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Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

  • Single, clear statement of grant's core objective: To strengthen the EU's raw materials supply chain resilience by coordinating national and regional research and innovation (R&I) programs, and by facilitating joint annual calls that provide financial support to third parties for R&I activities.
  • Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: The direct recipients are public institutions, specifically R&I program owners or funders (e.g., national/regional ministries or research funding organizations). These recipients then distribute funding to third parties, including businesses (e.g., SMEs) and research entities.
  • MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC
  • Geographic scope and any location requirements: Open to legal entities established in EU Member States, Horizon Europe associated countries, OECD countries, African Union Member States, MERCOSUR, CARIFORUM, Andean Community countries, and countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials or relevant trade agreements. Exceptionally, countries that participated in ERA-MIN 3 are also eligible.
  • Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: Focus on raw materials, particularly critical and strategic raw materials, and circularity. Applicants must be national or regional R&I program owners/funders or relevant public institutions.
  • Grant frequency and program context: This grant establishes a recurring partnership that is expected to organize joint calls for R&I activities annually from 2026 to 2032. It builds on the experience of previous ERA-NETs (ERA-MIN, ERA-MIN 2, ERA-MIN 3) and aims to contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act.

Financial Structure

  • Total indicative budget for the partnership: EUR 300 million.
  • EU contribution limited to 30% of the total eligible costs of the action.
  • Maximum EU contribution for this specific grant: EUR 90 million.
  • The grant is a 'Co-funded Partnership' type, where the primary activity involves the beneficiaries providing financial support to third parties in the form of grants.
  • The standard EUR 60,000 threshold for financial support to third parties (FSTP) does not apply for this action.
  • The maximum amount of FSTP to be granted to an individual third party by the partnership is EUR 2 million.
  • Partners (the applicant institutions) are expected to provide financial and/or in-kind contributions, consistent with the ambition level of their proposed measures.
  • Financial and operational capacity requirements are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes (not fully provided).
  • Legal and financial set-up of the grants, including indirect cost policies, are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes (not fully provided).

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type & Role
  • Applicant must be a public institution, specifically an R&I program owner or funder at the national, regional, or local level.
  • Relevant Ministries and public institutions responsible for raw materials and R&I policy are also eligible to participate.
  • The coordinator role of the action is strictly limited to public institutions that are R&I program owners or funders.
  • The grant mechanism involves the applicant partnership providing financial support to third parties (e.g., businesses, research entities, including SMEs and other organizations that perform R&I).
Geographic Eligibility
  • Legal entities must be established in one of the following:
    • EU Member States (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)
    • Horizon Europe Associated Countries (AL, BA, GE, IS, IL, LI, MD, ME, MK, NO, RS, TR, UA, UK)
    • OECD countries (AU, CA, CL, CO, CR, JP, KR, MX, NZ, US)
    • African Union Member States (DZ, AO, BJ, BW, BF, BI, CV, CM, CF, TD, KM, CG, CI, CD, DJ, EG, GQ, ER, SZ, ET, GA, GM, GH, GN, GW, KE, LS, LR, LY, MG, MW, ML, MR, MU, MA, MZ, NA, NE, NG, RW, ST, SN, SC, SL, SO, ZA, SS, SD, TZ, TG, TN, UG, ZM, ZW)
    • MERCOSUR countries (AR, BR, PY, UY)
    • CARIFORUM countries (AG, BS, BB, BZ, DM, DO, GD, GY, HT, JM, KN, LC, VC, SR, TT)
    • Andean Community countries (CO, EC, PE)
    • Countries with which the EU has concluded strategic partnerships on raw materials (AR, AU, CA, CL, CD, GL, KZ, NA, NO, RW, RS, UA, UZ, ZM)
    • Countries with EU trade agreements (or association/economic partnership or equivalent agreements, including the new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships) containing raw materials cooperation provisions.
  • Exceptionally, legal entities established in countries that participated in ERA-MIN 3 are eligible for Union funding (BE, BR, BG, CA, CZ, EE, FI, FR, DE, IE, IT, PL, PT, RO, SK, SI, ZA, ES, SE, TR).
  • Proposals including legal entities not established in the countries meeting the above criteria will be deemed ineligible.
Other Conditions
  • Proposals must adhere to page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
  • If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must primarily make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Application Process

