Since the end of the twentieth century, there has been a trend in Europe towards the accumulation of scientific knowledge, increasing the competitiveness of European research and the mobility of scientists themselves. The goals and objectives set by the European Union are being realised through the creation of a common European Research Area and the implementation of special framework programmes. The EU funding for basic research is now being pursued under a new framework programme known as Horizon Europe. Despite a number of changes caused by the increasing complexity of the structure of the bodies involved in funding research projects, grants to researchers, including through the activities of the European Research Council, remain the main sourсe of investment. Horizon Europe provides research and innovation funding for multinational cooperation projects as well as for individual researchers and supports SMEs with a special funding instrument. Attention should also be paid to such aspects of the programme implementation as European partnerships (in various forms) and research infrastructures. However, despite all the positive experiences of the previous framework programmes, the current legal regulations make it very difficult for researchers from third countries to participate in the call for proposals, usually the possible implementation of such projects is subject to the participation of European researchers or research organisations, thereby ensuring EU competitiveness in the international arena.