Supporting the Network of National Contact Points (NCPs) of the Digital Europe Programme

Grant Purpose and Target

• Core Objective: This grant aims to fund a single project to support, coordinate, and professionalize the network of National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Digital Europe Programme. The core mission is to improve NCP services, enhance transnational cooperation, and increase the awareness, visibility, and impact of the programme across all participating countries.
• Funding Organization: European Commission
• Target Recipients: The grant is open to legal entities (both public and private bodies) that have been officially nominated as National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Digital Europe Programme by their national authorities.
• Sector Focus: SECTOR-AGNOSTIC. While the grant operates within the digital domain, it is not restricted to a specific industry. Applicants are defined by their function as NCPs, supporting all sectors eligible under the Digital Europe Programme.
• Geographic Scope: Applicants must be established in EU Member States, their overseas countries and territories (OCTs), or in EEA countries and countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme.
• Key Filtering Criteria: The grant will fund a single Coordination and Support Action (CSA) with a budget of €1,800,000. A consortium of at least three entities from three different eligible countries is mandatory. Applicants must be officially nominated NCPs.

Financial Structure

• Funding Range:

• The grant will fund a single project. The total budget available is €1,800,000, which is the expected grant amount for the selected project.

• Co-financing:

• The funding rate is 100% of eligible costs, as this is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). No co-financing from applicants is required.

• Eligible Costs:

• Direct Costs:
  • Personnel costs: Including average personnel costs and unit costs for SME owners/natural persons.
  • Subcontracting costs.
  • Purchase costs: Including travel and subsistence (as actual costs), equipment (depreciation only), and other goods, works, or services.
  • Internally invoiced goods and services.
  • Kick-off meeting costs: Eligible for a maximum of two people per beneficiary.

• Indirect Costs:

  • A flat rate of 7% of the total eligible direct costs is applied.

• Ineligible Costs:

• Financial support to third parties is explicitly disallowed.
• Costs for creating and maintaining a separate project website are not eligible (costs for pages on existing participant websites are allowed).

• Standard ineligible costs include debt service charges, return on capital, provisions for future losses, interest owed, currency exchange losses, and deductible VAT.

• Payment & Reporting:

• An initial pre-financing payment of typically 80% of the maximum grant amount will be made after the grant agreement is signed.
• One or more interim payments will follow, with a final balance payment at the end of the project.
• Reporting is managed through the EU's online Portal Grant Management System.

Eligibility Requirements

• Formal Criteria:
• Legal Status: Applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities, which can be public or private bodies.
• Location: Applicants must be established in an EU Member State (including OCTs), or a non-EU country associated with the Digital Europe Programme (including EEA countries).

• Consortium: Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least three independent legal entities from at least three different eligible countries. At least one of these entities must be from an EU Member State.

• Organizational Status:

• The key requirement is that applicants must be officially nominated National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Digital Europe Programme. The consortium should aim for broad geographical coverage and include a significant portion of the NCP network.

• No specific requirements regarding organization size, age, or turnover are mentioned.

• Technical Expertise:

• The consortium must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the tasks of NCPs and possess the necessary technical competence to cover all specific objectives of the Digital Europe Programme.

• Applicants must have the required know-how, qualifications, and resources to successfully implement the project, which will be assessed based on the project team's experience and the consortium's overall capacity.

• Exclusion Criteria:

• Standard EU exclusion criteria apply, including bankruptcy, tax or social security breaches, grave professional misconduct, fraud, and corruption.
• Proposals that include providing financial support to third parties are ineligible.

Application Practical Information

• Deadlines:
• Call Opening: 4 November 2025
• Submission Deadline: 3 March 2026, 17:00:00 CET (Brussels time)
• Evaluation Period: March - April 2026
• Results Notification: June 2026

• Grant Agreement Signature: September 2026

• Required Documents:

• Application Form Part A: Administrative information filled out directly in the online submission system.
• Application Form Part B: A narrative technical description of the project, limited to a maximum of 50 pages.

• Annexes: The call specifies that annexes for CVs, activity reports, and lists of previous projects are not applicable.

• Application Process:

• Submissions are made electronically through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
• The process is a single-stage submission followed by a one-step evaluation.

• All participating organizations must be registered in the Participant Register and have a valid Participant Identification Code (PIC).

• Support:

• The grant provides financial support (100% funding) for a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). The funded project will, in turn, provide networking, capacity-building, and training support to the NCP community.

• Post-Award Obligations:

• Project Duration: 36 months.
• Consortium Agreement: A signed consortium agreement between all beneficiaries is a mandatory requirement.
• Reporting: Regular technical and financial reporting is required through the portal.
• Dissemination: A mandatory deliverable on dissemination and exploitation must be submitted within the first six months of the project. Beneficiaries must acknowledge EU funding and display the European flag on all communication materials.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals are evaluated based on three main criteria, with a minimum score of 3 out of 5 for each, and an overall minimum score of 10 out of 15.

• Scoring Factors:

• Relevance (Max 5 points)

  • Strategic Fit: Alignment with the grant's objectives of supporting the NCP network, contributing to long-term EU digital policy goals, and creating synergies with other European and national activities.
  • Inapplicable Criteria: The call explicitly states that two standard 'Relevance' criteria are not applicable for this topic: 'reinforcing the digital technology supply chain' and 'overcoming financial obstacles'.

• Implementation (Max 5 points)

  • Project Quality & Feasibility: Soundness of the implementation plan, efficiency in resource use, and the overall maturity and readiness of the project.
  • Consortium Capacity: The capability of the applicants and the consortium as a whole to carry out the proposed work, based on their expertise and resources.

• Impact (Max 5 points)

  • Innovation & Impact: The extent to which the project will achieve the expected outcomes, such as improved NCP services, better applicant participation, and higher proposal quality. This includes plans for disseminating and communicating project results.
  • Societal Benefits: The degree to which the project will strengthen competitiveness and provide significant benefits to society.
  • Cross-cutting Themes: The proposal's contribution to environmental sustainability and the goals of the European Green Deal is a specific scoring factor.

Compliance and Special Requirements

• Regulatory Compliance:
• Ethics: Projects must adhere to the highest ethical standards and all applicable laws. All proposals will undergo an ethics review.
• Security: If a project involves EU classified information, it must undergo a security scrutiny process. However, this is not expected for this topic.

• Data Protection: Full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is mandatory for any processing of personal data.

• IP Policy:

• Beneficiaries must manage Intellectual Property according to the Grant Agreement. This includes rules on protecting and exploiting project results, defining and managing background information, and providing the EU with rights of use for policy and communication purposes.

• Unique Aspects:

• Specific Target: This call is highly targeted, with eligibility restricted to officially nominated National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Digital Europe Programme.
• Mandatory Consortium: A specific consortium structure is required (at least 3 partners from 3 different countries, with one from an EU Member State).
• Single Project Funding: The call is designed to fund one comprehensive project to coordinate the entire NCP network.

• Consortium Agreement: A formal consortium agreement is mandatory.

• Industry-Specific Rules: Not applicable. The rules pertain to the EU's Digital Europe Programme and the specific function of National Contact Points, rather than a particular industry.