Grants8 | The most comprehensive grants search on the web

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant, part of the Horizon Europe programme, aims to accelerate the adoption and market entry of mature digital technological solutions developed by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) within the civil security sector. Its core objective is to facilitate access to the civil security market for small innovators, improve collaboration between public buyers and small suppliers, and strengthen partnerships to ensure the sustainability of EU innovation capacity and reduce technological dependencies. This is a SECTOR-SPECIFIC grant focusing on civil security, specifically addressing EU security policy priorities like fighting crime and terrorism, disaster resilience, resilient infrastructure, and border management. The target recipients are consortia primarily led by SMEs, involving civil security end-users. Geographically, it targets entities in EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Financial Structure

Funding Type

This grant uses a lump sum contribution funding model. This means the grant amount is a fixed sum agreed upon at the start, based on an estimated budget, and payments are tied to the completion of pre-defined work packages, not to actual incurred costs.

Funding Amounts

Minimum Grant Amount per Project: 1,500,000 EUR
Maximum Grant Amount per Project: 1,500,000 EUR
Currency: EUR
Total Topic Budget: 3,000,000 EUR (This budget is for two expected grants under this specific topic).

Eligible and Ineligible Costs

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum approximation of beneficiaries’ underlying actual costs, including:
- Personnel costs: Employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons, SME owners, natural person beneficiaries.
- Subcontracting costs.
- Purchase costs: Travel and subsistence, equipment (depreciation or capitalised), other goods, works, and services.
- Other cost categories: Financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, transnational access to research infrastructure costs, virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement costs, Euratom Cofund staff mobility costs, ERC additional funding.
Costs that are ineligible under the general Horizon Europe rules cannot be included.

Indirect Costs

A 25% flat rate for indirect costs is applied to direct cost categories that qualify for indirect cost calculation under Horizon Europe rules. This is included in the lump sum calculation.

Co-financing and Cost-Sharing

The co-financing principle is ensured during evaluation by checking that the total estimated costs of the action are greater than the estimated Union contributions.

Payment Schedule

Lump sum contributions per work package are paid to the coordinator upon proper implementation of the corresponding work packages, assuming all other grant agreement obligations are met.
Payments do not depend on costs actually incurred.
If conditions for a work package are not met in a reporting period, payment for that work package is withheld but can be paid in a subsequent period if conditions are then met. If never met, the grant amount is reduced.

Financial Guarantees

Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organization Types

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): These are the primary target and must constitute a significant part of the consortium and budget.
End-user organizations: Must be active in one of these four areas:
- 'Fighting Organised Crime and Terrorism'
- 'Disaster-Resilient Society'
- 'Resilient Infrastructure'
- 'Border Management'
Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs): Defined as non-profit organizations focused on producing, integrating, and combining knowledge, skills, and infrastructures for R&D activities in collaboration with public and industrial partners of all sizes.
Non-SME industries: Defined as large industries with more than 250 employees that often carry out national and international transactions with significant economic influence. (Note: MIDCAPs are also mentioned as potential coordinators).

Consortium Requirements

Mandatory Consortium: Applications must be submitted by a consortium.
Size: A minimum of three (3) to a maximum of seven (7) partners.
SME Inclusion: Must include at least two (2) SMEs from two (2) different Member States.
End-user Inclusion: Must include at least one (1) end-user organization in the specified civil security areas.
Budget Allocation:
- At least 50% of the total project budget must be allocated to SMEs.
- Participation of non-SME industries and RTOs is allowed, but their combined share must be limited to 15% of the total project budget.
Coordinator: It is encouraged that one SME takes the coordinating role. Exceptions to this requirement, such as a MIDCAP coordinating, must be duly justified.

Geographic Eligibility

Organizations from EU Member States and Associated Countries are eligible for funding.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects (refer to Horizon Europe Programme Guide for details).

Project Duration

Projects should have a maximum estimated duration of two (2) years.

Application Process

Submission Procedure: This is a single-stage submission process.
Submission Platform: Applications must be submitted online via the Funding & Tenders Portal submission system.
Authentication: Applicants will need to sign in using their EU Login account or other third-party sign-in options.