Application Timeline
  • Submission Deadline: 2025-09-23 00:00:00+00 (UTC).
  • Submission session opened on 2025-05-22.
  • Grant agreement starting date may be as of the submission date of the application; justification for a retroactive starting date is required.
  • Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Application Procedure & Format
  • The application process is a single-stage submission.
  • Application forms specific to this call are available in the Electronic Submission System.
  • Standard application form (HE COFUND) must be used.
  • To access the Electronic Submission Service, applicants must use an EU Login account. As of 2025-07-01, authentication by SMS is no longer possible; applicants must set up a more secure alternative.
  • Existing draft proposals can be accessed by logging into the Funding & Tenders Portal and selecting the 'My Proposals' page in the 'My Area' section.
Required Documentation
  • Proposals must adhere to the page limits and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Further layout details are provided in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
Project Implementation & Reporting
  • The partnership is expected to organize joint calls for R&I activities on an annual basis from 2026 to 2032.
  • The grant duration parameters and specific reporting schedules are not explicitly detailed in the provided text but would follow general Horizon Europe requirements.
Support and Guidance
  • Online Resources:
    • Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual (guide on procedures).
    • Horizon Europe Programme Guide (detailed guidance on structure, budget, priorities).
    • Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ (answers to common questions).
    • Model Grant Agreements (MGA) and call-specific instructions.
    • Information on financial support to third parties (HE).
    • Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2025 (General Introduction, Digital, Industry and Space, General Annexes), HE Framework Programme 2021/695, HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement.
  • Assistance Services:
    • Research Enquiry Service (for general European research questions).
    • National Contact Points (NCPs) for guidance and practical information.
    • Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) for advice, particularly for SMEs.
    • IT Helpdesk (for technical issues with the Portal).
    • European IPR Helpdesk (for intellectual property issues).
    • CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk (for standardisation advice).
    • Partner Search tools to find collaborating organizations.

Evaluation Criteria

General Award Criteria
  • Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are detailed in Annex D of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Evaluation and award processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Expected Impact
  • Supply Security & Access: Projects should enable achieving impacts by increasing supply security and access to primary and secondary raw materials, particularly critical and strategic ones, for EU industrial value chains and strategic sectors.
  • Policy Alignment: Proposals are expected to align national R&I priorities in raw materials with EU raw materials policy.
  • International Cooperation: Strengthening EU cooperation with countries where the EU has established strategic partnerships on Raw Materials.
  • Sustainability & Environment: Demonstrable improvements in industrial viability, safety, and environmental impacts of operations.
  • Diversification: Contributing to improved EU sourcing diversification of critical raw materials from third countries.
  • Responsible Supply: Ensuring raw materials supply to Europe is responsible and in line with EU principles for sustainable raw materials (COM(2023) 165).
  • Dissemination & Exploitation: Project outputs should be disseminated and exploited in a manner tailored for raw materials organizations and industry within the EU and project partner countries from Strategic Partnerships.
  • Standardization: Promoting the utilization of UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification for Resources) and UNRMS (United Nations Resource Management System) in the raw materials sector.
  • EU Act Implementation: Actions are expected to contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252), particularly its 2030 benchmarks.
  • Business Case & Exploitation Strategy: For topics where relevant, proposals must include a credible business case and exploitation strategy for industrialisation (relevant for TRLs 6 and 7). This should demonstrate:
    • Expected impact on market opportunities for participants and deployment in the EU (short to medium term).
    • Clear description of targeted markets, estimated market size (EU and global), user/customer needs.
    • Demonstration that solutions match market and user needs cost-effectively.
    • Description of expected market position and competitive advantage.
    • Identification of obstacles, requirements, and actions to reach higher TRLs (e.g., securing investments, accessing skills, matching value chains, enhancing product robustness, securing industrial integrators, user acceptance).
    • A credible strategy for future full-scale deployment in the EU, indicating industrial partners' intentions post-project.
  • SME Support: Projects should include strong support for SMEs to thrive within the materials ecosystem.
  • Data Contribution: Consortia may consider voluntary contributions of data, indicators, and knowledge to relevant Joint Research Centre (JRC) platforms (INCITE, EIGL) for capitalizing knowledge and policy relevance.
Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation
  • Joint Programme: Implementation through a joint program of activities spanning research, coordination, and networking, including training, demonstration, piloting, and dissemination.
  • R&I Uptake: Facilitating further uptake and commercialisation of developed R&I results.
  • Knowledge Management: Clustering projects and synthesising R&I results; coordinating research programs between EU, Member States, and participating third countries; serving as a centre for knowledge on partner countries’ R&I programmes in raw materials.
  • Policy Alignment: Measures contributing to the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act and EU raw materials policy.
  • Partnership Flexibility: The partnership should be open to including new partners over its lifetime.
  • Governance: Governance structures should ensure clear and transparent processes for engaging a broad range of stakeholders.
  • Synergies: Fostering close cooperation and synergies with projects funded under Cluster 4 Digital, Industry and Space, and other relevant European initiatives/funding programs/platforms (e.g., EIT Raw Materials).

