farmers. Through an open call, the

project received almost 300 applications and has selected 53 sites to create a network of 100 experimental

sites (farms). The call was published in several languages and on local channels linked to the Living

Labs geographies, with targeted dissemination efforts focusing on deficit regions, crops, CFPs

categories.

5.2.2.4. Synergies with other Mission activities/operational objectives

Living Labs contribute to operational objective 1 – R&I programme (5.5.2.1) by

generating practice-based knowledge and innovations from real-life contexts, as well as by

channelling research questions originating from practitioners. Conversely, the new

knowledge produced under the R&I Programme is further developed into innovations

through co-creation with relevant actors in real-life environments, ensuring tangible

impacts and fostering rapid uptake by land managers and other stakeholders across Europe.

Within operational objective 3 – Soil Health Monitoring (5.5.2.3), LLs receive support

regarding the monitoring framework, including indicators, data requirements and

thresholds. In return, LLs provide practice-validated data that feed into and strengthen

this Mission activity.

Under operational objective 4 – Soil Literacy, Communication and Engagement

(5.5.2.4), mechanisms are in place to ensure that citizens’ ideas and needs are integrated

and addressed by LLs. In turn, LLs contribute through demonstrations of new practices

and developed solutions in both rural and urban settings, thereby supporting the

implementation of this operational objective and promoting improved soil literacy (figure

37).

EU Missions in 2026 92

Figure 37. Synergies between the Living Labs and other Mission activities/operational

objectives.

5.2.2.5. 100 Living Labs – Outputs, outcomes and impacts

In terms of the Mission overarching goal (outputs)

The Mission Soil is on track towards its overall goal of 100 Living Labs to lead the

transition towards healthy soils. The interest is so high that it will most likely overpass

its initial targeted number of LLs. The induction and pilot phase will end with the

establishment of a total of 45 LLs by the end of 2025. The expansion and innovation phase

has been launched with the WP 2025 call. The final phase, scaling up and mainstreaming,

will take place with WP 2026-2027. Balanced biogeographical and land use coverage is

being achieved through targeted current and future calls.

In terms of added value for the Mission (outcomes)

Living Labs have built a growing network of real-life sites, bringing together farms, natural

areas, urban plots, and others, actively engaging a diverse range of stakeholders, from

private companies and NGOs to universities and local communities. On the ground, they

are driving improvements in soil health, enhancing carbon retention, strengthening soil

structure, boosting biodiversity, and raising soil awareness. LL participants are also

pioneering practical approaches to soil monitoring, testing protocols, exchanging lessons,

and preparing the ground for the implementation of the Soil Monitoring Law.

In terms of support to policy (outcomes and impact)

LLs are establishing baselines of the soil conditions to allow for an accurate co-

assessment of the changes in the different sites over time, and to monitor soil health

improvements. The set of soil health indicators/descriptors presented in the Soil

Monitoring Law is used, as a basis and may be complemented with additional indicators

depending on the soil health challenge(s) addressed, pedoclimatic conditions and land use.

LLs also monitor and evaluate the effects of the proposed solutions on soil health and

associated ecosystem services, demonstrating their viability – technical, social, economic,

EU Missions in 2026 93

cultural and environmental – scalability and transferability to diverse contexts. With these

activities, LLs are contributing to setting up a basis for future provision of data for the EU

wide soil monitoring, in support to the implementation of the Soil Monitoring Law and

they support improving interventions, for example under the CAP. The overall impact is

the long-term improvement of soil health in Europe.

5.2.3. Soil-health monitoring system (operational objective 3)

5.2.3.1. Status of the Monitoring System

Mission Soil’s operational objective 3 is to support the development of an integrated EU

soil monitoring system and track progress towards soil health. Soil health monitoring is a

key component of the Mission: it is needed to track progress towards policy objectives, to

assess the impacts of measures for soil management, and assess the impact of the Mission

overall.

Figure 38. Intervention logic in relation to operational objective 3.

At the start of the Mission, key concepts such as soil health were absent, while comparable

baseline data were only available for some soil degradation indicators, mainly based on

the soil assessment in the Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS Soil), and

only a rough estimate of the extent of unhealthy soils in the EU was available.

This changed with the launch of the EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard in 2023, created

by the JRC under the Mission’s building block ‘Monitoring and Indicators’. The EUSO

Dashboard (183) is a tool for monitoring and reporting on the state of soil degradation at

the EU level and provides a spatial assessment of unhealthy soils and the degradation

processes affecting them (Panagos et al., 2024). The first version of the EUSO Dashboard

(March 2023) included 15 indicators covering nine soil degradation processes. The number

of indicators increased to 19 in the second version (June 2024), thanks to the work carried

out under the Mission’s building block ‘Monitoring and Indicators’. These indicators

(183) EUSO Dashboard

EU Missions in 2026 94

represent the main soil degradation processes described in scientific literature and

match the indicators listed in the Mission Soil Implementation Plan (Broothaerts et al.,

2024). For each indicator, the dashboard presents science-based EU-wide geospatial data.

The dashboard has been developed as a dynamic platform, so that it can be updated when

new indicators or improved datasets become available. The most recent version of the

dashboard shows that approximately 62% of EU soils are degraded (184)and warns that

most degraded soils are subject to more than one type of soil degradation.

Secondly, the diversity of datasets of soil degradation processes and indicators increased

thanks to the Mission as explained in previous sections, resulting in a better monitoring

and spatial assessment of the state of soils in the EU. These datasets are added to the

European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) (Panagos et al., 2022) and, if relevant, to the EUSO

Soil Degradation Dashboard.

Thirdly, the thematical, temporal and spatial coverage of soil monitoring improved,

thanks to Mission Soil projects. More soil degradation processes are now included in soil

monitoring efforts (thematical coverage; e.g. various Mission Soil projects working on

monitoring and indicators); seasonal, annual and multiannual trends are now covered by

monitoring campaigns (temporal coverage; e.g. the Mission Soil projects BENCHMARKS

and AI4SoilHealth and the Living Labs); and all types of land use in rural and urban

areas are covered, while previously soil monitoring has focused only on agricultural soils

(spatial coverage; see e.g. figure 35 for the land use types covered by the Living Labs).

Fourthly, data resulting from soil monitoring activities of Mission projects are shared

according to the FAIR data principles. Moreover, data and metadata are now more

accessible and searchable, thanks to the prototype of the SoilWise HE Data and

Knowledge hub. This SoilWise Data and Knowledge Hub will be integrated into the EUSO

platforms to ensure its longevity.

Finally, clear principles and criteria for soil indicator selection have been established, along

with better supported monitoring frameworks. Distinct frameworks for soil health

assessment are now well described, each with a unique role, application and scale

regarding soil monitoring. These frameworks were developed by the Mission Soil projects

and the EUSO and include the ‘fitness for purpose’, ‘free from degradation’, ‘external

benchmarking’ and ‘value assessment’ frameworks (Campbell et al., 2025). The ‘free from

degradation’ framework is used in the EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard, as it best fits

the scale and objectives of the dashboard.

Detecting and monitoring temporal changes in soil status is a challenging task. It requires

systematic, standardised, repeatable soil monitoring campaigns, including consistent

sample and lab methodologies and a consistent data coverage. Furthermore, many soil

characteristics change slowly and react slowly to improved management practices. This

means that repeated soil monitoring campaigns covering several years are needed. LUCAS

(184) The Mission Soil Board provided first evidence in the Mission Soil Implementation Plan, confirmed

by the JRC (Panagos et al., 2024). EUSO Dashboard.

EU Missions in 2026 95

Soil (185) is currently the only available soil monitoring system that enables trend analysis

of soil health indicators at EU scale. In addition, the call HORIZON-MISS-2025-05-SOIL-

04 will develop transfer functions to integrate national monitoring schemes with

LUCAS Soil enabling harmonised soil health assessments and trend analyses across the

EU.

LUCAS Soil enables the analysis of trends in soil health indicators; two examples are

presented below (soil erosion by water and soil organic carbon content). A third example

illustrates the use of satellite imagery to analyse trends in soil sealing. These three

examples are linked to the Mission’s specific objectives on preventing erosion, conserving

and increasing soil organic carbon stocks, and no net soil sealing respectively. Although

the presented trend analyses do not yet cover the Mission Soil period, they provide insights

into the progress in soil health over the last few decades, as well as the available tools and

methods for studying progress and trends. As soon as more recent data becomes available,

it will be added to the trend analysis.

5.2.3.2. Soil erosion by water (2000-2023)

Based on an updated version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE2015)

model, soil loss in the EU for the years 2000, 2010, 2016 and 2023 was assessed. This

model incorporates the most recent pan-European datasets for input factors such as rainfall

erosivity, soil erodibility, cover-management, topography and support practices (Panagos

et al., 2015). The estimated mean soil loss from water erosion in the EU decreased in

the period 2000-2023. It declined by 9% in the period 2000-2010, by 0.4% in the period

2010-2016 (186), and by 2.5 % in the period 2016-2023 (187). These positive trends mark

progress towards the Mission’s specific objective 5 ‘Prevent erosion’. This trend is

attributed to the implementation of enhanced soil protection management practices in

agricultural areas, which are associated with the Good Agricultural and Environmental

Condition (GAEC) requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and EU soil

protection guidelines (Panagos et al., 2020).

5.2.3.3. Soil organic carbon content (2009-2018)

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) content across the EU was estimated based on LUCAS Soil in

2009, 2015 and 2018. Using the LUCAS Soil data, it was possible to estimate the SOC

change in mineral agricultural soils for the EU and UK (De Rosa et al., 2024). Total SOC

(185) LUCAS Soil is the soil assessment within the Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey. LUCAS

Soil sampling campaign took place in 2009-2012, 2015, 2018 and 2022. Results of LUCAS Soil are

available for 2009-2012 (Orgiazzi et al., 2018; Tóth et al., 2013), 2015 (Jones et al., 2020) and 2018

(Fernandez-Ugalde et al., 2022). Results of 2022 are expected in 2026.

(186) Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L.,

Alewell, .C. 2015. The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in Europe. Environmental Science

& Policy. 54: 438-447. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2015.08.012; Panagos, P., Ballabio, C., Poesen, J.,

Lugato, E., Scarpa, S., Montanarella, L., Borrelli, P. 2020. A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting

Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union. Remote Sensing. 12: 1365.

DOI: 10.3390/rs12091365

(187) Borrelli, P., Panagos , P. 2026. A data-driven indicator for assessing the evolving impact of the EU

Common Agricultural Policy on soil erosion mitigation. Data in Brief, 112390, DOI:

10.1016/j.dib.2025.112390

EU Missions in 2026 96

loss from cropland between 2009 and 2018 was about 0.75% of their initial soil carbon,

with a different spatial distribution and northern carbon rich soils more affected by higher

losses. Grassland was more resilient to changes, showing also SOC increase especially at

medium latitudes. These trends are linked to the Mission’s specific objective 2 ‘Conserve

and increase soil organic carbon stocks’. Once LUCAS Soil results for 2022 are available

(expected in 2026), the SOC changes covering 2009-2022 will be analysed and discussed.

5.2.3.4. Soil sealing (2006-2018)

Temporal changes in soil sealing (188) at the scale of the EU can be monitored by using

high-resolution satellite imagery. The most used source of information is the high-

resolution Copernicus imperviousness datasets (High-Resolution Layer Imperviousness

product of the European Environmental Agency, EEA), available for the period 2006 to

2018 (3-yearly). The high-resolution imperviousness dataset of the year 2021 is expected

to be published in Q4 2025, the dataset of 2024 is scheduled for publication in Q2 2026.

Once these datasets are available, temporal changes in soil sealing for the period 2006-

2024 – also covering the operation time of the Mission Soil – can be analysed and

discussed.

The current available datasets show that in 2018, 110 702 km2 of soil was sealed,

representing 2.7%of the total area of the EU. The increase in sealed area between 2006

and 2018 was 3 606 km2, which is an increase of 3.4% at the level of the EU. The largest

increase in sealed surface at the EU-level was in the period 2006-2009 (increase of 1088

km2 or 1%) and 2009-2012 (increase of 1156 km2 or 1.1%). The increase in sealed surface

was a bit lower in the next period (2012-2015, 567 km2 or 0.5%) but increased again in the

period 2015-2018 (794 km2 or 0.7%) (European Environmental Agency, 2024). These

trends are linked to the Mission’s specific objective 3 ‘No net soil sealing and increase the

reuse of urban soils’.

5.2.3.5. Cluster on Soil Indicators and Monitoring (189)

This cluster provides a platform to support Mission Soil-funded projects in navigating

the evolving policy and technical landscape of soil health assessment. It brings together

initiatives developing or applying soil indicators and monitoring frameworks, enabling

knowledge exchange and methodological alignment.

The cluster gathers at this moment around 40 projects with 40-60 participants regularly

attending meetings and other activities. While it is mainly composed of Mission Soil-

funded projects, related non-Mission Soil initiatives also participate where relevant,

broadening the knowledge base and connecting to other EU efforts. The cluster is co-led

by the projects AI4SoilHealth and BENCHMARKS as Cluster Advisers, supported by

the Mission Soil Platform.

(188) Soil sealing is the permanent covering of soils with an impermeable artificial material, such as

buildings, constructions and roads.

(189) Factsheet Soil Indicators and Monitoring

EU Missions in 2026 97

As an example, the projects AI4SoilHealth and BENCHMARKS jointly organised in

September 2025 an “Indicator lab”, providing practical guidance on selecting relevant

soil health indicators tailored to local contexts and land-use systems.

5.2.3.6. Cluster on Data and Knowledge Management

The data and knowledge management cluster brings together Mission Soil projects

working on one of the most fundamental – and cross-cutting – aspects of the Mission Soil:

how to organise, structure, store, share, and access the wealth of data and knowledge

being produced. Its main purpose is to help projects make their outputs FAIR – Findable,

Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable – ensuring that the results of individual projects

can be discovered, connected, and reused by others, both within and beyond the Mission

Soil community. By creating a platform for exchange, the cluster enables collaboration,

alignment, and mutual learning among data managers and technical partners. Since its

launch in early 2024, the data and knowledge management cluster has evolved into an

active community connecting more than 60 Mission Soil projects, chaired by the

SOILWISE project.

The cluster’s added value lies in building a community of practice around data and

knowledge management. Through this collaboration, projects not only improve their own

data workflows but also contribute to the development of a coherent European soil data

ecosystem, in close connection with the European Soil Observatory (EUSO).

5.2.4. Engage with the soil user community and society at large (operational

objective 4)

Activities under this operational objective are referred to as building block ‘Soil literacy,

communication and citizen engagement’ in the Mission Implementation Plan. They

address the identified lack of awareness on the importance of soils and the need for more

targeted advice and education in the area.

Figure 39. Intervention logic in relation to operational objective 4.

EU Missions in 2026 98

Launched in 2023, the Mission Soil Manifesto is a tool to express engagement for soil

health, from citizens to private and public actors. It is a call for action to respond to the

urgent need to protect and improve soil health in Europe and beyond, bringing together

policymakers, stakeholders and citizens in a dynamic community focused on soil health.

This voluntary document is endorsed by representatives of municipalities, regions, private

or public companies and organisations, NGOs and philanthropic organisations, schools and

education institutions, as well as by research institutions and citizens.

To date, the number of signatories of the Mission Soil Manifesto is above 3 700, with

around 700 legal entities and 3 000 individuals. Signatories come from more than

90 countries worldwide (figure 40).

The Manifesto is demonstrating to be a powerful engagement instrument able to leverage

international interest and cooperation. Single organisations with multinational or multi-

organisational representativity are also signatories of the Manifesto, such as the African

Union, UNESCO, or the Inter-American Commission for Organic Agriculture (ICOA).

The Manifesto also shows the strong political buy-in of the Mission. On 10 December

2024, during the Agri-Food Days, Commissioners Hansen (Agriculture and Food) and

Roswall (Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy) signed the

Manifesto, shortly after taking office, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to preserving and

restoring soil health. Other relevant signatories are Members of the European Parliament,

the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), the "4 per 1 000"

initiative or philanthropic organisations (such as the Novo Nordisk Foundation).