Application Deadlines

Submission Deadline: 2025-11-12 00:00:00 UTC+0000.
Submission Opening Date: The submission session became available on 2025-06-12.

Required Documentation

Application Form: Applicants must complete the standard application form specific to this call (HE RIA, IA) in the submission system.
Annex 'Information about security practitioners': This annex must be filled in with all requested information using the template provided in the submission IT tool. Applicants are responsible for justifying how each project beneficiary fulfills the additional eligibility conditions related to security practitioners.
Detailed Budget Table: A specific detailed budget table for lump sums (HE LS) must be used to propose the amount of the lump sum, showing a breakdown per work package and per beneficiary/affiliated entity.

Project Implementation & Reporting

Project Duration: Projects should have a maximum estimated duration of two (2) years.
Reporting: While there is no obligation to report actual costs incurred, monitoring and evaluation will focus on the technical implementation of the action and the fulfillment of conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package.

Application Assistance & Support

A comprehensive suite of support is available, including:
- Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, and Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
- Research Enquiry Service and National Contact Points (NCPs).
- Enterprise Europe Network for SME-specific advice.
- IT Helpdesk for technical submission issues.
- European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property matters.
- CEN-CENELEC and ETSI Research Helpdesks for standardisation guidance.
- The European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their recruitment.
- A Partner Search tool to help find suitable consortium members.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the standard Horizon Europe criteria: excellence, expected impact, and quality and efficiency of the implementation. Specific Scoring Factors:

Technical Solution Maturity: Emphasis on developing a mature digital technological solution that addresses EU security policy priorities in the Cluster 3 areas (fighting crime and terrorism, disaster resilient societies, border management, resilient infrastructure).
Collaboration & Partnerships:
- Fostering collaboration between SMEs from different Member States and Associated Countries.
- Involving security end-users in the role of validator and potential first-adopter of the proposed innovations.
- Fostering collaboration schemes between small companies and RTOs and/or big industrial players to promote innovative technology transfer or create innovative business models that facilitate market access and strengthen EU SME innovation capacity in civil security.
Market Uptake & Exploitation: Expected to contribute to facilitating access to the civil security market for small innovators, improving cooperation between public buyers and small supply market actors for swifter uptake of innovation, and strengthening partnerships for sustainability of EU innovation capacity and reducing technological dependencies.
Budget Justification: Experts with financial knowledge will check the budget estimate based on benchmarks (e.g., market prices, statistical data, historical data) to assess if proposed resources and lump sum breakdown adequately support the planned activities and expected outputs. Proposals should demonstrate that the detailed cost estimation for each work package and beneficiary aligns with eligible costs and their own accounting practices.
Quality Thresholds: Eligible proposals that exceed all evaluation thresholds will be awarded a STEP Seal.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Projects must adhere to the Horizon Europe Programme rules and guidelines.
Compliance with the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 is required.
Regulatory compliance for various aspects like permits and authorizations is implied by the general Horizon Europe framework.

Lump Sum Specific Requirements

This grant operates under a lump sum funding model, which significantly simplifies financial management by removing the obligation for beneficiaries to document actual costs incurred.
However, payments are strictly contingent on the proper implementation of work packages as defined in the grant agreement. Technical checks, reviews, or audits will verify the completion of work packages.
Beneficiaries are still subject to accounting rules under applicable national law.

Strategic Alignment

This topic contributes directly to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), specifically focusing on 'Digital technologies and deep-tech innovation'. Projects are expected to boost investment in critical technologies in Europe and help reduce the Union's strategic dependencies on non-EU suppliers in critical security areas.

Security Practitioners Information

Applicants must explain and justify how each project beneficiary fulfills the 'additional eligibility conditions' related to 'security practitioners'. A dedicated 'Information about security practitioners' annex template is provided within the submission IT tool that must be completed.

Intellectual Property (IP) and Data

While specific policies are not detailed in the provided text, IP management is mentioned as a focus point for checks during the grant implementation. Applicants should be aware of and comply with Horizon Europe's general IP policies.
Data protection and privacy regulations are generally applicable under Horizon Europe projects.

Grant Details