The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's in-house science service and the only service responsible for direct research. 

Funded by Horizon 2020, the JRC's overall objective for non-nuclear work is 'to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support to Union policies, while flexibly responding to new policy demands.' A total of 2.47% (€1.9bn) of the total Horizon 2020 budget (of €79bn) will fund the JRC’s non-nuclear direct actions.

The JRC contributes to Horizon 2020 general objectives and priorities by:

• Providing direct scientific support to the EC’s policy departments;
• Developing standards and providing references in support of European competitiveness;
• Upholding innovation and thus supporting the science agenda of relevant instruments such as European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) as well as public-private partnerships;
• Helping bolster knowledge and technology transfer.

Latest JRC Work Programme

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/jrcsh/files/jrc_detailed_work_programme_2017-18.pdf