Figure 40. Manifesto signatories by country.

More information about the Manifesto progress can be found here: Global engagement

with the Mission Soil Manifesto : a declaration on soil protection and restoration | Mission

Soil Platform.

The Mission Soil Ambassador programme was launched in 2023 to support the Mission

objectives to increase soil literacy, communication and citizen engagement. It aims at

having at least one Ambassador per Member State and one per Horizon Europe Associated

EU Missions in 2026 99

Country. Mission Soil Ambassadors have been nominated for their demonstrated

commitment to soil health and for being excellent communicators.

The ambassadors’ role is focused on communication activities. Their commitment is

voluntary, and their activities are neither remunerated nor reimbursed. Ambassadors

should raise awareness about the importance of soil health, promote the Mission and its

activities; facilitate connections and networking; lead by example and inspire others to act.

Ambassadors' profiles are visible on the Mission Soil website (190). In addition to visibility,

Ambassadors have been invited to participate in events such as the European Mission Soil

Week 2023, 2024 and 2025, and to take part in communication products (articles,

newsletters, videos, podcasts, posts on social media). They can also get access to training

and networking opportunities within the Mission Soil community. Ambassadors have

received a communication toolkit in their respective national language and will continue

to receive assistance and updated material from a dedicated team. To facilitate exchanges,

a private LinkedIn group has been set up.

The number of active Mission Soil Ambassadors was 37 as of mid-June 2025 covering

23 EU Member States and 13 Horizon Europe Associated Countries.

Among the communication materials, the Mission Soil newsletter has been very successful

since its launch in 2023. The current number of subscribers exceeds 5 500. The 10th issue

was published on 5 December, coinciding with World Soil Day.

The number of social media engagements shows a steady growth and currently stands at

more than 20 000. On average, the number of these engagements is about 5 000 per six

months. The Mission Soil website has reached more than 110 000 views, with more than

30 000 unique visitors. Both indicators show an overachievement of the targets of 7 000

page views and 3 900 unique visitors (in the first six months of its launch).

Three editions of the European Mission Soil Week, the Mission’s flagship annual event

have taken place in Spain (2023), Belgium (2024) and Denmark (2025). EU Council

Presidencies showed interest to host and co-organise the events, demonstrating Members

States’ political buy in and ownership of the Mission’s objectives. Each edition has

attracted, on average, around 300 participants on site and more than 1 000 online. The next

edition is already planned for November 2026 in Ireland. Mission projects have also

organised large-scale events mobilising stakeholders. For example, the Mission project

CREDIBLE has organised three “Carbon Summits” attracting in total over 1550 in-person

participants and a broader online audience reached through live streaming around carbon

farming.

The aggregated reach of communication activities stands at almost 18 million

(November 2025). This number is aggregated for social media post reach, newsletter

openings, and website visits. It is to note that the reach data excludes LinkedIn.

Consequently, the actual reach is likely to be higher than reported here. The combined

hashtags #MissionSoil, #MissionSoilWeek and #EuropeanMissionSoil have contributed

the most to the overall communication activities, with a reach totalling 17.8 million and

64.3 million impressions.

(190) Ambassadors | Mission Soil Platform

EU Missions in 2026 100

Training opportunities for citizens, land managers, and other stakeholders have been

reported under section 5.5.2.1.

The Mission has also promoted and supports national coordination structures (Mirror

Groups (191), soil national hubs or similar) in 21 countries (192), to reinforce multilevel

governance, foster national ownership and ensure that Mission knowledge effectively

informs national policies. They bring together public authorities, researchers, farmers,

NGOs and other stakeholders to strengthen science-policy dialogue (193), facilitate co-

creation and support the uptake of sustainable soil management practices. By promoting

collaboration across sectors and administrations, mirror groups help embed the Mission’s

ambitions within long-term national strategies for soil health. An active network of

companies, businesses, philanthropies and investors has been created around the

Mission Manifesto and the 2025 edition of the European Mission Soil Week titled

“Leading the transition towards healthy soils: finance and landscape perspectives”. A new

dedicated annual conference starting in June 2026 on business models and investment

will boost the business community jointly with a new financial advisory service to promote

further investments and projects for soil health around the Mission. The collaboration

with other initiatives such as the Circular Biobased Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE

JU) (Enhancing soil health through innovative bio-based soil improvers, fertilisers and

materials in agricultural application), the EIT Food (Advancing agri-food system

transformation through innovative soil health solutions) and the EIC (Biotech for

Regenerating Agricultural Soils) expands the Mission’s ecosystem to innovative and deep-

tech startups in the soil health space.

5.3. Conclusions

5.3.1. Summary

After four years of implementation, the Mission has, for the first time, provided evidence

to place soil health firmly and visibly on the political agenda of the European Union

and its Member States. In 2025, the Mission reached its expansion and deployment phase

and continues to address the persistent deterioration of soil resources in the European

Union, where it has estimated that 62% of soils remain in unhealthy condition due to

erosion, organic matter decline, compaction, contamination or loss of biodiversity. Soil –

long overlooked despite its fundamental role in food security, biodiversity, climate

mitigation and resilience – has now become a recognised strategic priority. Through the

Mission, soil health is no longer a technical concern confined to specialists but a matter of

broad public and political relevance, increasingly embedded in national strategies, regional

development plans and EU policymaking.

The Mission is successfully anchored in key EU policies. Its knowledge, monitoring

systems, innovations and Living Lab infrastructure directly support the implementation of

the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), national CAP Strategic Plans, the obligations

(191) Mission Soil Board’s set of recommendations for the establishment of national Mirror Groups

(192) Webinar - Soil Mission Mirror Groups: Where Do We Stand?

(193) Support to the operation and further development of soil-health science-policy interfaces and national

soil-health hubs | Programme | HORIZON | CORDIS | European Commission

EU Missions in 2026 101

of the Soil Monitoring Law and the Implementation of Carbon Removal and Carbon

farming Regulation. The Mission directly supports the EU Soil Strategy for 2030,

providing the research, innovation, modelling capacity and demonstration sites needed to

deliver its objectives. It reinforces the Biodiversity Strategy, the Water Resilience

Strategy, contributes to the implementation of the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the

Long term Vision for Rural Areas, new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the Life Science

Strategy, the Nature Restoration Law, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Climate

Adaptation Strategy, and the Organic Action Plan.

The Mission has succeeded in creating the first coherent EU framework of soil-health-

focused interventions, bringing together research, innovation, monitoring, demonstration

and societal engagement under a unified vision. It has built a genuinely European – and

increasingly global – community of practice, connecting scientists, policymakers,

farmers, land managers, businesses, civil society organisations and citizens. For the first

time, Europe has a structured and permanent ecosystem for gathering, preserving and

disseminating soil data, knowledge, tools, technologies and practices, ensuring long-

term continuity and accessibility through the Mission Soil Platform and the EU Soil

Observatory.

The Mission has succeeded in creating local innovation ecosystems for soil health. Thanks

to the strong mobilisation across countries and sectors, the Mission is firmly on track to

reach – and very likely to exceed – its objective of establishing 100 Living Labs by

2030, marking a substantial achievement in place-based innovation.

The Mission’s outreach and engagement strategy has been exceptionally successful,

raising soil awareness across society – from regional and local authorities to schools,

youth organisations and individual citizens. The Mission Soil is driver of change, in Europe

and globally. Through the Manifesto, national mirror groups, communication campaigns

and numerous events, the Mission has contributed to a cultural shift, helping embed soil

health into public consciousness and local action.

The Mission Soil has successfully engaged the private sector by aligning soil health

objectives with new business models and supply-chain resilience. It offers concrete

opportunities through Living Labs and Lighthouse sites, where companies test innovative

solutions under real-world conditions. Public funding and collaboration with, for example,

philanthropic organisations, help de-risk private investment, encouraging co-investment

in research and deployment. In addition, the Mission promotes common data frameworks,

monitoring tools and standards, creating markets for digital solutions and advisory

services.

Furthermore, the Mission has established a comprehensive collaboration strategy,

working constructively with international organisations, European partnerships, joint

undertakings and research networks. This ensures alignment with global agendas on

climate, biodiversity, food systems and land restoration, positioning the EU as a leader

in soil governance.

The assessment provides an overview of the Mission’s progress to date and identifies the

key priorities required to consolidate and accelerate its contribution to the restoration and

long-term resilience of EU soils.

EU Missions in 2026 102

5.3.2. Deployment of Living Labs and Lighthouses

A major operational milestone of the Mission is the establishment of a large-scale

network of Living Labs (LLs) and Lighthouses (LHs). Almost 700 sites are now

operational or in advanced preparation across Europe in 45 Living Labs. These sites

represent a wide diversity of climate zones, soil types and land-use systems and are

designed to facilitate experimentation, co-creation and validation of innovative soil

solutions under real-world conditions.

Although the Living Labs are still at an early stage and have not yet delivered measurable

results, the diversity of their participants, including farmers and other ‘unusual suspects’

in Horizon projects, already demonstrates a positive impact by anchoring innovation in

real-world needs and fostering broad stakeholder ownership.

The Mission has developed and disseminated a common methodology for the functioning

of Living Labs, including governance principles, monitoring procedures and evaluation

criteria. This harmonisation is essential for ensuring comparability across sites while

allowing for contextual adaptation. The Living Labs represent a unique European

infrastructure for place-based innovation, fostering synergies with other initiatives such as

EIP-AGRI Operational Groups, regional innovation ecosystems and advisory services.

This interconnectedness strengthens the innovation chain and accelerates the scaling and

replication of successful practices.

5.3.3. Strengthening soil monitoring and the knowledge base

A central achievement of the Mission is the establishment of a harmonised and

operational framework for soil health monitoring. The Mission has contributed to the

development of a comprehensive set of indicators and methodologies, now integrated into

the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO). The Mission has also delivered a breakthrough in

generating comparable national-level soil health data for the first time in EU history.

This achievement provides an unprecedented evidence base for policymaking, supports the

implementation of the Soil Monitoring Law, and strengthens Member States’ ability to

assess trends, identify risks and target interventions effectively.

The Mission has significantly expanded the scientific knowledge base necessary for

evidence-based soil management. Horizon Europe projects funded under the Mission have

generated new insights into soil functions, degradation processes, nature-based solutions

and remediation techniques. These findings are consolidated and will be made accessible

through the Mission’s Knowledge Hub, which functions as a central reference point for

policy makers, advisors, researchers and land managers. This consolidation of scientific

evidence enhances coherence across research initiatives and strengthens the link between

scientific outputs and policy implementation.

5.3.4. Enhancing engagement, awareness and community development

The Mission has played a decisive role in strengthening the soil health community, raising

awareness and facilitating mobilisation across the EU. The Mission Soil Manifesto

continues to expand, gathering commitments from a broad range of stakeholders, including

local and regional authorities, R&I actors, civil society, private sector stakeholders and

several international organisations. This has contributed to enhancing recognition of soil

EU Missions in 2026 103

as a strategic natural resource and an integral component of the green and digital

transitions.

In parallel, 21 national Mission Soil Mirror Groups or similar structures have been

established to ensure alignment between EU-level objectives and national and regional

priorities. Communities of Practice and targeted communication and outreach activities are

significantly improving soil literacy and fostered greater stakeholder engagement. This

expanded community provides an enabling environment for co-creation processes,

knowledge exchange and the wider uptake of sustainable soil management practices.

5.3.5. Progress in the uptake of sustainable soil management practices

Progress in the uptake of sustainable soil management practices across the EU is evident

but remains heterogeneous and below the required pace given the scale of soil

degradation. Policy instruments under the CAP, including eco-schemes and rural

development measures, have supported the adoption of practices such as cover cropping,

reduced tillage, organic fertilisation and agroecology. Nevertheless, sustained behavioural

and structural changes require additional incentives, stronger advisory systems and clearer

demonstration of the long-term environmental and economic benefits of adopting such

practices.

The Mission, included in most CAP Strategic Plans, contributes actively to expanding

uptake by generating practice-ready knowledge, supporting demonstration activities and

facilitating co-creation processes with land managers. Living Labs and Lighthouses

provide evidence of the feasibility and benefits of sustainable soil management practices,

helping reduce uncertainty and supporting informed decision-making by farmers and

landowners.

5.3.6. Strategic priorities for the next phase

Looking ahead, the next phase of the Mission should prioritise consolidation and scaling

of the structures, innovations and knowledge established to date.

• Consolidation and full operationalisation of the Living Lab network:

strengthening coordination mechanisms, supporting Living Lab leadership and

ensuring systematic data collection and exchange across sites. Harmonisation will

be critical to reinforce comparability and to derive aggregated insights for policy

and practice. Widespread deployment will provide soil health improvement at scale

across the EU.

• Further development of soil monitoring capacities: continue supporting the

implementing of the Soil Monitoring Law, expanding indicator coverage,

improving data quality and ensuring interoperability with national systems.

Enhanced monitoring capacities will also contribute to more robust assessment of

trends and impacts.

• Stronger integration with EU policies: reinforce alignment with the CAP, carbon

farming and carbon removal regulation, the Nature Restoration Law, the Water

Resilience Initiative, the Bioeconomy Strategy, the Life Science Strategy and

climate adaptation frameworks. This policy integration is essential to ensure

coherence and maximise the Mission’s long-term impact.

EU Missions in 2026 104

• Greater engagement with the private sector: facilitated exchange and

engagement with key actors of the private sector (SMEs, Start-ups, innovation

ecosystems, etc.) to showcase viable business models and leverage additional

funding for soil health

• Ensuring accessibility and usability of knowledge: efforts should focus on

translating scientific outputs into operational guidance for practitioners, advisors

and policy makers. Strengthening advisory systems and ensuring effective

knowledge diffusion will be key to supporting behavioural change and accelerated

uptake of sustainable practices.

• Developing a soil-focused investment and financial ecosystem: there is growing

potential for soil health to be recognised as a natural capital asset. The Mission

should support the emergence of investment pipelines, blended finance

mechanisms and valuation tools that enable public and private actors to invest in

soil health restoration and management, including through nature-based solutions.

5.3.7. High-value Mission initiatives

Several core Mission Soil initiatives have proven highly valuable and should be reinforced

and preserved as the Mission advances.

• The network of Living Labs and Lighthouses is a long-term investment

establishing interactive R&I infrastructure. Beyond serving as experimental and

demonstration sites, Living Labs provide the socio-technical environments where

behavioural change is fostered through continuous engagement, co-creation and

learning. Their long-term value lies in their capacity to remain relevant as both

technological and non-technological innovations evolve, ensuring that new

knowledge, practices and solutions can be continuously tested, adapted and

adopted among peers in real operational contexts. As dynamic spaces for

innovation, they will continue to anchor transitions on the ground and support

lasting changes in soil management practices.

• The Mission’s continued contribution to expanding and steering the soil

knowledge base is essential. Addressing persistent knowledge gaps, such as soil

water resilience, emerging pollutants and other new challenges, requires a coherent

and strategically guided research portfolio. This entails maintaining strong

coordination across projects, fostering synergies and clustering activities,

ensuring consistent data collection and promoting joint actions. It also requires

sustained alignment and integration across instruments and funding streams,

including R&I, communication and engagement, and financial support

mechanisms across the Multiannual Financial Framework.

• The Mission Soil Platform should remain a central infrastructure for delivering

impact. This includes the Knowledge Hub, communication and engagement

activities, Communities of Practice, policy support tools, and mechanisms to

stimulate investment in soil health. Together, these elements form a coherent

ecosystem that facilitates knowledge exchange, stakeholder mobilisation and the

translation of evidence into practice, thereby ensuring that soil health remains a

visible, actionable and investable priority at EU and national levels.

EU Missions in 2026 105

III. ENABLING PROGRESS THROUGH THE MISSION-ORIENTED APPROACH

This section assesses whether and how the mission-oriented approach adopted by EU

Missions drives their progress. It horizontally examines the features and practices that

characterise this approach across all Missions, gauging whether and how they act as

mechanisms enabling progress.

