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Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to establish and strengthen a European network of national competence centers for innovation procurement, fostering their collaboration to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions by public buyers across Europe. It seeks to enhance the capacity of public procurers to carry out Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) and Public Procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI). The primary target recipients are legal entities (e.g., public bodies, organizations with a government mandate) capable of establishing or hosting national competence centers for innovation procurement. This is a SECTOR-SPECIFIC grant, focusing on public administration, innovation ecosystems, and procurement practices. The geographic scope covers EU Member States and Associated Countries. The consortium must involve at least 15 independent legal entities from different EU Member States or Associated Countries. A key filtering criterion is the requirement for a government mandate to operate an innovation procurement competence center. This grant is part of the broader Horizon Europe Programme, specifically under the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE), indicating it's a recurring type of funding within the program's framework.

Financial Structure

This grant operates on a lump sum contribution basis, which simplifies financial management by focusing on outputs rather than actual costs incurred. The financial details are as follows:
  • Budget and Funding Amounts:
    • The total grant amount for this specific call is 4,500,000 EUR.
    • The minimum and maximum grant amounts per application are both 4,500,000 EUR, as only one grant is expected for this specific action.
    • The currency for all financial figures is EUR.
  • Eligible Costs: The lump sum is determined based on estimated direct and indirect costs that would typically be eligible under a standard grant. These include:
    • Personnel costs: For employees, natural persons working under direct contract, seconded persons, and SME owners/natural person beneficiaries.
    • Subcontracting costs.
    • Purchase costs: For travel and subsistence, equipment, and other goods, works, and services.
    • Other cost categories: Such as financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, and PCP/PPI procurement costs.
    • Indirect costs: Calculated as a 25% flat rate on the direct cost categories that qualify.
  • Co-financing: While not a fixed percentage, compliance with the co-financing principle is required. This means that the total estimated costs of the action must be greater than the estimated Union contributions. Applicants are encouraged to maximize synergies with national and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and focus the Horizon Europe budget on activities or partners that cannot be funded from other sources.
  • Payment Mechanism: Payments are made based on the successful implementation of specified work packages, not on actual costs incurred. If a work package's conditions are not met, the corresponding lump sum contribution is not paid but may be paid in a subsequent reporting period if conditions are then met.
  • Financial Reporting: Significantly simplified. Beneficiaries have no obligation to document costs incurred for the action, and there are normally no financial ex-post audits focusing on costs. Reporting focuses primarily on the technical implementation of the work packages.
  • Financial Guarantees: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for this grant, applicants must meet several hard, non-negotiable criteria:
  • Organization Type: Applicants must be independent legal entities. The consortium must specifically include:
    • At least 10 existing national competence centers for innovation procurement.
    • At least 5 public bodies that have the mandate to set up 5 new national competence centers for innovation procurement in 5 different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
  • Consortium Requirement: A consortium is mandatory. It must consist of a minimum of fifteen (15) independent legal entities, with each entity established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country.
  • Geographic Location: All participating entities must be established in an EU Member State or Associated Country. A specific requirement for the 5 new competence centers is that at least 2 of them must be located in 'emerging' or 'moderate' innovator countries (as defined by the European Innovation Scoreboard or Global Innovation Index for Associated Countries not listed).
  • Specific Qualifications: A 'competence center on Innovation Procurement' is defined as "an organization/organizational structure that has been assigned the task by the government of a Member State or Associate Country and has a mandate according to national law to encourage wider use of innovation procurement, that includes among others providing practical and/or financial assistance to public procurers in the preparation and/or implementation of PCP and PPI procurements across all sectors of public interest."
  • Financial and Operational Capacity: Applicants must meet the financial and operational capacity criteria as outlined in Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Application Process

