OceanEye moves forward with new €50 million Horizon Europe opportunity for global ocean observing

A significant step forward for OceanEye and the global ocean observing community has been announced as part of the European Commission’s latest amendment to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027.

On 29 September, the European Commission announced an additional €500 million for Horizon Europe for 2026 and 2027, alongside new cross-cutting calls addressing major research and innovation challenges. Among these new opportunities is dedicated support to strengthen the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), contributing directly to the ambitions of the EU Ocean Eye.

Under the new horizontal call “Transformative Change Towards a Nature-Positive Economy and Society”, the Horizon Europe Work Programme includes a €50 million topic dedicated to strengthening the Global Ocean Observing System:

HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-01: A stronger Global Ocean Observing System to enhance Europe’s strategic autonomy, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation.

The initiative represents an important concrete contribution by the European Union towards strengthening sustained and globally connected ocean observing capacity.

Reliable, long-term ocean observations are fundamental to understanding changes in the ocean, supporting climate resilience, protecting marine biodiversity and enabling informed decisions. Strengthening GOOS will also reinforce Europe’s contribution to the global observing effort and help connect observations, data and knowledge across national, European and international initiatives.

The announcement is particularly significant in the context of OceanEye, which aims to strengthen coordination and cooperation around global ocean observing and contribute to a more integrated and sustained system.

The new Horizon Europe funding opportunity demonstrates how the ambitions surrounding OceanEye are beginning to translate into concrete actions and investment in the observing capabilities needed by the global ocean community.

The European Commission notes that the broader Nature-Positive call, with a total budget of €237 million, will contribute to several key EU priorities, including the European Ocean Pact and EU Ocean Eye, as well as biodiversity restoration and resilience.

This latest development provides new momentum for international collaboration around a shared objective: ensuring the sustained ocean observations needed to understand, protect and sustainably manage our ocean.

One Ocean. One Shared Responsibility. A Global Commitment.

Further information

Read the European Commission announcement: EU support to research and innovation increases with additional €500 million for research programme Horizon Europe

The topic HORIZON-NATURE-2027-04-01 can be found on page 153 of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027 – Horizontal Activities.