The Missions are an innovative attempt to deliver impact towards societal challenges. They

are called to bring about concrete impact by:

• Orchestrating action towards a timebound measurable objective, launching new

actions and aligning and combining fragmented initiatives to build the scale and

focus needed to make a real impact.

• Forming and engaging with communities in an inclusive way, reaching a

broader range of actors than those traditionally involved in R&I.

• Developing and delivering concrete solutions, including at the local level to meet

societal needs.

The ultimate goal of the Missions is to catalyse broad-based change that extends outside

the scope of their activities in the context of Horizon Europe, establishing the necessary

conditions for systemic transformation. These conditions include, among others, the

development and deployment of solutions, the creation of enabling conditions, aligning

policy landscape and changing behaviour.

To assess how effectively the EU Missions are delivering on this ambition, the analysis is

framed through the lens of the four key dimensions that underpin the mission-oriented

policy approach, ensuring its successful implementation:

• Governance: to establish effective multilevel and cross-cutting governance

structures that ensure strategic direction, accountability, and coordination among

stakeholders.

• Engagement: to mobilise and involve citizens, communities, and stakeholders

from various sectors in a meaningful and sustained way, ensuring co-ownership

and co-creation by those they aim to serve.

• Pooling of efforts and resources: to successfully align and leverage public and

private investments, policies, instruments, and actions

across geographical levels and sectors.

• Knowledge creation, innovation, and scaling up: to generate new knowledge,

foster experimentation, and support R&I ecosystems in developing, testing and

taking up novel solutions.

The next four chapters will analyse the effectiveness of each dimension, with the support

of direct references to specific Mission initiatives, figures obtained from EU databases,

and surveys targeting the participants to Mission events and activities.

Each of these four dimensions encompasses a set of specific actions, aimed at concretely

implementing the overall approach. As a direct result, outputs are produced and are the

subject of this horizontal pillar. By analysing outputs, it is possible to recognise their effect

EU Missions in 2026 106

on the system and therefore the success of the EU Missions in achieving their objectives.

Overall, this horizontal section sheds light on the effective development of the EU

Missions towards achieving the objectives of a mission-oriented policy approach.

Figure 41. Intervention logic for Missions as a policy approach.

EU Missions in 2026 108

1. GOVERNANCE

Missions are coordinated transformation efforts that require direction, alignment and

collective action over time. Their governance is instrumental to provide strategic planning,

enable coordination across sectors and policy domains, and support effective multilevel

implementation. It also facilitates collective ownership and accountability and enables

learning and course correction throughout their lifecycle.

This section will assess EU Missions’ governance capacity to deliver these benefits by

analysing the presence and effectiveness of structures for:

• Strategic planning: mechanisms promoting the coordination and sequencing of

actions in a shared direction to enable systemic change.

• Cross-sectoral governance: existence and effectiveness of structures that enable

coordination between the different policy domains of EU Missions at EU and

national levels.

• Multilevel governance: how and how well the EU, national and regional levels

interact with regards to implementing EU Missions.

• Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) mechanisms: presence of

monitoring structures and their ability to redirect EU Missions’ implementation

based on their learnings.

This section relies on data collected from Member States and Associated Countries,

European Commission services, Mission-funded projects and the OECD. A full list of

sources is included in the Methodological considerations annex, section B.

1.1. Strategic planning

EU Missions address complex, long-term societal challenges that require coordinated

action across multiple sectors, levels of governance and funding streams. Strategic

planning is therefore essential to provide a shared direction, sequence interventions over

time and align the enabling conditions needed to turn ambition into sustained, systemic

change.

EU Missions establish structured pathways towards the achievement of their objectives

through dedicated planning instruments at EU level like the Mission Implementation Plans

or – at local level – tools including Climate City Contracts, regional adaptation plans, sea

basin strategies or Soil Territorial Agreements. These plans provide long-term visibility

over complex and multi-step courses of action, articulating how different workstreams (194)

are expected to interact over time.

A crucial output of EU-level planning tools is Horizon Europe Mission-specific Work

Programmes (195), which offer specific funding opportunities for projects aligned with

Missions’ strategic directions and implementation plans.

(194) E.g. research and innovation, demonstration, stakeholder engagement, financing, governance,

monitoring.

(195) Available in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

EU Missions in 2026 109

By sequencing actions and identifying milestones, responsibilities, and enabling

conditions, these instruments help align diverse actors and initiatives around shared

objectives. They also support the set-up of critical enabling factors, including monitoring

frameworks, investment pathways, and coordination mechanisms, thereby creating a

coherent framework within which Missions can steer progress and adapt implementation

as learning accumulates.

1.2. Cross-sectoral governance

The EU Missions address complex challenges that cut across several policy domains (196).

These usually fall under the responsibility of different services or departments. Part of the

EU Missions’ success necessarily depends on well-functioning coordination between these

areas to ensure coherence and complementarity. Cross-sectoral governance structures are

therefore necessary to establish communication channels and collaboration between policy

domains, ensuring they jointly contribute to the Missions’ goals.

Several structures promote cross-sectoral governance at EU level. Mission Secretariats

with members from different Directorates-General (DGs) ensure that the perspective of

different policy domains is embedded in the day-to-day implementation of each Mission.

A Mission Owners Group (MOG) gathers members from the DGs that contribute to the

objectives of each Mission and – vice versa – whose objectives Missions are supporting.

A Mission Manager and deputy Mission Manager are responsible for higher-level

representation of each Mission across the European Commission (197). In addition, a

horizontal service within the DG for Research and Innovation facilitates coordination

across all EU Missions. Three executive agencies (CINEA, REA, HaDEA) entrusted by

the Commission with the implementation of spending programmes covering the EU

Missions, are responsible for the evaluation, preparation and management of actions

supporting the implementation and delivery of all EU missions.

These structures have a relatively high level of maturity (198) characterised by a stable

composition, regular meetings, a high participation rate, systematic information flows and

impactful outputs. They are aligning sectoral priorities with Missions’ objectives,

coordinating contributions across DGs, supporting co-creation in the context of Horizon

Europe, steering strategic choices and trade-offs, facilitating the integrated use of

instruments, as well as creating direct links with high-level political priorities. In addition,

they have been successful in embedding EU Missions into broader EU policy initiatives:

the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the European Ocean Pact, the European Water

Resilience Strategy, the upcoming European Climate Resilience and Risk Management

integrated framework, the Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Common Agricultural

Policy, the Soil Monitoring Law, the Mediterranean Pact, the Policy Agenda for Cities, the

European Affordable Housing Plan, or the Social Climate Fund. This integration is

important to ensure policy alignment, avoid fragmentation and duplication of efforts, and

maximise the leverage of mission activities by connecting R&I investments with

(196) E.g. research and innovation, environment, health, transport, social policy.

(197) The Mission Manager and deputy Mission Manager are usually high-ranking European Commission

officials from each of the two Directorates-General that are responsible for each Mission.

(198) Secretariats survey.

EU Missions in 2026 110

regulatory, strategic and deployment. Cross-sectoral governance mechanisms are also

intended to promote shared ownership and accountability across services for the delivery

of Mission objectives. Besides the information-sharing resulting from regular meetings,

outputs from these structures include the production of shared communication products,

the organisation of joint events (199), or the high-level “anchoring” of EU Missions in other

EU initiatives (200). In general, this enables continuous operational communication and

supports the Missions’ coherence and visibility.

Table 6. Directorates-General involvement per EU-level cross-governance structure.

DGs involvement per structure

Mission Mission Secretariat (Deputy) Mission

Manager

Mission Owners

Group

Climate adaptation RTD, CLIMA CLIMA, (RTD)

CLIMA, RTD, AGRI,

CNECT, DEFIS,

ECFIN, ENV, EAC,

FISMA, GROW,

HOME, INTPA,

MARE, MOVE,

REGIO, SANTE,

REFORM, JRC,

CINEA, EISMEA,

REA

Cancer RTD, SANTE RTD, (SANTE)

RTD, SANTE, AGRI,

BUDG, CNECT, EAC,

ECFIN, EMPL, ENER,

ENV, ESTAT, FISMA,

GROW, MARE,

MOVE, REGIO, SG

REFORM, TAXUD,

JRC

Ocean and Waters RTD, MARE MARE, (RTD)

MARE, RTD, ENV,

ENER, EAC, GROW,

MOVE, DEFIS,

REGIO, NEAR, AGRI,

CNECT, CLIMA, JRC,

REA, CINEA

Cities RTD, ENV ENV, (RTD)

MOVE, RTD, ENER,

ENV, CLIMA,

CNECT, EAC, GROW,

MARE, HOME,

REGIO, JRC, REA,

CINEA

Soil AGRI, RTD AGRI, (RTD) AGRI, CLIMA,

CNECT, DEFIS,

(199) E.g. the Climate Adaptation Mission organised joint webinars with the Mission Soil on 25 June 2025,

with the Cancer Mission on 30 April 2025, and with the Ocean and Waters Mission on 30 September

2024.

(200) The “anchoring” exercise leveraged EU-level cross-sectoral governance structures to explicitly

highlight EU Missions as important contributors and/or enabling factors for new European Commission

initiatives, amplifying their impact.

EU Missions in 2026 111

GROW, EAC, ECFIN,

ECHO, EMPL, ENER,

ENV, HOME, INTPA,

JRC, MARE, MOVE,

REGIO, RTD, SANTE,

JRC, REA

Cross-sectoral structures are also necessary at the national level but remain uneven and

with substantially different levels of maturity. Austria, Germany, France, Norway and

Portugal set up dedicated interinstitutional coordination structures for the implementation

of EU Missions (201); Ireland, Italy and Slovakia are showing growing inter-ministerial

cooperation via the establishment of working groups and task forces on specific Missions.

At the same time, 11 out of the 22 Member States and Associated Countries for which data

is available rely on pre-existing R&I structures for horizontal coordination or do not

foresee any formal mechanism for horizontal coordination besides engaging in EU

Missions’ projects and activities. While it is encouraging that more countries are

embedding dedicated structures for EU Missions in their national governance, EU

Missions’ activities at national level still risk being limited to participation in projects

without clearer allocation of strategic leadership and steering functions.

1.3. Multilevel governance

The EU Missions address complex challenges that cannot be solved at a single level of

governance. Multilevel governance is essential for EU Missions because their objectives

are implemented at different administrative levels. In fact, levers for successful

implementation often lie outside of Brussels. National and local actors are closer to where

EU Missions make their impact – making them crucial implementers and enablers of EU

Missions’ progress. Multilevel governance structures should allow for appropriate

coordination across different levels of governance (202), helping each actor to meaningfully

contribute to implementation where they are best empowered to.

Executive agencies (HaDEA, CINEA, REA) play a central role in the implementation of

EU Missions by translating high-level policy objectives into concrete, coordinated actions

that have an impact at local level. They are responsible for managing calls, evaluations,

and grant agreements, as well as actively steering project portfolios to ensure alignment

with Mission goals. Beyond traditional programme management, Executive Agencies’ role

extends to facilitating collaboration across projects, organising cluster activities,

monitoring collective progress, and supporting the production of joint deliverables such as

policy recommendations, helping ensure that projects contribute to broader societal impact

beyond individual research outcomes. From the perspective of executive agencies, the

implementation of Mission projects differs from that of traditional Horizon Europe

projects, both in approach and expectations. While standard projects typically operate more

independently with a primary focus on scientific and technological results, Mission

projects are designed as part of a portfolio of interlinked actions working towards a shared

(201) Austria implemented a whole-of-government model with Mission Action Groups co-chaired by

different Ministries as well as a Mission Management Unit acting as a coordinator and secretariat.

Germany, France, Norway and Portugal formed cross-ministerial groups or mirror groups to steer the

implementation of EU Missions.

(202) This assessment analyses the EU, national and local level.

EU Missions in 2026 112

objective. This requires stronger coordination, participation in thematic clusters, and

contributions to common outputs, including addressing cross-cutting priorities such as

inequalities. Mission projects are also expected to engage more directly with citizens,

policymakers, and end-users, and to deliver results that can inform policy and real-world

implementation.

The Horizon Europe Strategic Programme Committee (SPC) and its dedicated Missions’

working groups are part of comitology and act as an important vertical link for strategic

discussions on EU Missions between the EU and national level. SPC working groups

ensure the vertical flow of information and facilitate policy dialogue, but are less effective

when it comes to promoting joint strategic planning and monitoring of EU Missions’

implementation.

A number of structures allow engagement with regional and local actors (203). Mission

Implementation Platforms (MIPs) are designed to support the operational delivery of EU

Missions (204). They act as central hubs that bring together stakeholders, knowledge, and

resources to implement mission objectives in a coordinated way. The Mission Climate

Adaptation has mobilised over 300 regions and local authorities across 25 Member States;

the Cities Mission involved 112 cities through the NetZeroCities platform. Mission

Charters (205) are a foundational document that formalises the Mission’s objectives, roles,

responsibilities, and commitments of actors.

In addition, Missions have been in direct contact with the Committee of the Regions (CoR)

to increase participation of local authorities across the EU (206). Two rounds of discussions

held in 2022 and 2023 resulted in action points to be developed at the level of individual

Missions. Besides this specific cooperation, the Commission and the CoR have overall

agreed on the importance of establishing more structural workstreams between the two

institutions. A Joint Action Plan (207) between the CoR and several Commission

Directorates-General formalised this commitment. Based on the document, the CoR should

support the Missions by relaying information on events, funding opportunities and general

developments to its members. At the same time, Missions should facilitate the participation

of CoR members in their activities – benefiting from local authorities’ insights on territorial

developments.

At the national level, involvement of local actors mostly relies on non-Mission-specific

structures. 9 out of 18 Member States and Associated Countries for which data is available

(203) The 2021-2023 Horizon Europe Work Programme initiated efforts to establish multi-level coordination

structures. It included calls for the coordination of complementary actions for Missions, as well as to

establish Mission Implementation Platforms (MIPs) and a transnational network of NCPs for Missions.

(204) MIPs: MIP4Adapt, Climate ADAPT, Cancer Mission implementation, Net Zero Cities, Prep4Blue,

Mission Soil Platform.

(205) Climate adaptation Mission’s Charter; Ocean Mission’s Charter, Mission Soil Manifesto.

(206) In 2022, the Committee of Regions notably hosted and co-organised the first Climate Adaptation

Mission Forum.

(207) Joint Action Plan between the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission

Directorate General for Education and Culture, Directorate General for Research and Innovation, and

the Joint Research Centre

EU Missions in 2026 113

rely on less developed, pre-existing mechanisms for non-regular or limited engagement,

including National Contact Points established under Horizon Europe or Smart

Specialisation Strategy (S3) governance mechanisms. The remaining 9 countries have

more advanced structures that allow for regular engagement of local and regional actors,

including mission hubs (208).

1.4. Monitoring, evaluation and learning mechanisms

Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) mechanisms track EU Missions’ progress and

transfer evidence from their implementation into strategic discussions for the steering of

future action. This feedback system allows EU Missions to identify issues, select effective

policy options, seize emerging opportunities and address gaps. In short, MEL supports

progress by helping replicate successful implementation models or informing course

adjustment where needed.

All five EU Missions established specific MEL structures reflecting their respective

intervention logics and objectives (209). These structures have varying levels of maturity

(210), face specific limitations and consequently differ in terms of effectiveness. However,

they allow each Mission to meaningfully track progress towards its goals, as demonstrated

by the mission-specific section of this report (section II). Table 7 summarises each

Mission’s MEL mechanisms.

Table 7. Summary of each EU Mission's MEL mechanisms.

The Climate Adaptation Mission uses a layered M&E system combining public barometer updates,

regional reporting and internal project oversight. MIP4Adapt publishes a six-monthly Barometer (211)

assessing the Mission’s progress. The EEA annually monitors the governance, risk assessment, planning

and actions of regional and local signatories (212). Mission-funded projects are monitored through Horizon

Europe’s periodic reporting. Internally, MIP4Adapt maintains a real-time dashboard and undergoes

monthly reviews with the Secretariat to ensure coherent implementation. Recognising that monitoring

adaptation outcomes is a knowledge gap in itself, the Mission has launched the UNDERPIN project (213)

to develop a harmonised, outcome-focused framework.

