Horizon 2020: EFSA's Priority Research Topics

In 2011, the European Commission established Horizon 2020, the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the first calls for research projects were launched in 2014. Horizon 2020 has three main research priorities Part I: Excellent Science; Part II: Industrial Leadership; Part III: Societal Challenges. In this context, EFSA’s activities and the related research areas fall under ‘Societal Challenges’ and the continuation of identifying research priorities and communicating these priorities to Director-General Research and Innovation (DG-R&I), Director-General Research Agriculture and Rural development (DG-AGRI) and Director General for Health and Food Safety (DG-SANTE) is an important aspect of EFSA’s Science Strategy. In order to support the Commission in this activity, EFSA has consulted with the Advisory Forum (AF), the Scientific Committee (SC), and EFSA’s scientific panels and units.

This technical report summarises the results of this consultation. It identified five priority research topics in the food and feed safety area. The selection of the priority topics was from a total of 60 proposals received after screening against the following criteria: Horizon 2020 prioritisation strategy, innovation and EFSA’s 2020 strategy and existing priorities. The following priority topics were identified: 1. Microplastic and nanoplastic particles in food; 2. Honey bee health; 3. Foodborne viruses; 4. Risk assessment methodologies; 5. Development of European Cloud-based integrated data collection, data management, data analysis and reporting system for food safety.

EFSA will continue to support the European Commission in identifying priority research topics in the food and feed safety area through a biannual consultation of the AF, SC and its panels and units.