In order to avoid funding of ethically problematic activities, some funding programmes require an ethics review procedure to clear the projects.

All EU-funded projects are required to adhere to ethical principles and applicable laws. In Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with the indicative funding amount for the period 2021-2027 of EUR 93.5 billion, ethics and data protection are top priorities and must be thoroughly considered throughout every stage of the project life-cycle. Integrity and ethics in research are essential for achieving excellence in research and innovation. The main objective is to foster and maintain trust in science and innovation, while encouraging researchers and innovators to adopt an ethics-by-design approach. This approach aims to create meaningful value by developing knowledge, technologies, and applications that enhance people’s lives, opportunities, and future prospects.

The scientific evaluation and the ethics assessment are two separate processes in Horizon Europe. The ethics assessment follows the scientific evaluation and is performed only in case your project has been accepted for funding. Horizon Europe puts in place an Ethics Appraisal Procedure which includes the Ethics Review Procedure conducted before the start of the project, and Ethics Checks, Reviews and Audits conducted during the project. Guiding principles are as follows:

Article 19 -Regulation (EU) 2021/695 establishing Horizon Europe:

"Actions carried out under the Programme shall comply with ethical principles and relevant Union, national and international legislation,including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights and its Supplementary Protocols"

Article 14 - Model Grant Agreement:

"The action must be carried out in line with the highest ethical standards and the applicable EU, international and national law on ethical principles. The beneficiaries must commit to and ensure the respect of basic EU values (such as respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, including the rights of minorities)."

If you are not sure if your research raises ethics issues you might want to consider engaging ethics expert. For projects with a significant ethics dimension, consider involving/appointing an ethics advisor/advisory board. From the beginning of your project, an ethics advisor can help you deal with ethical issues and put in place the procedures to handle them appropriately.

Our services for EU-funded projects provide thorough support in meeting your ethics compliance objectives throughout the entire project life-cycle, from proposal development and grant agreement preparation to ethics checks and reviews.