The Cancer Mission developed a methodology to track progress and measure impact across funded

projects using a set of indicators, and it is currently implementing it. The Cancer Mission Board advises

the Commission on the Cancer Mission and promotes coherence and synergies with related EU initiatives,

including Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The Mission gathers stakeholder and citizen input via the

(208) Austria and Portugal rely on an interministerial coordination group involving multiple ministries and

regional authorities; Denmark’s mission coordinators work directly with regional authorities to ensure

coherence across policy levels; France integrates EU Missions within existing national programmes,

ensuring consistency between national delivery and EU objectives.

(209) These differences are not a shortcoming if a functioning horizontal monitoring system exists, as

discussed later in this subsection.

(210) Missions’ MEL structures differ in the definition of clear objectives and scope, the identification of

relevant indicators, data availability and quality, measurement capacity, baseline and targets,

adaptability and resilience, transparency and communication, integration into governance routines.

(211) Barometer - Portal of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change

(212) Signatory Reporting | Knowledge and Data | EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change Portal

Climate-ADAPT

(213) oUtcome iNDicators to mEasuRe Progress on climate resIlieNce | UNDERPIN | Project | Fact Sheet |

HORIZON | CORDIS | European Commission

EU Missions in 2026 114

National Cancer Mission Hubs (ECHoS project), as well as via project cluster policy webinars, focus

groups, roadshows and targeted dialogues.

Mission Ocean and Waters is monitored through a mix of broader EU policy frameworks and Mission-

specific tools. Its macro-level monitoring relies on EU-wide assessments by the Joint Research Centre

(JRC), European Environmental Agency (EEA) and Eurostat. At micro level, the EEA tracks progress

through 16 indicators assessing the expected and realised outcomes of Mission projects. These are

complemented by an external analysis of Horizon Europe-funded projects and Mission Charter Actions.

Additionally, the Mission Monitoring Dashboard provides indicators on Mission resources, activities and

outputs.

The Cities Mission uses a structured monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) cycle to track and

improve progress toward climate neutrality. Cities start with a Climate City Contract (CCC); progress is

measured through a shared Comprehensive Indicator Framework and integrated city-level data, while the

NetZeroCities Barometer and Dashboard provide Mission-wide visibility. Feedback loops enable

continuous learning and course correction.

Mission Soil implements monitoring across several interconnected levels. At the highest level, the

Mission Soil dashboard tracks overall progress using interactive indicators that show both EU-wide and

national activities and results. Soil health monitoring is supported by the EU Soil Observatory’s Soil

Degradation Dashboard. A third layer focuses on the Mission’s soil health Living Labs and Lighthouses,

where the SOILL project provides support and conducts regular evaluations through a comprehensive

assessment framework.

In addition to individual Missions’ MEL structures, the Commission carried out several

horizontal exercises assessing EU Missions.

Most notably, the Horizon Europe Regulation (214) mandated an assessment that was

published alongside the “EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way

forward” Communication in 2023. The assessment examined the individual EU Missions,

the EU Missions instrument, and reviewed the Mission areas. It confirmed the relevance

and importance of Missions for the Horizon Europe and European Commission toolbox,

but found a need to improve their governance, securing more and better co-investment –

including from the private sector – and enhancing citizens and stakeholder awareness and

engagement.

The conclusions of the 2023 exercise resulted in a series of corrective actions addressing

the limitations identified in the Communication (215). With this, the 2023 initiative acted

as a functioning MEL mechanism. The 2026 assessment of EU Missions presented in this

document follows up on the 2023 exercise, looking into how the implementation of

Missions has progressed since. Compared to the 2023 initiative, it employs an improved

framework integrating the now-developed individual EU Missions’ monitoring structures

(214) Regulation (EU) 2021/695

(215) Corrective actions taken as follow-up to the 2023 Communication include the decision to hold recurring

meetings of Mission Managers to improve the Missions’ horizontal steering, the strengthening of the

Missions’ monitoring and evaluation system, an improved cooperation with the European Investment

Bank to explore funding sources beyond Horizon Europe, the comprehensive revamp and

modernisation of the joint online portal dedicated to all Missions, increasing overall efforts around

citizen engagement.

EU Missions in 2026 115

with horizontal indicators assessing EU Missions as a policy approach (216) based on the

work of the Commission Expert Group to support the monitoring of EU Missions (217).

The recommendations and actions following the 2023 assessment and the improved

coherence of the 2026 assessment compared to its predecessor demonstrate the existence

of a well-functioning EU-level MEL mechanism that is able to assess the EU Missions’

performance and inform strategic discussions about their implementation when needed.

In addition, the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe (218) (2024) assessed the Horizon

Europe dimension of EU Missions. It recognised the EU Missions’ role in supporting

Europe's transition towards a greener, healthier, and more inclusive future, aligning closely

with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and highlighted the positive public backing

due to their potential to address significant societal challenges. However, the evaluation

also identified some drawbacks, including an overly complex governance structure and an

incomplete monitoring system, alongside a lack of systematic reporting on the financing

leveraged by EU Missions. These findings contributed to refining of the monitoring

framework for the 2026 assessment, in particular with the integration of portions of the

framework designed to assess the progress and impact of Horizon Europe (219) as well as

the inclusion of a dedicated analysis of financing leveraged outside of the framework

programme (Section III, chapter 3). Finally, the Missions Monitoring Flash (220) (2025)

provided instead a comprehensive overview of Horizon Europe funding with regards to

EU Missions.

At the national level, EU Missions’ MEL mechanisms remain largely under

development (221) (222). Only a few countries – Austria, France, and Portugal – demonstrate

more structured systems capable of linking national monitoring with the implementation

of Mission objectives. Austria has developed an integrated monitoring and learning system

for the Mission Cities, with a defined set of indicators and an evaluation launched in 2025.

France maintains established monitoring structures under the Climate and Resilience Law,

the National Cancer Plan and water and soil programmes, ensuring strong data collection

at both national and regional levels. Portugal relies on its National Adaptation Strategy and

national cancer control reporting as indirect mechanisms that feed Mission-relevant data,

(216) The 2023 assessment was based on a framework that was independent from the individual Missions’

monitoring structures, which at the time were either not mature enough or non-existent.

(217) European Commission. (2024). Commission Expert Group to support the monitoring of EU missions

(final report of the EG). https://doi.org/10.2777/076494

(218) COM/2025/189 final

(219) Annex V of the Horizon Europe Regulation outlines the monitoring and evaluation framework designed

to assess the progress and impact of Horizon Europe. The framework is based on nine Key Impact

Pathways (KIPs), with KIP5 being entirely dedicated to Missions. The horizontal section of this

assessment uses selected KIPs as a data source.

(220) Horizon Europe Missions monitoring flash

(221) Survey of EU Member States and Associated Countries part of the Horizon Europe Strategic Programme

Committees (SPC survey)

(222) The cross-EU nature of EU Missions implies that the responsibility for coherent MEL mechanisms

should primarily fall within the EU’s remit. However, Member States and Associated Countries can

play an important role by contributing to EU-level monitoring exercises with information and data.

EU Missions in 2026 116

supported by its participation in Horizon Europe coordination projects such as ECHoS and

BlueMissionMed.

1.5. Conclusions on governance

EU Missions have established governance structures that go beyond traditional R&I

programme management. These structures are allowing them to address the complexity of

their objectives by connecting the policy domains and geographical levels required for

change.

At EU level, these structures have enabled a more comprehensive approach, ensured

coherence across different strands of action, and facilitated the integration of Missions into

the broader EU policy landscape. This governance is supported by strategic planning

instruments which ensure complex, multi-step actions are visible in the long term. By

sequencing workstreams, responsibilities and enabling conditions, these instruments help

align different actors and support coherent and adaptive implementation across the Mission

ecosystem.

Governance arrangements set up by national authorities remain heterogeneous. At the

same time, EU Missions have developed particularly strong links with sub-national levels

via direct channels that connect the EU and national, regional and local stakeholders. This

reflects the central role of sub-national levels in translating Mission objectives into

concrete action on the ground.

MEL mechanisms are maturing and being increasingly integrated into the Missions’

steering and planning. However, it remains challenging to identify meaningful indicators

and scale data collection to adequately capture progress towards highly ambitious and

systemic objectives. These challenges are inherent to the nature of Missions and are being

continuously addressed in the oversight of MEL structures.

2. CITIZENS AND STAKEHOLDERS’ ENGAGEMENT

EU Missions target areas of broad public interest: climate adaptation, cancer, ocean and

waters, green cities, and soil. Engaging citizens, local authorities, businesses, civil society

and practitioners helps ensure that mission objectives, solutions and pathways are

grounded in real needs and contexts, increasing their relevance, feasibility and uptake on

the ground. Besides, stakeholders contribute practical knowledge, help identify barriers

and enablers and support co-creation and experimentation. Citizen engagement also

strengthens democratic legitimacy and trust. Involving citizens fosters transparency,

shared ownership and public support, which are critical for sustaining long-term action and

political commitment. The goal is therefore to establish strategic direction, engagement,

coordination, and effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

The 2023 Communication on EU Missions identified several challenges related to citizen

and stakeholder engagement, including low involvement of the private sector, as well as a

general lack of awareness about the benefits and potential of EU Missions as a whole. The

Communication emphasised the need to enhance citizen and stakeholder engagement to

ensure the success and impact of EU Missions. This section assesses the extent to which

the EU Missions mobilise and involve citizens, communities, and stakeholders from across

sectors in a meaningful and sustained way, ensuring that missions are co-shaped by those

EU Missions in 2026 117

they aim to serve, offering a basis for comparing the progress made since the 2023

Communication.

This engagement pillar specifically aims to assess whether the EU Missions have fostered

engagement in a way that ensures collaboration, co-creation, and awareness raising among

diverse and numerous stakeholders. It presents an analysis of data related to the four key

dimensions of engagement:

• size of engagement,

• co-creation/collaboration,

• diversity of engagement,

• awareness/inspiration.

The analysis is primarily based on data collected from Member States and Associated

Countries, European Commission Services, Mission-funded projects, and analyses of

mentions of the Missions in social media and online media, as well as references to

previous reports and surveys on the implementation of the EU Missions (see annex).

2.1. Size of engagement

A significant participation is essential to the success of EU Missions as it affects their

transformative potential, extending their impact far beyond individual projects. A critical

mass of engagement makes transformation visible, self-reinforcing, and harder to reverse,

accelerating the spread of innovative solutions. When good practices are tested, adapted,

and replicated across networks, learning and diffusion happen faster, while economies of

scale enhance cost-effectiveness and market viability. Moreover, widespread participation

strengthens political durability, as it builds legitimacy and long-term commitment.

Engagement within this scale is not uniform but spans a continuum, from awareness and

information-sharing to consultation, co-creation and active participation, allowing

different actors to contribute at levels suited to their capacities while collectively

reinforcing the Missions’ transformative momentum.

To this end, a wide array of methods has been employed to engage stakeholders, including

regular meetings, policy webinars, dialogues, bus roadshows, flagship events such as

annual conferences or thematic forums, hackathons, or quizzes. Newsletters and social

media platforms played a crucial role in information dissemination. Concrete forms of

engagement involved participation in action-oriented formats, such as living labs,

lighthouses, and pilot actions, where actors are directly involved in testing solutions and

implementing actions.

As a result, Missions have engaged an extensive range of stakeholders at scale, as reported

by MS/ACs. For example, commitment to Missions’ objectives is reflected in a high

number of formal pledges and affiliations. 112 cities committed to climate neutrality under

Mission Cities (223). More than 3 500 signatories were gathered to the Mission Soil

Manifesto (685 legal entities and 2 837 individuals) (224). And Mission Ocean Charter has

(223) https://netzerocities.eu/mission-cities/

(224) https://mission-soil-platform.ec.europa.eu/community/signatories-and-friends

EU Missions in 2026 118

attracted more than 1 100 pledged actions (including 16 Member States, over 30 regions,

and 70 municipalities) representing EUR 8 billion (225). In addition, 327 regional and local

authorities from 30 countries (representing more than 280 million inhabitants) have

formally joined the Mission Climate Adaptation by signing the Mission Charter and

another 63 private companies, service centres, research networks, and local action groups

have endorsed the Charter and become friends of the Mission (226).

Events, participatory formats and learning programmes going beyond R&I activities have

also mobilised large numbers of stakeholders and citizens. Major Mission-level events

include the Mission Cities 2025 Annual Conference with over 825 participants and the

third Annual Mission Ocean and Waters Forum, which attracted more than 1 500

participants (227). The Mission Cancer roadshow organised in Poland, Lithuania and

Romania attracted over 16 000 visitors (228), reached nearly 16 million people through

media and partnered with 59 local stakeholders (e.g. hospitals, research centres, patient

organisations, etc.). Mission Cities partnered with 78 cities through its Twinning Learning

Programme and trained more than 70 cities in systemic transition approaches. The

European Mission Soil Week regularly gathers 300 participants on-site and more than 1

000 online. Moreover, web, media and newsletter outreach has further amplified reach.

Mission Soil outreach activities reached 15.2 million people through social media,

newsletters and events, supported by 4 912 newsletter subscribers and 115 073 website

pageviews (229). Between 2025-2026, Mission Cancer stakeholder engagement boost

activities, including thematic events during Poland, Denmark and Cyprus Presidencies of

the Council of the European Union have reached approximately 15 million people.

In terms of participation to Mission projects as beneficiaries, the number of participants

indicates a significant growth, having doubled from 3 000 in September 2023 to 6 400 in

October 2025 (230) (231). It is worth mentioning that some stakeholders participate in

multiple Mission initiatives (32% of the stakeholder survey respondents indicated being

part of more than 5 initiatives related to EU Missions).

Stakeholders highlight demand for further engagement activities: 53% of all stakeholder

survey respondents have indicated the need for more citizens events, and 47% have called

for more stakeholder events. 42% of respondents have called for more integrated

communication campaigns (188) and 37% believe that Mission ambassadors should be

more relied on for outreach (163).

(225) https://maritime-forum.ec.europa.eu/theme/research/mission-ocean-and-waters_en

(226) https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/f5bb6378-5ba7-11f0-a9d0-01aa75ed71a1

(227) Secretariats survey

(228) https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-

programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/eu-missions-horizon-europe/eu-mission-

cancer/implementation-page/eu-cancer-mission-roadshow

(229) Secretariats survey

(230) e-Corda

(231) It should be noted that this growth can be largely explained by the fact that the vast majority of the

Missions’ projects launched after September 2023.

EU Missions in 2026 119

Geographic coverage of stakeholder engagement in EU Missions is substantial. In terms

of participation intensity, a majority of regions are represented in Mission projects,

although engagement levels differ amongst regions. Data (232) indicates only one NUTS1

region (EU major socio-economic regions) without any participants in the Missions to date

(Corsica, France). At NUTS2 level (EU basic regions), only 9% of regions, distributed

across 10 MS (233), have no participants to date. And at NUTS3 level (EU small regions),

participation in Mission projects extends to 571 regions, representing around 50% of all

NUTS3 regions.

According to the 2025 JRC report on local and regional actors in Mission-oriented

innovation (234), the geographical distribution of EU Missions participation shows both

progress and remaining challenges. Although participation spans a wide territorial base,

funding remains concentrated: the top 20 regions - mostly major metropolitan areas such

as Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona, Paris, and Madrid - account for 41.7% of total Mission

funding (compared to 36.9% for Horizon Europe overall). This reflects the strong role of

urban hubs hosting universities, research centres, and large businesses. Overall, EU

Missions achieve broad territorial coverage, while participation remains skewed towards

metropolitan regions, indicating potential to further stimulate engagement in rural and peri-

urban areas. Mission Cancer and Mission Cities have the highest funding concentration in

terms of overall geographical coverage, reflecting Mission Cancer’s focus on specialised

research hubs (e.g. major health centres) and Mission Cities’ deliberate strategy of

targeting 112 cities for CCCs. Mission Ocean and Mission Soil show greater geographic

dispersion, engaging a larger number of regions through mechanisms like charters, forums,

and local partnerships. Mission Climate Adaptation is positioned in between, in third place

for both concentration of funding in NUTS3 regions and in terms of average funding per

NUTS3 region, and in second place for the number of NUTS3 regions with participants,

with a total of 327 regional and local authorities from 25 EU Member States having signed

the Mission Charter at the time of the report (235).

