Artikelen bij COM(2025)543 - Horizon Europe, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, for the period 2028-2034 laying down its rules for participation and dissemination

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dossier COM(2025)543 - Horizon Europe, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, for the period 2028-2034 laying down its rules for ...
document COM(2025)543 EN
datum 16 juli 2025


Title I – The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation

Chapter I

General Provisions

Inhoudsopgave

Article 1 - Subject matter

1.This Regulation establishes Horizon Europe - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (the ‘Programme’) for the period of the Multiannual Financial Framework (the ‘MFF’) 2028-2034 and sets out the rules for participation and dissemination concerning indirect actions under the Programme and determines the framework governing the Union support for Research and Innovation activities for the same duration. It also lays down the objectives of the Programme and its budget for that period, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding. 

2.The Programme shall be implemented through:

(a)the Specific Programme established by Council Decision XX including the collaborative research activities of the policy windows as set out in the European Competitive Fund Regulation.

(b)the Specific Programme on defence research established by Regulation (EU)[XXX] [European Competitiveness Fund].

3.This Regulation shall not apply to the Specific Programme on defence research referred to in paragraph 2, point (b). Activities to be carried out under this Specific Programme and which are laid down in Regulation (EU)[XXX][European Competitiveness Fund] shall aim to foster the competitiveness, efficiency and innovation capacity of the European defence technological and industrial base.

4.The terms Horizon Europe, ‘the Programme’ and ‘Specific Programme’ used in this Regulation refer to matters relevant only to the Specific Programme referred to in paragraph 2, point (a), unless otherwise specified.

Article 2 - Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)‘research infrastructures’ are facilities that provide resources and services to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields;

(2)‘technology infrastructures’ are facilities, equipment, capabilities and resources required to develop, test, upscale and validate technology - from pre-competitive applied research services up to demonstration and validation;

(3)‘non-bankable’ means that the legal entity is not yet able to attract sufficient investment to fully implement its business plan and compete internationally;

(4)‘blended finance’ means financial support provided under the European Innovation Council (‘EIC’) consisting of a combination of a grant and an investment;

(5)‘deep tech’ means an innovation with the potential to deliver transformative solutions and that is based on cutting-edge advances in science, technology and engineering;

(6)‘European Partnership’ means an initiative, where the Union together with private and/or public partners commit to jointly supporting the development, implementation and evaluation of a programme of activities, and where the costs are shared between all partners;

(7)‘open access’ means online access to results, provided free to the end user;

(8)‘open science’ means an approach to the scientific process that includes early and open sharing of research, open access to and responsible management of results, reproducibility measures, and involving citizens and end users in research and innovation;

(9)‘pre-commercial procurement' means the public or private procurement of research and development services involving risk-benefit sharing under market conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation of the research and development services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products;

(10)‘procurement of innovative solutions' means public or private procurement where procurers act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services which are not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformity testing;

(11)‘background' means any data, knowledge or know how whatever its form or nature, tangible or intangible, including any rights such as intellectual property rights, that is held prior to the accession to a given action;

(12)‘valorisation’ means the use of results in further activities other than those covered by the action concerned, including commercial deployment;

(13)‘international European research organisation' means an international organisation, the majority of whose members are Member States or associated countries, whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe;

(14)‘for profit legal entities’ means a legal entity which by its legal form is for profit making or which has a legal or statutory purpose to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members;

(15)‘small or medium-sized enterprise’ or ‘SME’ means a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC 16 ;

(16)‘small mid-cap’ means a small mid-cap enterprise as defined in point 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/1099 17 ;

(17)‘results’ means any tangible or intangible outcome of a given action, such as data, knowledge or know-how, whatever its form or nature and whether or not it can be protected, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights;

(18)‘ERC frontier research action’ means a principal investigator-led research action, including ERC Proof of Concept, hosted by single or multiple beneficiaries receiving funding from the European Research Council (ERC);

(19)‘research and training action’ means an action geared towards the improvement of the skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers, promoting mobility between countries, sectors or disciplines;

