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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core Objective: To enhance energy efficiency and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the fisheries and/or aquaculture sectors through the demonstration and uptake of advanced digital technologies and innovative solutions, without harming ecosystems or biodiversity.
Explicit Identification of Target Recipient: Legal entities of any type, forming consortia, including businesses (SMEs, enterprises), research organizations, public bodies, and crucially, active involvement of end-users such as fishers, aquaculture operators, and sea-farmers.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC: This grant is highly sector-specific, focusing exclusively on the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, including algae.
Geographic Scope: Projects must focus on and carry out demonstration activities in one of four specific sea basins: 1. Atlantic and Arctic sea basin, 2. Mediterranean Sea basin, 3. Baltic and North Sea basin, or 4. Danube River basin (including its delta and the Black Sea). Demonstration activities must involve legal entities established in at least three different countries within the chosen basin.
Key Filtering Criteria: Focus on digital technologies for energy efficiency in fisheries/aquaculture, consortium-based proposals demonstrating solutions in specific European sea basins, and measurable impact on energy use and CO2 reduction.
Grant Frequency: This is part of the recurring Horizon Europe 'Restore our Ocean and Waters' Mission work programme, specifically the 2025 call, which falls within the initial 'development and piloting' phase (2022-2025) paving the way for future deployment and upscaling.

Financial Structure

Budget Range for this topic (HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-03): The total indicative budget for this topic in 2025 is EUR 23,300,000.
Minimum Grant Amount per Project: EUR 5,000,000.
Maximum Grant Amount per Project: EUR 5,825,000.
Currency: EUR.
Funding Rate: For Innovation Actions (IA), the maximum funding rate is 70.0% of eligible costs. Non-profit legal entities may be funded up to 100%.
Eligible Costs: Include actual costs for personnel, subcontracting, and purchase costs. Unit costs and flat rates (e.g., for indirect costs) are also applicable.
Indirect Costs: A flat rate of 25.0% of total eligible direct costs (excluding subcontracting, financial support to third parties, and any unit/lump sums including indirect costs) is reimbursed.
Financial Reporting: Beneficiaries must submit periodic and final reports. A certificate on financial statements may be required depending on grant amount and beneficiary type.
Payment Schedule: Typically involves a pre-financing payment (around 60% of average EU funding per reporting period) at the start, followed by interim payments linked to periodic reports, and a final payment after project completion. Payments may be lowered if a consortium member has outstanding debts to the EU.
No-profit Rule: Grants must not generate a profit (surplus of revenues + EU grant over costs). Any profit will be deducted from the final grant amount.
No Double Funding: Strict prohibition of double funding from the EU budget for the same costs. Projects may receive only one grant from the EU budget, except for EU Synergy grants.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Structure

Legal entities of any type are eligible to participate, regardless of their place of establishment, provided they meet specific funding conditions.
Consortia are mandatory: Must include at least three legal entities that are independent from each other, and each established in a different country.
Consortium composition: At least one independent legal entity must be established in an EU Member State, and at least two other independent legal entities must be established in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
Entities without legal personality may participate if their representatives can undertake legal obligations and offer financial guarantees.
EU bodies and International European Research Organizations are eligible.

Geographic and Activity Requirements

Applicants eligible for funding must be established in: EU Member States (including outermost regions), Horizon Europe Associated Countries, or specific low- and middle-income countries (as detailed in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes).
Project activities: Demonstration activities must be carried out in at least three different countries of the chosen sea basin (Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea, or Danube River basin), involving legal entities established in those respective countries.

Technical and Operational Capacity

Applicants must have the necessary know-how, qualifications, and resources to implement the project tasks. This is assessed based on the competence and experience of the applicants and their project teams, including human, technical, and other operational resources.

Exclusions and Restrictions

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in Innovation Actions in any capacity (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties, subcontractors, or financial support recipients), with case-by-case exceptions.
Entities assessed as 'high-risk suppliers' of mobile network communication equipment (and their owned/controlled entities) are not eligible to participate.
Entities subject to EU restrictive measures (under Article 29 TEU and Article 215 TFEU) are not eligible.
Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or non-government controlled territories of Ukraine are not eligible.
Hungarian public interest trusts (established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021) or any entity they maintain are not eligible for funded roles until Council measures are lifted.
Projects must focus exclusively on civil applications; activities aiming at human cloning for reproductive purposes, inheritable genetic modification, or human embryo creation solely for research are excluded.

Application Process

Application Submission

Application Deadline: 2025-09-24.
Submission Format: Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the specific topic page). Paper submissions are not accepted.
Required Documentation: The application form consists of two main parts:
- Part A: Administrative information about the applicant organizations (coordinator, beneficiaries, affiliated entities), summarized budget, and call-specific questions (filled directly online).
- Part B: Technical description of the project (downloaded, completed as PDF, and re-uploaded).
Page Limits: The limit for a full application for Innovation Actions is 45 pages.
Supporting Documents: All mandatory annexes and supporting documents must be uploaded as PDF files.