Overall, the data on size of engagement and broad geographical coverage demonstrate that

the EU Missions are not only achieving scale, but actively creating and mobilising

communities around shared objectives. While critical mass is essential to build momentum

and visibility, it is not sufficient on its own. The Missions’ transformative potential also

depends on who makes up these communities, how diverse they are, and how effectively

they collaborate over time.

(232) e-Corda

(233) Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain

(234) European Commission. (2025). Territoriality and multi-level governance of missions: Exploring the

role of local and regional actors in mission-oriented innovation and industrial policies.

https://doi.org/10.2760/2715342

(235) The data are derived from Figure 8 of the 2025 JRC report (p. 13), which presents key figures on the

territorial coverage of EU Missions at NUTS3 level. “Concentration in top 3 regions” refers to the share

of total Mission funding allocated to the three NUTS3 regions receiving the highest funding. “Average

funding per region” is calculated as total Mission funding divided by the number of participating

NUTS3 regions.

EU Missions in 2026 120

2.2. Co-creation/collaboration

The EU Missions’ objectives do not only need the involvement of diverse actors, but also

for them to work together, creating integrated solutions, rather than isolated projects. Co-

creation lies at their heart, as it allows scientific, technical, regulatory and practical

considerations to be aligned from the start. The performance of EU Missions is based on

collaboratively ensuring that the results are relevant, widely supported, and aligned with

the real needs and aspirations of those who will ultimately implement and benefit from

them.

Within the monitoring framework of Horizon Europe, Key Impact Pathways 6 measures

the involvement of EU citizens and end-users in the co-creation of content within projects.

Over 91 Mission projects have been identified where citizens or end-users contribute

significantly to the R&I process. This involvement can range from consultation and

dissemination activities to co-creation and co-ownership or joint decision-making.

Compared to other components of the programme, this indicator scores better for Missions,

illustrating a stronger emphasis on fostering collaboration and integrating societal

perspectives into the research process.

On top of projects-specific activities, a wide range of mechanisms are put in place for co-

creation at different levels of the Missions’ implementation.

Governance structures described earlier in this report are instrumental to strategic

collaboration across policy fields and geographic levels. Mission Implementation

Platforms have peer learning, twinning and matchmaking mechanisms. A Mutual Learning

Exercise was carried out between 2024 and 2025 for national governments to share their

practices on Mission implementation (236). Deliberative mechanisms such as citizen

assemblies and co-design workshops are also a common practice. For instance, Mission

Ocean uses citizen-centric initiatives, including co-creation workshops with coastal

communities, citizen mobilisation campaigns like Plastic Pirates, and citizen science

projects. Its Mission Charter and Lighthouses initiative has collected 480+ stakeholder

actions, while regional innovation ecosystems like WaterCampus Leeuwarden drive

research and collaboration. The Climate Adaptation Mission tries to advance the

knowledge and innovation on citizen engagement for climate adaptation through projects

CLIMAS and AGORA. It also provides technical assistance to regions and local authorities

to engage citizen and stakeholders in their adaptation efforts. Between 2023-2026, the

Cancer Mission has, through a series of thematic workshops and the 2023 Young Cancer

Survivors conference, gathered around 100 young cancer survivors, health professionals,

MEPs, projects, and policymakers to discuss specific needs and gaps and support the

Cancer Mission to define concrete solutions. Moreover, it mandates two key principles in

call for proposals: first, funded projects must join cross-disciplinary clusters to drive

impact through shared research, policy and public engagement; second, projects should

also systematically embed end-users (patients, survivors, citizens) in co-design and

implementation, ensuring solutions are both innovative and rooted in real-world needs.

Mission Cities emphasises co-creation of Climate City Contracts, and the collaboration

(236) https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/statistics/policy-support-facility/eu-missions-

implementation-national-level

EU Missions in 2026 121

with industry partners e.g. though a EUR 50 million joint call for zero-emission mobility

solutions, alongside social innovation tools like participatory budgeting. Mission Soil

engaged 3 500+ signatories for its Manifesto with projects like HUMUS, involving 33

regions in co-creating Territorial Management Agreements (237).

As an outcome of engagement activities, cooperation emerged as a significant theme on

social media in 2023, mentioned by approximately 15% of all mentions of EU Missions.

Challenges to effective co-creation include scaling up societal awareness and acceptance,

promoting mobilisation, and facilitating collaboration (238).

While co-creation and involving various types of stakeholders bring many benefits, it can

also pose challenges and comes with slower processes, due to the need to balance

conflicting interests and tailoring approaches to different needs. For example, private

companies may prioritise economic interests, while public authorities focus on policy

goals.

2.3. Diversity of engagement

The involvement of a wide range of actors, sectors, groups and territories is important to

achieve the EU Missions’ objectives, because they require complementary expertise and

different actors each hold different parts of the solution. When stakeholders are involved

in shaping solutions from the outset, it ensures relevance and ownership; the resulting

actions are better aligned with real needs and more widely supported. This ensures that

Missions reflect the needs, constraints and ambitions of those who will ultimately

implement and live with the changes.

Ensuring participation and engagement from non-traditional stakeholders is particularly

important in the context of EU Missions. Non-traditional stakeholders refers to actors who

do not usually participate in R&I activities but who are directly involved in, affected by,

or essential to implementing solutions on the ground: citizens and civil society

organisations (NGOs, community groups), local and regional authorities and public service

providers, practitioners and end-users (e.g. farmers, fishers, healthcare professionals, urban

planners), SMEs, start-ups, social enterprises outside the “research community”,

foundations, investors, and intermediaries, education, cultural and creative actors.

Evidence from project data (239), surveys (240), and social media all indicate engagement

with the EU Missions by a diverse range of stakeholders. Stakeholders were numerous to

report (241) that the benefits from their Mission involvement include engaging with

stakeholders they usually do not collaborate with (30%), working with new types of

organisations (22%), and engaging citizens (15%).

(237) Secretariats survey

(238) European Commission. (2024). Commission Expert Group to support the monitoring of EU Missions

(Final Report of the EG). https://doi.org/10.2777/076494

(239) e-Corda

(240) Survey of Mission’s Stakeholders (Stakeholders survey), SPC survey

(241) Stakeholders survey

EU Missions in 2026 122

Traditional R&I actors from research and higher education organisations account for

around three-quarters of EU Mission projects coordinators. However, there are also project

coordinators from non-traditional stakeholders, including businesses (11%), public bodies

(less than 5%), and “others” including NGOs (12%). For project participants, the share of

non-traditional partners accounts for approximately 23% research organisations, 20%

higher/secondary education establishments, 21% businesses, and 14% public bodies, while

16% identified as “other” (including NGOs). This is aligned with the analysis of funding

by stakeholder type in the 2025 JRC report (242) which found that non-traditional R&I

stakeholders are better represented in Missions than in Horizon Europe as a whole: non-

traditional actors secure 10.7% of funding in EU Missions compared to 3.3% in Horizon

Europe. This analysis is not considering other actors participating via cascade grants. This

type of financial support to third parties is used by many Mission projects (e.g. the Mission

Soil Living Labs or Pathways2Resilience) to facilitate the participation of small actors

(such as farmers or communities) who would not otherwise be able to do so.

Furthermore, the SME share of business participants is 86% in mid-2023 and has remained

consistent ever since, making SMEs by far the bulk of business participation. The highest

proportion is found in projects funded under the Mission Ocean (20%) and Mission Soil

(20%), while the lowest proportion is found in Mission Cancer (14%) (243).

At national level, the engagement of private sector actors (industry, financial sector, etc.)

was at an early stage.On average, the depth and quality (from 1 lowest to 5 highest) of

stakeholder engagement activities were ranked at a moderate level, while varying across

countries. This variation reflects different national governance traditions regarding their

preferred forms of stakeholder engagement in R&I actions, as well as Mission-specific

contexts. Accordingly, the Commission Expert Group to support the monitoring of EU

Missions acknowledged that there is high heterogeneity in the importance placed and

actual designs of citizen and stakeholder engagement in EU Missions (244). Engagement

activities varied by Mission and context, evolving alongside governance and

implementation structures, primarily driven by Mission Implementation Platforms and

Secretariats.

Professional interest in the Missions’ topics is the main driver for participation in public

consultations, citizen science initiatives, and local events. Data also shows that citizens

tend to be reactive rather than proactive in their engagement, indicating a need for more

structured approaches to reach out to them. According to a Eurobarometer six-country

survey (245), a lack of awareness and lack of trust in public institutions are amongst the

primary barriers to citizen participation. Lack of interest or not having enough time are, in

(242) European Commission. (2025). Territoriality and multi-level governance of missions: Exploring the

role of local and regional actors in mission-oriented innovation and industrial policies.

https://doi.org/10.2760/2715342

(243) e-Corda

(244) European Commission. (2024). Commission Expert Group to support the monitoring of EU Missions

(Final Report of the EG). https://doi.org/10.2777/076494

(245) European Commission. (2025). Engaging citizens in EU Missions: Insights from a six-country

experimental survey. https://doi.org/10.2777/1415582

EU Missions in 2026 123

most cases, seen as least significant barriers. This suggests that enhancing citizen

engagement with a diverse mix of engagement methods tailored to different participation

preferences is needed to raise awareness and engage the public.

An analysis of the social media accounts with the greatest reach mentioning the EU

Missions shows that a wide range of stakeholder types are engaged. Researchers and

executives are the most engaged profiles regarding the Missions, followed by

teachers/lecturers and politicians. Together, these four profiles account for 70% of all

identifiable account types mentioning the Missions in their posts. Social sciences and

humanities (SSH) voices also play a role in social media discussions. Among the less

traditional R&I profiles engaged on social media were health practitioners, journalists,

artists, students, sales/marketing and IT workers. In terms of fields, environment is

identified as an interest of 20%, with science, business and technology reflecting

approximately 10% each.

Figure 42. Top professions and thematic interests among accounts mentioning the Missions

(Brandwatch).

The public sector also receives a higher share of funding in the Missions (10.7%) than in

Horizon Europe (3.9%). However, this varies across Missions: Mission Cities is

characterised by a strong private sector share (40% of funding), while Mission Climate

Adaptation shows a more balanced funding distribution across stakeholder categories (246).

Examples of actions targeting diverse stakeholders, including the non-traditional ones,

include Mission Climate Adaptation’s and Mission Cities 2024 Citizens Hackathon

Championship which directly involved 300+ citizens and researchers. Mission Ocean, on

the other hand, engaged coastal communities, ports, fishing industries, and policymakers,

with initiatives like the Europe-wide Plastic Pirates campaign involving 13 countries and

over 25 000 students to collect scientific evidence on river pollution, available to be used

afterwards by researchers and policymakers across Europe. Also targeting students, 76

schools are receiving grants for ocean and waters restoration actions, while the ProBleu

project has supported more than 30 schools to connect students with water and marine

ecosystems. In Mission Soil Living Labs, almost half (48.7%) of the beneficiaries are not

research organisations or higher or secondary education establishments (without

considering small actors, such as farmers, involved through cascade grants).

2.4. Awareness and Inspiration

The effectiveness of EU Missions relies fundamentally on widespread awareness among

citizens and stakeholders to generate the societal legitimacy and momentum required for

transformative action. When missions succeed in being known and perceived as

(246) European Commission. (2025). Territoriality and multi-level governance of missions: Exploring the

role of local and regional actors in mission-oriented innovation and industrial policies.

https://doi.org/10.2760/2715342

EU Missions in 2026 124

inspirational, they create shared narratives that motivate diverse actors to contribute their

expertise and resources.

The stakeholder survey shows that a majority of respondents declare having a well-

established knowledge about EU Missions. Overall, stakeholders report a generally good

level of awareness of the EU Missions, with only a small minority indicating low or no

familiarity (247). Traditional R&I actors report a very high knowledge of Missions, but it is

worth noting that non-traditional actors such as NGOs (78%), regional public bodies

(68%), national public bodies (63%) and business organisations (54%) also report

relatively high awareness levels. From all stakeholder categories, citizens report the lowest

level of knowledge about EU Missions; however, awareness remains relatively solid, with

45% indicating good to very good knowledge (248).

The timeline of awareness shows that 31% of stakeholder survey respondents knew of EU

Missions before their launch in 2021 (249). Out of all reported ways in which respondents

found out about the EU Missions, professional/work colleagues accounted for

approximately 23% of mentions, the European Commission or Mission website for about

16%, and academic networks, conferences or other events for roughly 14%.

Social media analysis indicates that awareness of R&I organisations, municipalities,

NGOs, and funders is high, evidenced by frequent LinkedIn posts from these groups

announcing mission-related events/calls/labels. General citizens’ awareness is variable –

city-level initiatives attract local attention, but wider public awareness beyond engaged

communities is less visible.

An analysis of online media coverage examined how mentions of EU Missions contributed

to public awareness by measuring i.e. the potential reach of articles, based on estimated

readership. Social media mentions of Missions were found Europe-wide, with the leading

country being Belgium, reflecting that many EU-level stakeholders are based there,

followed by Spain, Ireland (reflecting the prominence of English posts), Germany, Italy

and France. Activity density was particularly high around EU Mission events and call

announcements (e.g. the launch of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, the announcement of the

selected Mission Cities, Berlin's failed Climate Referendum).

Estimated readership has reached more than 100 million in certain instances. Overall, the

data shows that cancer-related topics receive the most coverage in online media and social

media, while topics related to sustainable cities are the second most prominent. The

findings translate directly to citizen awareness, as evidenced by the 2025 Eurobarometer

(247) This result should be interpreted with caution, as the survey targeted stakeholders already engaged with

or exposed to EU Missions, for whom a higher level of awareness can reasonably be expected.

(248) 28 respondents selected “citizen” as one of their categories. However, out of those 28, 10 also selected

one or more additional stakeholder categories, resulting in 18 respondents identifying exclusively as

citizens.

(249) Missions and Mission areas were discussed before their official launch in a collaborative process

involving Missions Boards, stakeholders, citizens, etc.

EU Missions in 2026 125

six country survey (250): while data indicates that public concern about all the EU Mission

areas is high (less than 10% say they are not at all concerned about any of the Mission

challenges), over 50% of citizens are particularly concerned about cancer.

The peaks corresponding to significant EU Missions events demonstrate the amplified

public visibility created by these events. Mission weeks, labelled city announcements,

calls, forums, and EC announcements are the main moments when networks amplify

Missions, contributing to public awareness raising.

The stakeholder survey suggests that EU Missions are widely seen as inspirational,

particularly by public authorities, NGOs and research actors, while perceptions are more

moderate among citizens and lowest among private sector associations.

2.5. Conclusions on citizens and stakeholders’ engagement

To achieve their complex objectives, EU Missions must mobilise a critical mass of diverse

stakeholders, each with distinct roles and capacities, and enable their collaboration to drive

transformation that can scale through awareness and inspiration.

The assessment confirms that EU Missions have made significant progress in building and

expanding a broad mission community, demonstrating increasing stakeholder

participation. This growing engagement is reflected in the number of commitments to their

objectives (i.e. Climate City Contracts, Charters, Manifestos), increasing participation of

beneficiaries in Mission projects (from 3 000 in September 2023 to 6 400 in October 2025),

and strong turnout at Mission events. These trends indicate that the Missions are

successfully mobilising a critical mass of actors around shared objectives.

