Council Decision (EU) 2021/764 establishing the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and repealing Decision 2013/743/EU.

This Decision establishes the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe (the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation) and lays down the operational objectives, the activities to be carried out under the Specific Programme and the rules for implementation of the Specific Programme.
The Specific Programme lays down actions taking into account the challenges in food, agriculture, rural development and the bioeconomy and the corresponding R&I opportunities in close synergy with the Common Agricultural Policy. Evidence-based sustainable and healthy diets will be provided for people's well-being across their lifespan, including dietary patterns, improved nutritional quality of food and advances in understanding the impact of nutrition on health and well-being. Consumers' awareness will be raised, including social and cultural aspects of food, promoting social innovation and societal engagement for better health and environmental sustainability throughout the entire food value chain. Food safety and authenticity systems will be modernized, including traceability, improving food quality and enhancing consumer confidence in the food system. Integrated approaches will be implemented to tackle plant pests and diseases and to control contagious and zoonotic animal diseases and animal welfare. Measures will be taken against antimicrobial resistance and threats from biological and agrochemical hazards, including pesticides, as well as chemical contaminants, in order to protect the health of plants, animals, ecosystems and the public from One-Health and Global-Health perspectives.
The understanding, preservation and management of biodiversity, terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, natural capital and ecosystem services, including agro-ecosystems and the microbiome, will be improved. Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources, such as soil, water, nutrients and biodiversity including genetic resources, will be ensured in agriculture and forestry. Circular economy principles will be adopted, including through the reuse and recycling of waste and by-products. Agricultural and forestry systems will be improved from farm to landscape levels, including through agro-ecology or through enhancing the role of forests in the prevention of floods and soil erosion. Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture will be ensured in all forms, including alternative sources of protein with increased food security, food sovereignty and climate resilience, monitoring and management tools. Research will be conducted on how to sustainably unlock the vast and unexploited economic potential of seas, oceans and inland waters with the aim of producing more safe food, bio-based ingredients and raw material without increasing pressures on those seas, oceans and inland waters, as well as on the potential of aquaculture in all forms to alleviate pressure on land, freshwater and ocean resources. Circular use of water resources will be promoted, including reduction of water demand, prevention of losses, water reuse, recycling and valorization of wastewater, innovative solutions for the challenges for the water-food-energy nexus addressing impacts of agricultural and energy water use and enabling synergistic solutions. Infrastructures will be developed for facilitating access to drinking, irrigation and sanitation water, including desalination, in order to enable water use that is more efficient, circular, and energy and CO2 friendly. Moreover, the Specific Programme puts emphasis on tackling climate change, open access to scientific publications and research data, industrial transformation through improved skills for innovation, and gender equality.