Application Process Steps

Pre-application: Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC). Validation by the Central Validation Service occurs before grant agreement signature.
Coordinator Role: For multi-beneficiary grants, the consortium must choose a coordinator to manage and represent the project to the granting authority.
Consortium Agreement: A written consortium agreement is required for multi-beneficiary grants to ensure smooth implementation and internal financial arrangements.
Declaration of Honour: The coordinator must confirm that they have the mandate to act for all applicants and that information is correct and complete. Each participant must re-confirm this before grant signature.

Evaluation and Award Timeline

Information on Evaluation Outcome: Around 5 months from the submission deadline (expected around February 2026).
Grant Agreement Signature: Indicative date around 8 months from the submission deadline (expected around May 2026).
Review Process: Proposals are checked for formal requirements (admissibility, eligibility), evaluated by independent experts against award criteria (Excellence, Impact, Quality of Implementation), and then ranked.
Budget Flexibility: Indicative budgets may change by up to 20% compared to the initial total budget indicated.

Available Application Assistance

Online Manual: Guides on procedures from proposal submission to grant management.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide: Detailed guidance on the program's structure, budget, and political priorities.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ: Answers to frequently asked questions.
National Contact Points (NCPs): Guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation.
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN): Advice for businesses, especially SMEs.
IT Helpdesk: For technical issues with the Portal.
European IPR Helpdesk: Assistance on intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk: Advice on standardisation in project proposals.
Partner Search Tool: Available to help find partner organizations.

Evaluation Criteria

Excellence

Clarity and pertinence of project objectives, ambition, and how the project goes beyond the current state of the art.
Soundness of the proposed methodology, including underlying concepts, models, assumptions, inter-disciplinary approaches.
Quality of open science practices, including sharing and management of research outputs.
Consideration of the gender dimension in research and innovation content, where appropriate.
Engagement of citizens, civil society, and end-users where appropriate.

Impact

Credibility of pathways to achieve the expected outcomes and impacts specified in the work programme (e.g., enhanced energy efficiency, reduced CO2, wider digital adoption, economic viability, improved understanding of barriers, enhanced skills).
Likelihood of the project's contributions to significantly achieve these outcomes and impacts.
Suitability and quality of measures to maximize expected outcomes and impacts, as outlined in the dissemination and exploitation plan, including communication activities.

Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation

Quality and effectiveness of the work plan, including the appropriateness of effort assigned to work packages.
Thorough assessment of risks and proposed mitigation strategies.
Capacity and role of each participant, and the extent to which the consortium as a whole brings together all necessary expertise (including SMEs, maritime sectors, and active involvement of end-users).
Appropriateness of resources overall.

Scoring and Thresholds

Each criterion (Excellence, Impact, Implementation) is scored out of 5.
Individual threshold for each criterion: 3.
Overall threshold (sum of the three scores): 10.
For Innovation Actions, the 'Impact' criterion score will be weighted by 1.5 for ranking purposes.
Proposals must pass both individual and overall thresholds to be considered for funding.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Standards

Projects must comply with all applicable EU, international, and national laws and ethical principles (including research integrity).
Ethics Self-Assessment: Applicants must complete an ethics self-assessment as part of their application. Projects with ethics issues will undergo review.
Civil Applications: Projects must focus exclusively on civil applications.

Data and Digital Compliance

Open Science Practices: If projects collect in-situ data and marine observations, beneficiaries must make them openly available through the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet), based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles.
Digital Twin Ocean Context: Projects should align with the 'Digital Twin Ocean' (DTO) initiative and contribute to its knowledge system.
Data Protection and Security: Compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR). Projects involving classified/sensitive information are subject to specific security rules, including facility security clearance (FSC) and personnel security clearance (PSC) requirements.

Project Specific Requirements

Demonstration Activities: Projects must demonstrate digital solutions for energy efficiency in fisheries and/or aquaculture in real conditions, proving operational feasibility and economic viability. Activities should not harm ecosystems or biodiversity.
Basin Specificity: Proposals must explicitly identify and tailor activities to one of the four specified sea basins (Atlantic and Arctic, Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea, or Danube River basin).
Stakeholder Involvement: Requires an integrated, holistic, and transdisciplinary approach, ensuring involvement of relevant stakeholders, including SMEs and end-users (fishers, aquaculture operators, sea-farmers).
Obstacle Analysis: Implementation of demonstration activities must include an analysis of technical, social, legal, regulatory, and policy obstacles and opportunities for uptake.
Safety and Well-being: Consideration of worker safety and well-being, as well as digital security issues.

Cross-Cutting Themes and Strategic Alignment

Gender Equality: Legal entities from Member States/Associated Countries that are public bodies, research organizations, or higher education establishments must have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) meeting specific requirements (publication, resources, data collection, training).
Sustainability Expectations: Projects are expected to contribute to the 'Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030' Mission objectives, particularly protecting/restoring marine/freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, preventing/eliminating pollution, and making the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular.
Replication and Uptake: Actions should support the replication potential of demonstrated solutions and accelerate uptake by other potential users. Roadmaps for digital solution uptake are expected.
Cooperation: Projects are expected to cooperate with relevant initiatives like the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership and Zero Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership.

Grant Details