Within these communities, EU Missions have engaged a diverse range of stakeholders and

have a distinctly higher representation of non-traditional actors compared to Horizon

Europe as a whole. While traditional R&I stakeholders still play a central role, public

authorities, industry, civil society and citizens are increasingly involved in Mission

activities, with grassroots and local initiatives playing a particularly important role in

anchoring Missions on the ground (e.g. the 2024 Citizens Hackathon Championship,

Plastic Pirates, and similar citizen-led initiatives).

As Missions progress from R&I towards deployment, the profile of engaged stakeholders

is expected to evolve accordingly. Engagement will need to shift from primarily research-

driven actors to include a greater proportion of implementation-oriented stakeholders, such

as public authorities, regional and local administrations, service providers, market actors,

and civil society organisations capable of scaling and sustaining solutions.

For these diverse actors to work together, mechanisms for collaboration and co-creation

have been established at multiple levels, enabling multi-disciplinary, need-based and

impactful approaches. These mechanisms, such as citizen assemblies, co-design

workshops, or peer learning, twinning and matchmaking activities by the MIPs, should

(250) European Commission. (2025). Engaging citizens in EU Missions: Insights from a six-country

experimental survey. https://doi.org/10.2777/1415582

EU Missions in 2026 126

remain active throughout the replication and upscaling phases, as continued collaboration

is essential for expanding and adapting successful solutions across contexts.

The assessment also shows that awareness of Missions grows through social media and

communication around events and major announcements, creating a ripple effect across a

wider community of actors. However, this visibility is not continuous and remains

concentrated around key moments. Citizens remain the least informed group, suggesting

the need for more targeted outreach through broader channels and multipliers beyond the

R&I community.

Sustaining long-term engagement can be challenging, as stakeholders may experience

information fatigue or be affected by shifting political priorities. However, Missions are

widely regarded as inspirational, which presents a great opportunity to convert this

enthusiasm into lasting commitment and sustained participation.

Overall, EU Missions represent a pioneering effort to mobilise stakeholders around

ambitious shared objectives and to promote societal transformation. The evidence

demonstrates notable achievements in expanding stakeholder diversity and scale, fostering

co-creation, and increasing visibility. The next phase should focus on sustaining

community growth, evolving engagement profiles in line with deployment needs, and

intensifying outreach to citizens to fully realise the transformative potential of EU

Missions.

3. POOLING OF FUNDING AND ACTIONS

EU Mission objectives cannot be achieved through a single funding instrument or policy

lever. Pooling funding and different types of action is essential for EU Missions to match

the scale and complexity of the challenges they aim to address and to enable real systemic

change. By aligning and combining funding streams and actions, Missions avoid isolating

projects and create coherent pathways toward shared goals. The integrated structure of

Missions offers a platform to steer multiple actions and resources in an integrated way.

The 2023 assessment of EU Missions provided an initial snapshot of investments,

highlighting several key areas for improvement due to the limited development at the time.

Important recommendations included building a broader portfolio of instruments beyond

HE as well as a closer alignment between EU funding and Member State programming. In

addition, the assessment called for an increased involvement of additional actors in the

Missions’ activities, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the private sector,

to increase visibility and momentum for organic investment growth.

This section of the assessment examines the extent to which EU Missions have been

effective in pooling finance, as well as in pooling actions. The pooling of finance will be

analysed in terms of their ability to attract additional funds via:

• Direct leverage: attracting additional financing from project participants on top of

the allocated net EU contribution from the Horizon Europe budget.

EU Missions in 2026 127

• Synergies with other parts of Horizon Europe: financing of the HE projects that

are not directly attributed to Missions calls, but mention Missions in their abstracts

and/or topics and/or free keywords (251).

The pooling of actions will be analysed in terms of mechanisms through which Missions

may inspire, trigger, or gather diverse and complementary actions under their umbrella

approach. The analysis is implemented along the following aspects:

• Pooling of actions across means of interventions: combining different types of

actions to tackle the missions’ objectives.

• Pooling of actions across policy fields: addressing objectives that are cross-

disciplinary, where progress depends on coordinated action from multiple sectors.

• Pooling of actions across geographical levels: national strategies and EU

frameworks must support local implementation.

3.1. Pooling of finances

3.1.1. Direct leverage

Direct leverage for the EU Missions is calculated as the additional co-financing received

by projects developed under calls in the work programme (WP) of the Missions. This is

the most direct indicator of private and public actors’ willingness to contribute actively to

the objectives of each Mission. This definition of “direct leverage” is based on Key Impact

Pathway 9 and corresponds to the difference between the net EU contribution received by

each project and participant, and the total costs. This indicator focuses on measuring the

leverage of private sector investment on top of the framework programme funding in the

short-term.

Overall, projects funded under the umbrella of EU Missions calls have leveraged EUR 318

million across 303 projects analysed (252). This represents 4.67% of the total costs linked

to the projects, which amount to EUR 6.8 billion. The Framework Programme’s (253) direct

leverage ratio sits at 18,35%, six times the Missions’, but includes types of action with

lower funding rates which Missions do not have in their toolbox. When considering only

the types of action encountered in the EU Missions’ WP (that is, CSAs, IAs, and RIAs),

the programme’s direct leverage lowers to 7.2%. While the Missions’ direct leverage ratio

across years 2021-2025 is lower than the programme’s figure, there seems to be an upward

trend in the Missions’ leverage: for projects slated to start in 2026 and already encoded,

the direct leverage ratio sits at 7.5% of the total cost, for the first time passing HE’s for

comparable action types.

In terms of direct leverage by type of participant, the analysis shows that private companies

are the main source of external funding received, an expected results given the structure of

(251) Synergies beyond Horizon Europe will be tackled looking at pooling of actions across policy fields and

geographical levels.

(252) The 3034 projects considered include all projects financed under EU Mission calls launched since

Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 to Work Programme 2023-2024. Data retrieved from e-

Corda on 3 December 2025.

(253) Data retrieved on January 13 from the public Horizon dashboard.

EU Missions in 2026 128

FP funding rules. They contribute with EUR 308 million, covering almost the entirety of

direct leverage for Mission-call projects.

Of the EUR 318 million leveraged by Missions, projects attributed to Cities and Ocean and

Waters Missions raised approximately 30% of the total each, followed by projects for

Climate Adaptation that generated around 25%. On the contrary, the Soil and Cancer

Missions and cross-cutting projects exhibit significantly lower shares of direct leverage

finance, around 5-6% of the total budget (Figure 43).

Looking at the different types of actions, while the distribution of projects shows a

somewhat balanced segmentation, IAs exhibit the largest share of pooling via direct

Figure 44. Shares of total pooling of finance by mission (e-Corda, cut-off date 3 December 2025).

Figure 43. Pooling of finance and projects funded by type of action (e-Corda, cut-off 3 December

2025).

EU Missions in 2026 129

leverage channel, while Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) attract the lowest

amount of external funds (Figure 44). This difference, while remarkable, can be explained

by the IAs lower funding rate, set at 70%, which requires for-profit participants to

contribute with larger amounts of own funding to EU projects.

Geo-localising direct leverage allows to identify those regions that show predisposition to

attracting external funding in the context of EU projects. In absolute terms, Catalunya is

the top performer, with EUR 17 million raised by participants located in the territory when

taking part in Mission projects. Among the regions leveraging more than EUR 4 million

we find clusters of multiple regions from Spain, Italy, and Germany, but also outliers such

as “widening” regions, e.g. Attica (Greece) with EU 14.5 million, Cyprus with EUR 10.5

million, Portugal’s Norte region with EUR 8.8 million, and Bucharest (Romania) with

EUR 4.8 million directly leveraged. Analysing the ratio of leveraged financing compared

to total costs and participation rates, we see that for every four euro in EU funding Liguria

(Italy) has leveraged almost one euro in external funding, across 22 participations. Other

strong performances include those from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (France) and

Asturias (Spain), who have leveraged almost one euro every five in EU funding. Still, such

levels are only attained in cases where participation is on the lower side of the spectrum.

Regions with high participation generally see, instead, a ratio of 4~7% between direct

leverage and EU funding.

Finally, we performed an analysis of direct leverage amounts clustered by the Regional

Innovation Scoreboard’s regional innovation index (henceforth, RII). Overall, most

pooling occurs in regions with a strong or moderate innovation RII ranking (254).

However, we can also observe some regions in Spain, South of France and the north of

Italy with low levels of RII exhibit high levels of direct financial leverage. At the same

time, most regions in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and the United Kingdom, do not

raise a lot of finance via direct leverage, while being characterised as regions with high

RII.

3.1.2. Synergies

Under pooling, the terms synergy is used in reference to the contribution from other parts

of Horizon Europe to the EU Missions, identifying projects not funded under Mission calls,

but which explicitly refer to EU Missions in their abstracts, topics, or keywords (255). These

projects represent a small part of the larger EU Mission portfolios, built to collect all

initiatives that relate to the EU Missions but funded outside of their specific work

programme. The total EU funding of these identified 137 projects amounts to EUR 4.2

billion, representing around 9% of the Horizon Europe budget outside the Missions work

programme. When combined with the Missions’ dedicated budget, this brings the overall

share of Horizon Europe resources linked to EU Missions to 21% of the total programme

budget.

(254) The Regional Innovation Index classifies regions based on their innovation performance, measured

against a limited number of indicators, dividing regions into four categories: innovation leaders, strong

innovators, moderate innovators, and emerging innovators

(255) Methodologically, this process represents the most direct and traceable way to establish which projects

set out to achieve formal links to the EU Missions since their drafting phase.

EU Missions in 2026 130

In terms of leveraging external funding, these synergetic projects have raised EUR 2.9

billion. The number is equal to almost ten-fold the total direct leverage raised by Mission

projects alone, showing the importance for the Missions to connect with relevant initiatives

to create impact. However, it is important to note that among these synergetic projects nine

(7% of the segment) are co-funded actions, or European Partnerships (256), which are

explicitly designed to bring in additional external funding as a core feature. If we were to

exclude these nine, the total sum of leveraged finance would drop to EUR 30 million (or,

1.07% of the total).

As shown in table 8, Mission-related projects emerge across multiple parts of HE,

confirming that the Missions’ thematic focus resonates widely within the wider HE

portfolio and mobilises additional complementary resources.

Table 8. Total EU funding destined to projects explicitly referring to the EU Missions per Work

Programme part (257) for years 2021-2026.

Horizon Europe component Total budget (EUR million)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 1.79

Research Infrastructures 307.44

Cluster 1 - Health 857.15

Cluster 2 - Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society 30.52

Cluster 3 - Civil Security for Society 32.74

Cluster 4 - Digital, Industry & Space 667.90

Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy & Mobility 659.03

Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and

Environment

2 074.77

Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA 15.17

Looking at the breakdown of mission-related projects by action type, we note that RIAs

generate most of the related projects (70%), followed by Coordination and Support Actions

(CSA) with 12% and IAs accounting for 10% of the synergetic projects.

At a first glance, a budgetary breakdown of co-funding raised through these synergies by

entity type reveals a slightly different picture from the direct leverage analysis. The data

show that largest shares of additional funds are channelled through Public Bodies and

Research Organisations, followed by Higher Educational Establishments. This marked

(256) The European Biodiversity Partnership; Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals;

Water4All – Water Security for the Planet; European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions; A climate

neutral, sustainable and productive blue economy Partnership; Fostering a European Research Area for

Health Research; European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition – agroecology living

labs and research infrastructures. The ‘European Partnership Driving Urban Transitions’ and ‘A climate

neutral, sustainable and productive blue economy Partnership’ had two rounds of funding under the

Work Programmes which included the EU Missions as an initiative to create synergies with.

(257) From the list of potential synergies, additional MSCA actions had to be excluded from the count, due to

their accounting peculiarities given by the use of lump-sum funding.

EU Missions in 2026 131

difference is mainly explained by the presence of European Partnerships in the mix of

actions analysed, as they often refer to the creation of synergies and collaboration activities

with the Missions. Given their nature, Partnerships attract more public institutions than

other calls and require additional funding.

Considering the specificities of Partnerships as an instrument, their presence in the

compiled list of synergies is of high importance. They share important features with the

Missions, such as strategic directionality in R&I funding, clear destinations and pathways,

and the integration of different work and funding streams. Beyond the synergies explored

in this section, other direct links have been established between the two initiatives. As

reported in the Biannual Monitoring Report of the European Partnerships (258) 34 strategic

exchanges between Partnerships and Missions have been conducted, together with joint

communication and dissemination of results actions, networking of project partners and

capacity building activities, among others.

Finally, the geo-localisation of Mission-related HE budgets reveals pronounced spatial

variation in the distribution of additional funds. Compared to direct leverage, there is more

variety at the top of the ranking for external funding attracted, with less concentration

among key countries. Still, some regions demonstrate consistently high levels of Mission-

aligned leverage, such as Germany or the Netherlands. Others show more modest levels of

engagement, as in Italy’s case, which classified eight regions in the top 50 regions for total

direct leverage, but only two in the same exercise for synergies. This points to potential

disparities in Mission-related absorption capacity, but also highlights areas with already

proven support for Mission activities and opportunities for targeted support. Together,

regional patterns provide an important indication of where the Missions may find fertile

ground for combining or scaling solutions, as well as where further strategic mobilisation

may help broaden participation.

3.2. Pooling of actions

3.2.1. Pooling across means of intervention

Missions need a variety of intervention instruments, which must span the full innovation

cycle, combining R&I funding with regulatory, procurement, investment, and capacity-

building instruments. Some instruments must address barriers that are not only

technological (social, behavioural, regulatory, financial, or organisational obstacles while

others must test and embed solutions on the ground, such as pilots, living labs, public

procurement, and standards.

Over three iterations of the Work Programme, EU Missions have attempted to optimise

research activities for societal impact through different types of actions. These distinct sets

of activities are positioned along the innovation chain, and target diverse fields and

audiences, to anticipate the needs of each Mission in relation to its specific challenges.

Considering the nature of the framework programme, it is not surprising that the relative

majority of topics launched at Mission level can be categorised as targeting the scientific

(258) European Commission: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Performance of European

partnerships – Biennial monitoring report 2024 on partnerships in Horizon

Europe. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/991766

EU Missions in 2026 132

and technological sector in the experimental and stabilisation phases (259). Still,

governance has been an often-recurring theme, with the second largest share of topics

focused on such field of action, and a high number of these in the diffusion phase of the

innovation cycle. This indicates that Missions have already been pooling actions aiming at

scaling up approaches to the relationship between goals and policies that favour

collaborative design.

Table 9. EU Missions Work Programme – number of topics per lever and phase.

At the same time, a funding-focused analysis of Mission topics reveals that funding has

been highly concentrated in experimental science and technology actions. Interestingly,

the largest amount of budget was dedicated to diffusion actions, which signals a prominent

interest in the scale up and replication of activities across different places in Europe.

Steps forward have also been made in terms of the different instruments used in the context

of the work programmes. Among others, the 2023 Communication recommended the use

of public procurement as means of implementation. While it was not used in the first two

instances of the Missions WP, since 2025 four calls were launched in the shape of pre-

commercial public procurement (PCP). The Cities Mission has contributed with one such

action, opened in the context of the 2025 work programme, encouraging public procurers

to stimulate from the demand side the competitive development of market-ready

innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing climate neutrality in

local communities.

Additional PCP calls were launched by the Climate Adaptation Mission, targeting the

construction sector to accelerate its preparedness and resilience to climate change, and the

Cancer Mission, focusing on the provision of affordable and innovative solutions in the

treatment of cancer patients, with the final addition of a cross-cutting call including PCP

procedures for the creation of lead markets in the context of the Missions’ challenges. Even

beyond the Missions’ specific work programme, the Climate Adaptation Mission is

planning the launch of a PCP call in collaboration with the Health Cluster of HE for the

development of ‘Tools and technologies to support health adaptation to climate change’.

The use of PCP is crucial to create impact, as it stimulates innovation as it enables the

public sector to steer the development of new solutions directly towards its needs.

The 2023 Communication also recommended increased collaboration with the European

Investment Bank (EIB) because of the distinct mindset and capacities it can offer. Building

on initial cooperation through advisory services, each Mission has since developed tailored

(259) The mapping of Mission topics was based on the combination of ‘phases’ (experimentation,

stabilisation, diffusion, and institutionalisation) and ‘levers’ (governance, finance and economy,

individual and collective action, and science and technology).

