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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant is a preparatory action designed to help diverse innovation actors and authorities within Member States and Associated Countries come together. Its core objective is to facilitate the co-planning, co-implementation, and co-investment in joint multi-annual programs and action plans aimed at strengthening Europe's innovation ecosystems. The goal is to make these ecosystems more dynamic, inclusive, and connected, aligning with EU-level priorities like the New European Innovation Agenda, Green Deal, and digital transformation. - Target recipients: National, regional, and local authorities involved in innovation policies, along with a broad range of research and innovation actors from the 'quadruple helix' (industry, academia, civil society, public authorities). - Target size: The grant does not specify size restrictions for participating entities, but explicitly mentions 'startups' and 'SMEs' as potential actors. - SECTOR-AGNOSTIC but focused on innovation. - Geographic scope: Member States of the European Union and countries associated with Horizon Europe. Projects must involve at least three independent legal entities from three different eligible countries, with representation from both 'moderate'/'emerging' and 'strong'/'innovation leader' innovator regions. - Key filtering criteria: Focus on strengthening innovation ecosystems, promoting interconnections, and aligning with EU strategic priorities. Must involve a consortium with diverse geographic and innovation performance representation. - Grant frequency: Part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, suggesting a recurring programmatic context within this framework.

Financial Structure

Budget Range: Each grant awarded under this topic will be EUR 1,000,000.
Total Topic Budget: The total budget allocated for this topic is EUR 5,000,000, with an expectation of funding 5 grants.
Funding Type: The grant is provided in the form of a lump sum contribution. Payments are tied to the proper implementation of defined work packages, not to actual incurred costs.
Eligible Costs for Estimation: Applicants must propose the lump sum based on estimated direct and indirect costs, broken down by work package and beneficiary. Estimated costs can include: Personnel costs, Subcontracting costs, Purchase costs (travel, equipment, other goods, works, and services), and Other cost categories (including financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, transnational/virtual access to research infrastructure, PCP/PPI procurement, Euratom Cofund staff mobility, ERC additional funding).
Indirect Cost Policy: Indirect costs are calculated using a 25% flat rate applied to eligible direct cost categories and are included in the lump sum calculation.
Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP): Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties, but this can only be in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60,000.
Co-financing Principles: Proposals must demonstrate that the total estimated costs of the action are greater than the estimated Union contributions, ensuring compliance with co-financing principles.
Payment Mechanism: Lump sum contributions for work packages will be paid upon proper implementation. If conditions for a work package are not met, the payment for that work package is withheld until conditions are met or the grant is reduced accordingly.
Financial Guarantees: Pre-financing follows standard Horizon Europe rules, with between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum retained as contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism (this is a general rule, not a direct guarantee from the applicant).
Financial Reporting: There is no requirement to report actual costs. Audits and checks will focus on the technical implementation and fulfillment of work package conditions.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Structure

Eligible organization types include: 'national, regional and/or local authorities in charge of innovation policies and programmes', 'research and innovation actors'.
Proposals must involve 'varied innovation actors from the quadruple helix', such as 'individual inventors', 'industry', 'startups', 'scaleups', 'SMEs investors', 'innovation hubs', 'business associations', 'clusters', 'public and private buyers of innovative solutions', 'citizens', and 'civil society organisations'.
Consortium Requirement: Participation of at least three (3) independent legal entities from three (3) different Member States or Associated Countries is mandatory.

Geographic Location Requirements

At least one (1) entity must be established in a 'moderate' or 'emerging' innovator region.
At least one (1) entity must be established in a 'strong' or 'innovation leader' innovator region.
The 'Regional Innovation Scoreboard' and 'European Innovation Scoreboard' are used as reference for innovation ranking. Associated Countries not in the EIS and ranked below 25 on the latest 'Global Innovation Index' are considered 'moderate' or 'emerging' innovators.
For Associated Countries not in any mentioned references, their Horizon Europe participation rank (below average) will determine if they are 'moderate' or 'emerging'.

Specific Qualifications and Experience

Entities should be capable of preparing joint multi-annual programmes of activities and action plans to strengthen innovation ecosystems.

Exclusion Criteria

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes (details not provided in this document).

Application Process

Application Process Overview

The application process is single-stage.
Application forms, including the specific form for this call, are available in the Submission System.

Submission Window and Deadlines

Opening Date: 2025-05-14
Submission Deadline: 2025-10-15 00:00:00+00

Required Documentation and Materials

Proposals must adhere to page limits and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, and Part B of the Application Form.
Applicants must provide a detailed budget proposal, breaking down the lump sum contribution by work package and by each beneficiary/affiliated entity.
The proposal must include a declaration that beneficiaries have followed their own accounting practices for budget estimation.