Applying for this grant involves a structured process with clear timelines and required materials:
  • Application Deadlines and Timeline:
    • The submission system is planned to open on 2025-09-10.
    • The final application deadline is 2026-01-20 at 00:00:00 UTC.
    • The project duration is expected to be 4 years.
  • Application Procedure:
    • The application process follows a single-stage submission procedure.
    • Applications must be submitted online via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Submission System.
  • Required Documentation and Materials:
    • Part B of the Application Form: This details the proposal's content, including page limits and layout, specific to this call.
    • Standard application form (HE CSA): The template for Coordination and Support Actions under Horizon Europe.
    • Detailed budget table (HE LS): This specific template is for lump sum proposals and requires applicants to break down estimated costs per work package and per beneficiary, even though actual costs are not reported later.
  • Project Implementation and Reporting:
    • Implementation should follow the work plan detailed in the proposal.
    • Reporting obligations primarily focus on the technical implementation of the work packages. Payments of lump sum contributions are contingent upon the proper completion of these work packages.
    • Post-award checks, reviews, and audits will focus on technical implementation, fulfillment of work package conditions, ethics, research integrity, dissemination and exploitation of results, intellectual property management, and gender equality aspects.
  • Application Assistance Availability:
    • Applicants can access guidance from the Online Manual, the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, and the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
    • Support is also available through the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs) in EU Member States and Associated Countries, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) (especially for SMEs), and the IT Helpdesk for technical issues.
    • Assistance with intellectual property issues is provided by the European IPR Helpdesk.
    • A Partner Search tool is available to help find suitable consortium partners.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals for this grant are evaluated based on standard Horizon Europe procedures, with external independent experts assessing three main criteria:
  • Excellence: This evaluates the quality and soundness of the proposed activities, the clarity of objectives, the appropriateness of the methodology, and the overall scientific and technical ambition.
  • Expected Impact: This assesses the proposal's potential to contribute significantly to the grant's objectives. Key impact areas include:
    • Strengthening robust, interconnected, and inclusive innovation ecosystems across the EU.
    • Promoting the scalability potential of businesses, including deep tech companies.
    • Enhancing the capacity of public procurers for PCP and PPI.
    • Increasing the amount of PCP and PPI taking place nationally and transnationally.
    • Enhancing awareness among companies (especially startups and SMEs) about innovation procurement opportunities.
    • Increasing the recognition of the strategic importance of PCP and PPI by policymakers.
    • Expanding and intensifying innovation procurement support measures across Europe.
    • Fostering cross-border network connectivity, inter-regional collaboration, increased innovation co-investments, and improved innovation policy coordination.
  • Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation: This criterion examines the quality of the work plan, the appropriateness of the resources allocated, the proposed management structures, and the overall feasibility of the project. Experts with financial know-how will also check the budget estimate to ensure that the proposed resources are sufficient and appropriately distributed to achieve the activities and expected outputs.

Compliance & Special Requirements

This grant includes several compliance obligations and unique aspects that applicants should be aware of:
  • Regulatory Compliance: All activities must comply with Horizon Europe rules, particularly those outlined in the Work Programme General Annexes, and the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
  • Data Protection and Privacy: While not explicitly detailed in the provided documents, adherence to EU data protection and privacy regulations (such as GDPR) is implicitly required for all Horizon Europe projects.
  • Ethical Standards: Ethical considerations and standards are a crucial aspect, and compliance in this area will be a focus of post-award checks and reviews.
  • Intellectual Property Policies: The management of intellectual property (IP) generated by the project is subject to Horizon Europe rules and will be reviewed post-award. Applicants should be prepared to address IP strategies in their proposals.
  • Specific Qualifications: A key requirement is that eligible 'competence centers' must have a formal mandate from the government of a Member State or Associated Country and a national legal basis to promote innovation procurement. This ensures institutional backing and legitimacy.
  • Risk Management: While not a separate section, the lump sum funding model shifts financial risk management to a focus on technical implementation and achievement of work package deliverables. Failure to meet work package conditions can lead to non-payment.
  • Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities:
    • Lump Sum Funding: This is a significant simplification, removing the burden of detailed cost reporting and financial ex-post audits, allowing beneficiaries to focus on achieving project outputs.
    • Specific Consortium Composition: The precise requirement for a mix of existing and new national competence centers, particularly from 'emerging' or 'moderate' innovator countries, is a distinctive feature aimed at fostering innovation cohesion across Europe.
    • Synergies and Collaboration: There's a strong emphasis on leveraging and maximizing synergies with other funding sources (e.g., national, ESIF) and collaborating with established networks like the EIC business acceleration services and Enterprise Europe Network to ensure broad outreach and impact.
    • Policy Impact: The grant specifically aims to increase the recognition and integration of PCP and PPI into national policies, contributing to systemic change in public procurement practices.
    • Inclusivity and Diversity: The grant promotes an inclusive innovation model, encouraging the involvement of diverse actors from the 'quadruple helix' (industry, academia, civil society, public authorities) and less represented regions and actors.
  • Potential Challenges: Ensuring the formation of a consortium that precisely matches the requirements for existing and new competence centers, particularly regarding the geographic distribution and 'innovator' status of countries, could pose a challenge for applicants.

Grant Details

european network innovation procurement public procurement of innovative sol pre-commercial procurement pcp ppi procurement innovation policy national competence centers public procurer transnational buyer groups innovation ecosystems capacity building smes startups europe horizon europe eie digital transformation green transition societal challenges interregional collaboration lump sum funding quadruple helix
European network of national competence centers for innovation procurement
HORIZON-EIE-2026-01-CONNECT-01
Horizon Europe
PUBLIC OTHER
AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE GR HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE
OTHER
OTHER
OTHER
SDG8 SDG9 SDG11 SDG13 SDG17
CAPACITY_BUILDING NETWORKING OPERATIONAL_SUPPORT RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION_COMMERCIALIZATION
4500000.00
4500000.00
4500000.00
EUR
100.00
Jan. 20, 2026, midnight
None