EU Missions in 2026 133

forms of collaboration with the EIB to reflect its specific objectives. Since 2023, these

collaborations range from financial and business support to entities involved in projects –

now offered by almost all Missions– to more specific far-reaching initiatives. Notable

examples include the EIB Advisory support for the climate-neutral and smart cities

mission, to which the EIB has earmarked a dedicated EUR 2 billion lending envelope to

support participating Mission cities, and the EU Blue Champions pilot scheme developed

in the context of the Oceans and Waters Mission. In addition, the Climate City Capital Hub

was established by the European Commission under Horizon Europe as part of the

NetZeroCities consortium implementing the Cities Mission and in partnership with the

Climate Adaptation Mission.

3.2.2. Pooling across policy fields

Since their launch, the EU Missions have improved their presence in other mainstream

policy initiatives at EU level, with different levels of development. Given their foundation

in R&I, it has not always been evident how to best frame the Missions in other policy fields

without fundamental questions arising over the scope or the ownership of the initiative.

Nonetheless, important progress has been made in embedding the Missions into their

respective broader thematic policy field, which provide a base on which to develop further.

The Oceans and Waters Mission has been linked to two important initiatives in its field of

action: the European Ocean Pact and the European Water Resilience Strategy. In both

cases, the Mission’s achievements are leveraged to become a building block of larger

initiatives that do not have a specific R&I focus, but can benefit from the innovations

developed by the Mission in these first years, including protecting ocean health, restoring

water cycles, supporting coastal communities and securing clean water for all.

The Mission Soil takes a full part in the Soil Strategy where it will be the instrument for

liaising with Member States to create a community of practitioners to improving soil-

related modelling capacities. In similar fashion, the Cancer Mission is an established

partner of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, where it acts as the R&I engine, producing

knowledge, technologies, and solutions for prevention, screening, early detection and

diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life.

The Climate Adaptation Mission is one of the main implementation vectors of the EU

Adaptation Strategy. As climate adaptation continues to gain traction, the upcoming

integrated framework for climate resilience is being grounded by the experience and

knowledge created by the Climate Adaptation Mission.

This dynamic is also visible in the Cities Mission. By supporting cities in developing

Climate City Contracts (CCCs) - integrated strategies combining climate action

planning, governance arrangements and investment pathways – the Mission has created a

framework for coordinating local action towards climate neutrality. The Policy Agenda

for Cities (2025) takes this approach further as part of a broader effort to streamline and

strengthen the landscape of EU initiatives supporting cities.

Moreover, the Missions have developed a strong and stable process to compile portfolios

of actions, across all relevant EU funding sources, that contribute to their objectives. These

portfolios provide a vast overview of initiatives taken in the context of those EU

programmes that have not been built with the Missions in mind – such as the LIFE,

EU Missions in 2026 134

EU4Health, EMFAF (European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund) or Erasmus+

programmes. In total, over 1 700 actions have been found and validated as contributing to

the objectives of the Missions, coming from 24 different programmes. In terms of size, the

most important programmes are Interreg (489 projects identified), the current iteration of

the LIFE Programme (487 projects) and its predecessor (156), and the EU4Health

programme with 142 projects.

The distribution of projects across portfolios also sheds some light on potential structured

synergies. Of the programmes mentioned, only Interreg projects appear in all portfolios,

while the Erasmus+ programme has also contributed at least one project to each Mission

portfolio. LIFE has benefited all Missions apart from the Cancer Mission, and potential

contributions from the Digital Europe programme have so far only missed the Mission

Soil. More in detail, EU4Health projects contribute not only to the Cancer Mission (115

out of 142 projects), but have provided interesting activities for the Cities Mission too.

Still, together, these programmes provide the support needed to expand the values and

objectives of the Missions beyond Horizon Europe.

Finally, in the context of cohesion policy, the European Regional Development Fund

(ERDF) programmes contribute to strengthening the regional innovation ecosystems and

enhancing regions’ R&I capacities to enable participation in Missions activities, as well as

facilitate the deployment of the innovative solutions emerging from the Missions on the

ground. This generates upstream and downstream synergies, respectively.

3.2.3. Pooling across geographical levels

Across Member States and Associated Countries, a range of national, regional and (non-

HE) EU funding instruments are being mobilised in support of the EU Missions. Several

countries report substantial dedicated contributions from their national programmes: for

example, Austria, which allocates over EUR 50 million annually across national R&I

schemes and its Climate-Neutral Cities Mission, alongside targeted calls, municipal

capacity-building and ERDF support. Other countries, such as Belgium (Flanders) and

Estonia, emphasise that mission-relevant activities are embedded across broad, bottom-up

or whole-of-government R&I systems, making it difficult to quantify mission-specific

allocations.

Some MSs provide indicative figures for specific Missions (Lithuania’s EUR 1.2 million

on support for soil monitoring and specific support for Climate City Contracts and,

Germany’s integration of the Cancer Mission in its National Decade Against Cancer

programme, endowed with EUR 125 million, and Ireland’s use of EU4Health and Shared

Island funding for cancer research). Others, like France, highlight extensive use of multiple

EU programmes by national and local actors to support Mission funding received by

national applicants, in addition to combinations with national funding. Several Member

States report additional support through thematic national programmes (e.g. Portugal 2030

for climate action, Sweden’s mission-oriented innovation programmes, Slovakia’s

environmental and Interreg funding). Norway notes significant national investments in

marine, climate and cancer research, though often not explicitly labelled under the

Missions.

EU Missions in 2026 135

Overall, while there is evidence of mobilisation of diverse funding sources at national and

sub-national levels for Mission-related activities, many national authorities underline the

difficulty of isolating exact amounts due to integrated programming, fragmented funding

systems and the absence of mission-tagged expenditure across national and EU

instruments. A missed opportunity, then, was the coordination between the EU Missions

and the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) articulated in the context of the

Recovery and Resilience Fund. A text-based analysis reveals that up to 285 initiatives in

total, across all RRPs, can be thematically connected to the EU Missions (260). In practice,

greater coordination could have been achieved through explicit mission tagging of relevant

projects and a dedicated coordination mechanism between Mission governance structures

and the RRP actions’ owners. This would have enabled more systematic view pooling of

resources, strengthened strategic coherence, and improved the ability to monitor and

demonstrate the added value of RRP contributions to Mission objectives.

3.3. Conclusions on pooling of funding and actions

Looking at the ability of EU Missions to pool funding and actions, the analysis reveals the

critical importance of mechanisms for pooling, aligning and coordinating in driving

progress towards the Missions' objectives, with significant implications for future

policymaking and strategic decision-making. Considering data, the Missions have

managed to raise EUR 318 million over the past years, representing around 5% of the total

expenditure on launched or planned projects. While the total ratio of direct leverage raised

is today below the usual Horizon Europe figure, there are clear signs that the trend is

moving upwards and could pass the framework programme’s direct leverage in the coming

years.

A focal point, within Horizon Europe funding, is the creation of synergies with other

projects outside of Mission calls. Our analysis shows that, in sheer numbers, there have

been many instances where Missions were specifically referred to in the text of other calls

launched. Positively, this was the case not only for typical collaborative calls, but also for

European Partnerships, a key area for Missions to build collaboration in. For the second

half of the Missions’ term, still, it will be crucial to build synergies that can also bring in

external funding: to date, Partnerships represent almost the totality of external funding

added through synergetic projects.

In addition to funding figures, it is also crucial to consider the development that the

Missions have shown, switching from setting up their supporting structures in their initial

phase, to more complex attempts at delivering impact through different types of

instruments. This is demonstrated by the use of different types of activities, not only within

the boundaries of the framework programmes, but also in collaboration with different

actors, such as the Member States and the European Investment Bank.

Beyond funding, the pooling of actions shows promising signs for impact in the second

half of the Missions’ lifecycle. The area where most dynamism is already perceivable is

the use of different instruments and actions, with the increased use of pre-commercial

procurement, and a strong ongoing collaboration with the European Investment Bank.

(260) It should be noted that text-based analysis has inherent limitations, and full alignment with the Missions’

objectives would require further validation.

EU Missions in 2026 136

Alongside these developments, the efforts undertaken at policy level also show potential

for broader ramifications: by positioning the Missions in other key initiatives of the

Commission, they can show to be a reliable partner for innovative solutions, and they can

find springboards to achieve impact throughout society.

In terms of the geographical diffusion of pooling, progress has been made in the

representation of regions from all Member States, across all levels of innovation capacity.

While increasing the amounts of leverage collected is an important goal for the following

years, it is important to underline that Member States have also provided insights on the

combination of different programmes and funds outside the framework programme itself.

4. KNOWLEDGE CREATION, USAGE AND SCALING-UP

EU Missions are expected to develop learning ecosystems where knowledge is co-created

rather than simply transmitted. Diverse actors – public authorities, research organisations,

industry, end-users, etc. – should co-create knowledge and solutions. Structures within the

Missions’ ecosystems should allow the results of co-creation to be tested, adapted, shared,

replicated and scaled up. In addition, dedicated mechanisms should allow actors to learn

from each other’s challenges and successes, refine effective approaches and develop the

skills to implement, use and deploy results in the best way. These ecosystems reduce

perceived risks for individual actors and strengthen ownership, making it easier to try new

approaches and invest in change.

Considering the above, this section explores the EU Missions’ actual ability to create, use

and scale up knowledge. The assessment is carried out across four dimensions:

• Creation of knowledge and solutions: how and what Missions are producing in

terms of new knowledge and solutions.

• Knowledge and solution sharing, skills development and dissemination: how

Missions organise the dissemination of knowledge and solutions and support the

development of skills and capacities required for implementation and scaling.

• Deployment and use of solutions: how solutions put forward by Missions move

from design to practice – focusing on uptake, replication and scaling.

This section mainly relies on data collected from Member States and Associated Countries,

European Commission services and Mission-funded projects (261).

4.1. Creation of knowledge and solutions

This section analyses how Missions generate new knowledge and develop solutions to

fulfil their objectives. Missions foster transdisciplinary R&I by bringing together scientific

disciplines, technical expertise, and perspectives. Knowledge is co-produced through real-

world experimentation, pilot projects, and place-based approaches, ensuring that solutions

are problem-driven, context-specific, and oriented towards societal impact rather than

solely academic outputs.

(261) A full list of sources is included in the annex.

EU Missions in 2026 137

Across 306 Mission projects (262), knowledge production is visible both through academic

outputs (e.g. publications) and tangible outputs (e.g. technologies, monitoring systems,

policy and regulatory arrangements, financing models, etc.).

Missions have produced 156

peer-reviewed publications over

2021–2025 (263). These are

distributed unevenly across

Missions (figure 45) and are

associated with different action

types. A notable share of

publications in Missions Cities

and Ocean and Waters originate

from projects focused on

piloting and demonstrating

innovations in real-world

settings (IAs), indicating that at

least part of the demonstration

activity is documented and subject to external scientific review. By contrast, Mission

Cancer and Mission Soil show a stronger publication contribution from upstream R&I

activity (RIAs) consistent with their reliance on research-intensive knowledge generation

alongside solution development.

Besides peer-reviewed publications, the Missions’ primary contribution in terms of

knowledge creation lies in the broad and diversified set of solutions they produce, spanning

the full innovation chain. According to the Survey of the five Mission Secretariats

(Secretariats Survey), these include operational outputs (e.g. monitoring systems,

diagnostic tools, restoration infrastructures), new policy, regulatory and governance

arrangements (e.g. contractual frameworks and governance models), and financing and

business models that mobilise investment and uptake. In parallel, Missions produce

substantial knowledge-sharing and capacity-building outputs (various types of

publications, guidelines, training, advisory services), as well as analytical tools and

models, which underpin planning and decision-making (see section 4.2).

(262) The data cut-off date is 28 November 2025.

(263) Defined as number of validated, foreground publications published in peer-reviewed outlets (KIP1)

defined in Annex V to the Horizon Europe Regulation).

Figure 45. Share of publications and peer-reviewed

publications/projects ratio per Mission (e-Corda).

12%

26%

5%

32%

24%

0,36

0,68

0,31

0,67 0,67

Mission

Adaptation

Mission

Cancer

Mission Cities Mission Ocean

Waters

Mission Soil

Shares Publications per project

EU Missions in 2026 138

Table 10. Example of solutions developed by the Mission Ocean and Waters.

Mission Ocean and Waters already developed 118 solutions, complemented by 139 solutions produced

by Charter Actions. These include pollution-prevention and remediation technologies (e.g. microplastics

and nutrient-recovery systems), zero-carbon shipping and port infrastructure, blue-carbon restoration and

circular aquaculture and marine bio-based products, basin-scale Lighthouse governance arrangements and

circular blue-economy models, ocean knowledge infrastructures such as ecosystem and pollution

assessments, biodiversity and hydrosphere datasets, the Digital Ocean & Water Knowledge System and

Digital Twin Ocean.

Solutions developed by Missions are demand-driven, compared to those resulting from

other Horizon Europe projects. This type of knowledge production is ensured by the active

participation of user communities in the prioritisation, design and creation of knowledge

outputs. Co-production is evident in the high involvement of non-research organisations in

Missions’ projects. Research organisations and universities represent 47% of the

participant organisations, while users such as companies, public organisations – including

regional authorities, cities, associations, NGOs, clusters, and more – and other types of

communities represent 53%. This is substantially different from the rest of Horizon

Europe, where research organisation and universities account for 64% of participants and

user communities represent only 36%. The integration of knowledge creation within the

communities, territories, and systems needing change is one the Missions’ most unique

contributions to the European R&I landscape.

4.2. Sharing of knowledge and solutions, development of skills, dissemination

This section analyses how Missions organise the exchange and dissemination of

knowledge and solutions within and beyond their ecosystems, including the development

of skills and capacities required for implementation and scaling.

All Missions have established effective mechanisms for knowledge and solution-sharing,

supported by dedicated structures that promote cross-learning, coordination, and the

dissemination of results. Missions have formalised communities of practice, peer-learning

formats, helpdesks and working groups, encouraging ongoing feedback among

implementation actors. These mechanisms are supported by Mission Implementation

Platforms and online portals that serve as diffusion infrastructures, providing repositories,

solution libraries, and learning materials. The compliance of all Missions with Horizon

Europe’s open-access and FAIR data requirements (264) further facilitates knowledge

exchange and its dissemination.

Missions’ projects include activities from research and development down to

implementation – as demonstrated by the different action types within each Mission (265).

(264) Principles to ensure that research data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These

requirements guide how data should be managed and shared, promoting transparency, reproducibility,

and the efficient reuse of data across projects and research communities.

(265) Three action types may underpin EU Missions projects: RIAs, IAs or coordination and support actions

(CSAs). RIAs establish new knowledge and/or explore new or improved solutions – they are upstream

and further away from markets. IAs are closer to market deployment and produce plans or designs for

new or improved solutions including prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product

validation and market replication. CSAs do not produce new knowledge or solutions; instead, they

support cooperation between legal entities from the EU and Associated Countries and may include e.g.

EU Missions in 2026 139

Taken together, these actions suggest a coherent logic that links upstream and downstream

R&I, which is integral to the design of the Missions. In this regard, each Mission combines

scientific research, demonstration, social innovation, and standardisation efforts that

enable cross-learning and dissemination. An analysis of these groups of projects shows

that Missions tend to focus more on downstream implementation, with IAs representing

41% of Missions’ projects compared to 9% of Horizon Europe projects. This is consistent

with the Missions’ objective to bring knowledge closer to deployment. However, a high

share of IAs alone does not demonstrate strong links between upstream research and

downstream deployment. The extent to which different action types are connected and

collectively managed as integrated portfolios varies, and evidence of linkages between

RIAs and IAs is insufficient.