Evaluation Process

Evaluation will be conducted according to standard Horizon Europe procedures with external independent experts.
Experts will assess the quality of proposals based on excellence, expected impact, and quality/efficiency of implementation.
Financial experts will review the budget estimate per work package, assessing if proposed resources align with activities and expected outputs.
Budgetary adjustments may be recommended by experts and implemented during grant preparation.

Project Implementation Timeline

Project Duration: Applicants are encouraged to propose a project duration of 12 to 18 months for the preparatory action.
Long-term Planning: The proposed joint long-term action plan resulting from this preparatory action should plan for at least three (3) years of future cooperation activities.
Implementation Scope: The grant itself is for the preparatory action (e.g., fostering dialogue, setting up action plans). The actual implementation of the proposed long-term action plans is generally not part of this specific topic, unless a project uses Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) schemes for pilot testing.

Reporting and Compliance Obligations

Payments are contingent upon the proper implementation of work packages as defined in the grant agreement.
Checks, reviews, and audits will focus on the technical implementation and completion of work packages, as well as adherence to other grant agreement aspects like ethics, research integrity, dissemination, exploitation, IP management, and gender equality.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation and award criteria are primarily described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes and Annex F for submission and evaluation processes (not provided in this document). However, the scope and expected outcomes provide strong indicators for what will be assessed: Quality and Relevance of the Proposed Joint Programmes

Alignment with EU Priorities: Proposals must identify areas of cooperation that align with one or more EU priorities, including 'burning challenges' from the New European Innovation Agenda, the Green Deal, RePowerEU Plan, circularity, digital transformation, biotechnology, and advanced materials.
Long-term Action Plan: Proposals should plan for a minimum of three (3) years of joint cooperation activities.
EU Added Value and Scalability: Justification for joint activities must demonstrate strong EU added value and potential for growth and competitiveness at the European level.
Synergies: Proposals should clearly explain how action plans enhance synergies between EU, national, and/or regional funds and programmes, and how they encourage alignment of innovation agendas.
Methodology and Approach: A clear, open, realistic, and impact-oriented process for preparing the joint action plan must be presented, including relevant guidance mechanisms and tools.
Common Knowledge Assets: Expected common knowledge assets from the proposed action plans and their benefit to intended beneficiaries must be articulated.

Impact and Expected Outcomes

Ecosystem Strengthening: Contribution to strengthening interconnected, inclusive, and efficient innovation ecosystems across the EU, drawing on existing strengths and engaging less-represented stakeholders and territories.
Cross-border Connectivity: Enhancement of cross-border network connectivity and inter-regional collaboration for improved innovation performance.
Capacity Building: Contribution to enhanced capacity building, experience sharing, and cooperation to foster wider implementation of innovation procurement.
Innovation Co-investments: Increase in innovation co-investments and leveraging of other funding sources.
Policy Coordination: Improvement of innovation policy coordination and networking activities among Member States and Associated Countries through bodies like the EIC Forum.

Inclusivity and Diversity

Quadruple Helix Involvement: Proposals must ensure inclusivity and diversity by involving varied innovation actors from the quadruple helix, including industry, academia, civil society, and public authorities, as well as startups, SMEs, investors, innovation hubs, etc.
Gender Equality: Proposals should explicitly take into account gender equality objectives.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Ethical Compliance

General Conditions: Adherence to general conditions for Horizon Europe grants, including those described in Annexes A, B, C, D, F, and G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Lump Sum Rules: Compliance with the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorizing the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme. This means payments are based on completed work packages, not actual incurred costs.
Ethical Standards: Projects must comply with ethical standards and research integrity principles.
Gender Equality: Proposals must explicitly take into account gender equality objectives, aligning with Horizon Europe regulations and the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025.

Intellectual Property (IP) Policies

Management of intellectual property is an aspect subject to checks and compliance during the grant period.

Risk Management and Security

Not explicitly detailed in the provided text, but generally required for Horizon Europe projects.

Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities

Focus on "Preparatory Action": This grant is specifically for setting the groundwork (dialogue, mapping, action plan finalization) for future joint innovation programs, not for the full implementation of those programs.
Quadruple Helix Inclusion: Strong emphasis on involving a diverse range of innovation actors, including public authorities, industry, academia, and civil society, with a focus on inclusivity and diversity.
Regional Innovation Scoreboard: Use of regional innovation performance (moderate/emerging vs. strong/innovation leader) as a criterion for consortium composition fosters balanced regional development.
Synergies with EU Initiatives: Proposals are encouraged to seek synergies with other EU funding programs (e.g., Cohesion Policy funds, Recovery and Resilience Fund, EU's External Action instruments) and relevant policy initiatives like the New European Innovation Agenda, Green Deal, RePowerEU Plan, Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, Growth Plan for Moldova, and the Ukraine Plan.
Pilot Schemes with FSTP: Possibility to design and test pilot schemes using non-compulsory financial support to third parties (FSTP) for specific actions, up to EUR 60,000 per third party.

Grant Details