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Launched on 1 January 2026, BE READY is a ten-year European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness that brings together partners from 27 European Member States and Associated countries and the European Commission. The partnership strengthens Europe’s capacity to anticipate and respond to emerging infectious disease threats by coordinating research and innovation funding and maintaining critical research capacities between crises.

The coordination is led by ANRS Emerging infectious diseases (ANRS MIE), a French autonomous agency within Inserm that facilitates, evaluates, coordinates and funds research.

BE READY: Building sustained research preparedness for future health crises

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases continue to pose a significant threat to global health with the potential to trigger large-scale epidemics or pandemics. Recent outbreaks — from Mpox and avian influenza threats to chikungunya in Europe, to Ebola, Marburg and Rift Valley fevers in sub-Saharan Africa — underscore that epidemic risks are persistent, dynamic and geographically widespread. Although substantial progress has been made in strengthening research preparedness and response capacities, these events highlight the continued need for sustained coordination and long-term investments in preparedness. BE READY was created to address this challenge by establishing a coordinated and durable research ecosystem that keeps critical capabilities operational even outside periods of crisis.

Launched on 1 January 2026 for a period of ten years, BE READY aims to ensure that Europe can generate the evidence needed to respond more rapidly and coherently to future epidemics and pandemics through a well-coordinated approach. To achieve this, the partnership will accelerate research to develop and evaluate medical countermeasures — including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines — and produce timely data to inform public health decision-making.At its core, BE READY seeks to build a resilient European research and innovation ecosystem that is continuously prepared for health crises caused by infectious diseases. Fully embedded within the broader European Health Security framework, this ecosystem will enable a swift, efficient and coordinated research response when new threats emerge.

Turning preparedness into action: How BE READY works

To strengthen Europe’s ability to anticipate and respond to infectious disease threats, BE READY developed its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), in order to provide a common guidance tool to participating countries for advancing knowledge in pandemic preparedness.

At the same time, the partnership reinforces the research ecosystem needed in the event of a health emergency through networks of research sites and infrastructures, to ensure a rapid and emergency response.

BE READY pursues three main goals:

• Align national research priorities and scientific expertise across participating countries through the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda;
• Support multinational research projects through Joint Transnational Calls, advancing the SRIA-defined research priorities while minimising duplication (discover here the first joint transnational call, launched on 19 January 2026);
• Build an integrated ecosystem of research infrastructures and networks, featuring a European “ever-warm” clinical research network maintained between crises and swiftly mobilised during outbreaks.

Fully embedded into the EU Health Security framework
BE READY is firmly anchored in the European Health Union and operates in close synergy with EU institutions and agencies responsible for prevention, preparedness, surveillance, risk assessment and response. It reinforces the European Union’s plan for preventing and managing health crises, by ensuring that research capacity and evidence generation are seamlessly integrated into the broader operational mechanisms addressing serious cross-border health threats. Discover the EC research and innovation news article here.

Scale, countries and timeline

BE READY is a ten-year partnership with a target budget of €240 million, co-funded equally by participating countries and by the European Commission (through the Horizon Europe programme).

The first three-year phase (2026-2028) brings together 81 partners from 27 countries, including public health organizations, ministries of science, education, health, innovation and environment, as well as research institutions, mobilising €118 million.

Participants include 21 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden) and 6 Associated countries (Moldova, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, Türkiye, Ukraine).

From preparation to partnership
Today’s launch builds on preparatory work carried out as part of the BE READY (grant agreement No. 101226682) and BE READY PLUS (grant agreement No. 101195079) undertaken between 2022 and 2025, which defined common priorities and laid the foundations for a long-term, research-driven preparedness model.

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Photo credits to Laurent Ardhuin