The Missions’ ability to build capacities and skills is closely linked to the sharing and

dissemination of knowledge and solutions. These capacities and skills are crucial for

implementation and scaling. The Secretariats survey shows that all Missions built

structured mechanisms to strengthen their stakeholder communities’ skills and absorptive

capacity. Three main categories of mechanisms exist:

• Formalised training and capacity building, including recurring, formal formats

such as seasonal schools, thematic webinars, national training sessions, and

workforce skills initiatives.

• Peer-learning architectures in the forms of Communities of Practice, discussion

and working groups, study visits, or twinning activities.

• Technical assistance asa skills transfer mechanism, including advisory services,

help desks, and feasibility studies.

These mechanisms have involved 6 865 researchers (266) across all Missions and are

supported by learning infrastructures embedded within or alongside the Mission

Implementation Platforms.

In addition, there is evidence that some of the Missions’ integration with external

knowledge systems and cross-Mission synergies are used to facilitate upskilling. For

example, Mission Cities reuses MyCovenant and CDP-ICLEI Track data within the

NetZeroCities Platform’s tools and combines them with an Online Planning Lab course to

create skill-building loops for city teams. Training offers are also aligned with EU

frameworks and policy priorities beyond the five EU Missions. Upskilling in Mission

Cities, Mission Adaptation and Mission Cancer is tied to EU frameworks such as the

European Urban Initiative, URBACT, Erasmus+, and EEA/Climate-ADAPT, as well as

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Mission Cancer and Mission Cities are linked to national

platforms and plans.

awareness-raising, communication and networking activities, policy dialogues, mutual learning,

studies.

(266) Defined as number of researchers involved in training, mentoring, coaching, mobility and access to R&I

Infrastructures (KIP2 defined in Annex V to the Horizon Europe Regulation).

EU Missions in 2026 140

Table 11. Examples of skills development mechanisms developed by the five Missions.

Formalised training and capacity building

Mission Cities offers multi-day transition training via seasonal schools, structured training on

Mission strategies via an Online Planning Lab, practical training for finance officers and project

leads via a Capital Hub, as well as onboarding sessions via the Mission’s portal. Mission Climate

Adaptation offers a training webinar programme through the MIP4Adapt Platform and a

thematic calendar with monthly training events. Mission Ocean and Waters has already

channelled support to 76 schools and more than 7 000 students to familiarise local actors with

restoration, pollution reduction and basin stewardship; around 30 schools have already

completed funded activities. Training is also provided to the associated regions that replicate the

solutions. Mission Cancer developed a research and innovation-centred capacity-building

programme to support existing and future comprehensive cancer infrastructures (CCIs) which

delivered 3 regional conferences and 10 online courses as well as establishing an online

Resources Centre of more than 220 validated and curated resources for developing research and

innovation in CCIs. Mission Soil offers workshops on soil-monitoring techniques, carbon-

farming practices, and data-collection methodologies.

Peer-learning architectures

Mission Cities has online discussion groups, the Twinning Learning Programme, group study

visits, and a Community of Practice. Mission Climate Adaptation relies on a Community of

Practice combined with Thematic Working Groups and peer-learning among regions facing

similar challenges. Mission Ocean and Waters use the basin Lighthouses’ National Hubs,

Arenas, and Living Labs for multi-actor exchange, and the Blue Parks community to share tools

and practices. In the Mission Cancer, project clusters and working groups bring together

researchers, clinicians, and patients. Mission Soil’s field-based, peer-to-peer training is the core

delivery model, reflecting a decentralised approach to capacity-building anchored in local

experimentation rather than centralised curricula.

Technical assistance

Across Missions, technical assistance reaches at least 150 local or sectoral entities. The Mission

Cities’ NetZeroCities Platform provides advisors and helpdesk functions. Mission Cancer offers

onboarding and support for shared infrastructures.

4.3. Deployment and use of solutions

This section analyses how EU Missions move solutions from design and testing to real-

world application. It considers the full spectrum of activities that enable solutions to be

demonstrated, piloted, and tested in real-life contexts; replicated, twinned, and scaled

across regions or sectors; supported through targeted investment and funding; embedded

in policy and regulatory frameworks; and promoted through demand-side instruments to

create markets and stimulate uptake.

Demonstration, piloting and real-life testing

Across Missions, piloting, real-life testing, and demonstration are incorporated into project

design (267). This supports the successful development of solutions and their adoption.

Real-world testing is organised through formal pilot programmes, territory-based

demonstration environments (such as basins, cities, or regional testbeds), coordinated

demonstration clusters, and living labs. Pilots and demonstrations are testing the enabling

conditions for deployment and generating outcomes, as they involve users who may adopt

the solutions at the end of the process – e.g. municipal and regional authorities, sectoral

(267) Secretariats survey

EU Missions in 2026 141

operators and service providers, research teams and clinical centres, SMEs, and civil

society.

The Mission Cities runs a Pilot Cities Programme that tests solutions in municipal contexts.

The Mission Adaptation funds a seven-project NBS4EU demonstration cluster and

multiple projects explicitly using living-lab methods. The Mission Ocean and Waters

structures testing and demonstration sites with the basin Lighthouses. The Mission Soil

demonstrates a hybrid deployment model through its Living Labs and Lighthouses, where

field-based testing occurs in agricultural, forestry, and urban contexts

Replication, twinning and scaling

Replication mechanisms exist across all Missions (268). Coordination and Support Action

(CSA) projects complement them by adding brokerage, twinning calls, labelling/quality

assurance, and advisory services. Taken together, these elements create the conditions for

scaling up and making use of solutions developed by Missions. This architecture is present

across Missions, though the degree of operationalisation and evidence of results vary –

notably due to the uneven monitoring of replication outcomes and user engagement.

Investment and funding

Funding mechanisms provide the financial pathways that connect experimentation with

large-scale uptake. Instruments such as cascade funding, pilot and twinning grants enable

local and regional actors to replicate and adapt solutions tested elsewhere, turning isolated

innovations into transferable practices. Complementary funding sources – e.g. the

European Investment Bank (EIB) facilities, InvestEU, or BlueInvest (269) – further extend

this diffusion by supporting investment readiness and scaling beyond the research phase.

However, financial mechanisms supporting replication and scale up of Missions’ solutions

vary substantially in maturity and in the delivery of results.

The Cities Mission has established a structured investment support architecture to help

participating cities translate their Climate Neutrality Action Plans into implementable and

finance-ready investment programmes. Within this architecture, the Climate City Capital

Hub provides EU-level structuring and coordination support. Building on this experience,

the Climate Adaptation Mission is providing dedicated resources to the Hub to support

financing of adaptation measures, effectively building bridges between Missions. The

Mission Ocean and Waters collaborates with InvestEU, though no investments have been

identified yet. In addition, the EU Blue Champions facility provides advisory services and

matchmaking for 20 projects. Under Mission Soil, Living Labs are beginning to develop

business models and financing concepts that can enable future leverage of farmer and other

private investment in soil-health practices. The Cancer Mission has launched calls to

(268) The Secretariats survey identifies three mechanisms that are used alone or in combination: (i) cascade

funding to third parties (FSTP) is used in Associated Regions and cohorts to support the take-up by

additional territories; (ii) “leader–follower” (lighthouse–replicator) groupings to test with “leaders” and

prepare adoption by “followers”; and (iii) structured twinning and mentoring schemes which support

cohorts and Associated Regions.

(269) EIB, InvestEU, and BlueInvest provide investment-based financing under market rules to support

commercially viable projects; Horizon Europe mainly offers grants awarded under EU research and

innovation rules with specific eligibility and reporting requirements.

EU Missions in 2026 142

leverage investments from philanthropies and funders. It provides the framework and

infrastructure that make philanthropic investments more coordinated, visible and impactful

at European scale. Three public-private partnership projects on cancer have been co-funded

with industry partners.

Policy and regulatory uptake

Mechanisms for policy and regulatory uptake are emerging across the Missions,

particularly through collaboration with EU institutions. Here, Missions’ evidence,

standards, and governance models feed into European strategies and legislative

frameworks (see section I, chapters 1.2 and 1.3). At the national level, integration of

Missions results into domestic regulatory or policy frameworks is emerging but

uneven (270).

Demand-side instruments and market creation

Demand-side mechanisms remain limited across Missions, with only a few examples of

innovation procurement and early-market incentives (271). The Climate Adaptation

Mission and the Cities Mission were among the first Missions to pilot explicit demand-

side instruments by launching pre-commercial procurements (PCPs). The Adaptation

Mission is explicitly supporting standardisation efforts of climate services (272). Several

Missions (Cities, Climate Adaptation and Soil) plan to pioneer an EIC challenge approach.

4.4. Conclusions on knowledge creation, usage and scaling-up

EU Missions are creating integrated knowledge ecosystems. They are generating

knowledge and solutions spanning the innovation chain. These outputs are largely co-

created with end-users and demand-driven – marking a clear departure from traditional,

project-based Horizon Europe innovation. Via these ecosystems, EU Missions are

successfully testing innovative funding approaches and engaging new actors in EU-funded

R&I. At the same time, EU Missions-related actions entail challenges for implementing

entities, requiring intense interactions at different levels, generally linked to constraints

inherent to the use of R&I funding and programme rules to bring about concrete

achievements and impacts on society in the short term.

To share knowledge and solutions and strengthen capacities, each Mission has built

operational mechanisms that provide access to tools, standards, data and practical

examples and training, while connecting peers facing similar challenges. Through shared

catalogues, data spaces, repositories, communities of practice, and other formats,

knowledge is pooled, exchanged and contextualised.At the same time, these mechanisms

contribute to skills development by engaging thousands of practitioners across disciplines

(270) The Secretariats and SPC surveys show that several Member States – including France, Finland, and

Portugal – report policy pilots, standardisation work or sandbox initiatives that test Mission tools at the

national level. Ministries in Czechia, Italy, and Greece have started referencing Climate City Contracts

in their urban-climate strategies. However, these developments remain at an early and experimental

stage.

(271) Secretariats survey

(272) See topic HORIZON-MISS-2026-01-CLIMA-03: Standardising and supporting climate services for

climate adaptation

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and sectors – researchers, teachers, students, city officers, regional planners, adaptation

coordinators, basin managers, clinicians – supporting capacity-building within the

Missions’ knowledge ecosystems.

Missions have established mechanisms for the deployment and use of solutions they

have developed. These have allowed them to move from ‘pilots as showcases’ to ‘pilots

as stepping stones’ for replication – which is built into the implementation of the missions

rather than being an informal spillover. Similarly, early advisory on financing and

procurement is helping local actors fund the deployment of identified solutions. This is a

major accelerator compared to traditional project logic. However, large-scale, long-term

uptake still relies on factors that go beyond individual demonstration projects, including

stable funding sources after the initial support from Missions ends. In general, only a

limited number of cases provide clear evidence of financing commitments or routine

financing pathways that can carry solutions after the project phase. This creates a risk that

solutions remain “tested” or “prepared for scaling” without conversion into funded

implementation.

Overall, the Missions are creating ecosystems that accelerate the deployment of solutions

and foster change. In this way, the ecosystem is both an enabler and an outcome of the

Mission, creating an environment in which solutions can be taken up, adapted, and scaled

effectively.

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IV. CONCLUSIONS

All EU Missions made substantial progress towards their headline 2030 goals (table 12).

The Climate Adaptation Mission has already exceeded its target by supporting 292

regions in their climate adaptation efforts, well above its goal of 150. Based on the

expected impact of initiatives supported between 2021 and 2024, the Cancer Mission is

already estimated to be able to improve the lives of 2.3 million people by 2030, out of its

overall objective of 3 million. The Mission Soil is expected to exceed its target of 100

Living Labs covering all main soil-climate zones, degradation processes and land uses

across the EU: it has already established 45 Living Labs involving more than 500 real sites

(such as farms) across Europe, and the selection process for another 60-70 is ongoing. The

Ocean and Waters Mission advanced the EU’s 2030 biodiversity, zero-pollution, and

climate-neutral blue economy goals, delivering 121 solutions, tested in 349 real-world

demonstration sites, engaging 86 regions in replication, and mobilising over 1,000 Charter

Actions from stakeholders. The Cities Mission is performing strongly, with 107 cities

producing Climate City Contracts, comprising political commitments, climate neutral

action plans and investment plans that together identify for emissions reduction of 199.68

MtCO2e, roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Austria, Romania and

Slovakia. This constitutes an unprecedent commitment and mobilisation around a climate

neutrality framework, with the Mission approach extending beyond the original cohort

through national platforms and city-to-city replication activities.

However, quantitative progress towards their target is only one metric of the EU Missions’

success. Missions were intentionally launched with very ambitious objectives, reflecting

the scale and urgency of the required actions. In addition to their headline 2030 goals, all

EU Missions are highly effective in producing tangible impact tackling societal challenges.

This is demonstrated by the following high-value achievements (273):

• The Climate Adaptation Mission is working directly with more than 600

regions and local authorities to strengthen climate resilience through tailored

technical assistance, peer exchanges, political commitment and demonstration

projects. Beyond broad mobilisation, the Mission helped regional and local

authorities embed adaptation into governance structures, develop climate-risk

assessments and adaptation strategies, improve coordination across levels of

government, and test innovative resilience solutions adapted to local realities. The

Mission currently supports 185 regions and local authorities that demonstrate

hundreds of innovative adaptation solutions, while more than 110 additional

territories are preparing the ground for future replication and scaling. Through co-

design with citizens, researchers and local stakeholders, these activities are helping

translate adaptation objectives into concrete action on the ground.

• For the Cancer Mission, all Member States and three Horizon Europe Associated

Countries joined the initiative coordinating the establishment of the Network of

National Cancer Mission Hubs, signalling an unprecedented political

(273) A more comprehensive overview of high-value achievements is included in table 12.

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commitment to transform cancer prevention and care. 19 Hubs are already

operational, turning ambition into action across Europe. National Cancer Mission

Hubs replicate the Cancer Mission’s approach at national, regional and local level,

breaking down barriers, bringing together people at risk of cancer, cancer patients

living with and beyond cancer, clinicians and policymakers to accelerate

innovation, contributing to improve equitable access to prevention and care across

Europe.

• The Ocean and Waters Mission has developed a growing portfolio of121

solutions for the restoration of the ocean and waters, tested across 349

demonstration sites and replicated these in 86 regions across Europe and beyond.

The Mission has attracted more than 1 000 pledges under its Mission Charter from

public and private actors from around the world. It has also completed the design

of the core infrastructureof the European Digital Twin Ocean, which is now

accessible to all. The Digital Twin Ocean is expected to be fully operational by

2030 as a public service, providing continuous and updated information about the

behaviour of marine species, marine circulation patterns, bio-geochemical

processes, economic activities and more.

• 107 cities committed to a reduction of 76% of their current GHG emissions

under the Cities Mission, equivalent to approximately 6.64% of EU-27 emissions

in 2024. Through Climate City Contracts, the Mission has introduced a new

framework for urban climate governance and investment planning, now recognised

in the EU Policy Agenda for Cities as one of the references for integrated urban

strategies and investment pipelines. The Mission approach is increasingly anchored

at national level through dedicated platforms and programmes that extend its

benefits to additional cities. At the same time, pilots, twinning and the Mission

Platform have created a European ecosystem where cities test and replicate climate-

neutral solutions, positioning Mission cities as innovation hubs that enable other

European cities to follow similar pathways towards climate neutrality by 2050.

• The Mission Soil significantly increased political attention to soil health by

presenting first-time evidence that 62% of soils are in an unhealthy condition. In

addition, the Mission enabled the development of methodologies to measure soil

health and built a monitoring system to track progress with 19 indicators at

continental scale, supporting the implementation of the Soil Monitoring and

Resilience Directive and the Common Agricultural Policy. Its Living Labs are

essential innovation infrastructures that already involve more than 500 farms,

forests and urban plots to develop, test and support the adoption of context-specific

sustainable soil management practices.

Reaching these important milestones was made possible thanks to the Missions’ unique

approach combining established structures and practices to improve policy coordination

across different governance levels, mobilising new stakeholders, promoting shared

ownership of solutions and increasing the visibility of societal challenges and our capacity

to act on them.

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As Missions increasingly move from experimentation and coordination in a preparatory