The European Commission has confirmed that all research and innovation funding will be channelled through Horizon Europe. This comes under its proposal for the post-2027 EU budget instruments.

The planned European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) will focus exclusively on deployment, separating its role from research and innovation funding.

According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, all research and innovation activities must be funded through a Framework Programme. Massimiliano Esposito, head of the strategic planning unit in the Commission’s research directorate general, emphasized this point on September 23.
https://sciencebusiness.net/news/r-d-funding/planning-fp10/eu-competitiveness-fund-will-not-finance-research-activities