The European Commission has published the 2018–2020 work programmes for the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument and Fast Track to Innovation programmes.

In particular, regarding the SME Instrument, significant changes have been introduced compared to previous editions, namely:

• Bottom-up selection. There will no longer be pre-defined topics, and proposals will be selected based on a completely bottom-up approach, as is the case for the Fast Track to Innovation programme.
• Simplification of proposal templates.
• Increase in evaluators with expertise in investment, private equity, and venture capital.
• Modification of the evaluation system, which will integrate the traditional evaluation (Evaluation Summary Report) with a direct interview between the SMEs and the evaluators.

Please note that both the Fast Track to Innovation programme and the SME Instrument will be managed by the new European Innovation Council.

To consult the updated work programmes and other supporting documents, click here.