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Policy Compliance
  • Actions are expected to contribute to the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252), particularly its 2030 benchmarks.
  • Responsible supply of raw materials should be in line with the EU principles for sustainable raw materials (COM(2023) 165).
Environmental & Technical Standards
  • Sea mining is explicitly excluded from the scope of this topic.
  • New chemicals and materials should be developed using the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, prioritizing efficiency and circularity.
  • If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data/services may also be used).
Partnership & Cooperation Requirements
  • The partnership is designed to strengthen coordination of national and regional research programs in non-energy/non-agricultural raw materials.
  • It should ensure a common understanding of R&I challenges related to the Critical Raw Materials Act.
  • The partnership should be open to including new partners throughout its lifetime.
  • Its governance must create a clear and transparent process for engaging a broad range of stakeholders, ensuring strategic coverage of diverse views.
  • Expected to foster close cooperation and synergies with projects funded under Cluster 4 Digital, Industry and Space.
  • Should develop synergies with other relevant European initiatives, funding programs, and platforms, such as EIT Raw Materials.
Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP)
  • Providing financial support to third parties is a primary activity of this action, essential for achieving its objectives.
  • The EUR 60,000 threshold for FSTP provided in Article 208(a) of the Financial Regulation does not apply.
  • The maximum amount of FSTP to be granted to an individual third party is EUR 2 million for activities funded under this specific topic.
Innovation and Industrialisation
  • Proposals should demonstrate expected outcomes by including a business case and exploitation strategy for industrialisation for TRLs (Technology Readiness Levels) 6 and 7. These are decisive factors under the impact criterion.
  • This strategy should cover market analysis, user needs, cost-effectiveness, competitive advantage, and a credible plan for future full-scale deployment in the EU.
Data and Knowledge Sharing
  • Consortia (if funded) could consider voluntary contributions in terms of data, indicators, and knowledge to relevant Joint Research Centre (JRC) platforms, specifically INCITE (INnovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions) and EIGL (Energy and Industry Geography Lab), to capitalize on knowledge and enhance policy relevance.

Grant Details

raw materials critical raw materials strategic raw materials green transition digital transition circular economy recycling exploration extraction processing chemicals innovative materials sustainable supply research and innovation r&i co-funded partnership eu funding horizon europe industrial value chains strategic sectors unfc unrms era-net sme support innovation technology climate-neutral industrial technologies environmental impact supply chain resilience europe international cooperation social impact economic impact public institutions research organisations universities ministries copernicus galileo egnos safe and sustainable by design ssbd eit raw materials sustainability trl 6 trl 7 industrialisation
EU Co-funded Partnership on raw materials for the green and digital transition (Co-funded partnership Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition)
HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-MATERIALS-64
Horizon Europe
PUBLIC UNIVERSITY 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 AL BA GE IS IL LI MD ME MK NO RS TR UA UK AU CA CL CO CR JP KR MX NZ US DZ AO BJ BW BF BI CV CM CF TD KM CG CI CD DJ EG GQ ER SZ ET GA GM GH GN GW KE LS LR LY MG MW ML MR MU MA MZ NA NE NG RW ST SN SC SL SO ZA SS SD TZ TG TN UG ZM ZW AR PY UY AG BS BB BZ DM DO GD GY HT JM KN LC VC SR TT EC PE GL KZ UZ
MANUFACTURING ENERGY ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGY OTHER
DEVELOPMENT EARLY_MARKET GROWTH OTHER
OTHER
SDG9 SDG12 SDG13 SDG15 SDG17
FUNDING RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY_BUILDING NETWORKING TRAINING_EDUCATION PILOT_PROJECTS INNOVATION_COMMERCIALIZATION
90000000.00
90000000.00
90000000.00
EUR
30.00
Sept. 23, 2025, midnight
None