(20)‘coordination and support action’ means an action contributing to the objectives of the Programme, excluding research and innovation (R&I) activities, except when undertaken under the component widening participation and spreading excellence of the part IV ’European Research Area’; and bottom-up coordination without co-funding of research activities from the Union that allows for cooperation between legal entities from Member States and associated countries in order to strengthen the ERA;

(21)‘indirect actions’ means R&I related activities to which the Union provides financial support and which are undertaken by participants;

(22)‘direct actions’ means R&I related activities undertaken by the Commission through its JRC;

(23)‘innovation ecosystem’ means an ecosystem which brings together at Union level organisations whose functional goal is to enable technology development and innovation and which encompasses relations between material resources (such as funds, equipment, and facilities, including research and technology infrastructures), institutional entities (such as higher education institutions and support services, research and technology organisations, companies, investors - including venture capitalists - and financial intermediaries) and national, regional and local policy-making and funding entities.

(24)‘knowledge triangle’ means the creation of networks between education institutions, research organisations and business with the aim to create innovation ecosystems that cater for the creation of an innovation pipeline from the inception of innovation through entrepreneurial education to the creation of startups and the growth of scale-ups.

Article 3 - Programme objectives

1.In line with the general and specific objectives of the European Competitiveness Fund, the Programme shall strengthen the EU’s competitiveness, scientific technological base, and address global challenges based on excellent research and innovation.

2.The specific objectives of the Programme are:

–Create high-quality knowledge, skills and attractive careers for researchers and support the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA).

–Increase EU-wide and international collaborative research, knowledge sharing and valorisation. 

–Align EU, national and regional priorities to create a pan-European research and innovation ecosystem. 

–Reduce national and regional disparities in research and innovation capacity, skills, and talent to strengthen innovation ecosystems. 

–Improve the Union’s position in innovation, with a specific focus on strategic technologies and disruptive innovation, facilitate the diffusion of innovative solutions through standardisation activities to foster competitiveness and address key societal challenges.

–De-risk and mobilise more private research and innovation financing, particularly for supporting deep tech and the scaling up of innovative startups and SMEs. 

–Contribute to increasing public and private investment in research and innovation in Member States, thereby contributing to reach an overall expenditure of at least 3% of Union Gross Domestic Product (‘GDP’) in research and development. 

Article 4 - Programme structure

3.For the purposes of the Specific Programme referred to in Article 1(2), the Programme shall be structured in parts as follows, which contribute to the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3 and the policy windows of Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund]:

(a)Part I ‘Excellent Science’, with the following components, in particular:

(i)the European Research Council (ERC);

(ii)Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

(iii)Science for Union policies: non-nuclear direct actions of the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

(b)Part II ‘Competitiveness and Society’, with the following components, in particular:

i) ‘Competitiveness’, including research and innovation activities in support of policies under the European Competitiveness Fund, such as:

(1)collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter IV ‘Clean Transition and Industrial Decarbonisation’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

(2)collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter V ‘Health, Biotech, Agriculture and Bioeconomy’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

(3)collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter VI ‘Digital Leadership’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

(4)collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter VII ‘Resilience and Security, Defence Industry and Space’ of the European Competitiveness Fund.

ii) ‘Society’, including research and innovation activities, such as:

(1)global societal challenges;

(2)EU Missions;

(3)the New European Bauhaus Facility;

(c)Part III ‘Innovation’, with the following components, in particular:

(i) the European Innovation Council (EIC);

(ii) Innovation ecosystems including activities to foster the integration of the knowledge triangle – higher education, research and innovation, and business – across the Union.

(d)Part IV ‘European Research Area’, with the following components, in particular:

(i)reforming and enhancing the European R&I system;

(ii)research and technology infrastructures;

(iii)widening participation and spreading excellence.

Article 5 - Horizontal principles

The Programme shall:

(a)ensure a multidisciplinary approach, where appropriate, and provide for the integration of social sciences and humanities (SSH) across all components under the Programme, including specific calls for proposals on SSH related topics.

(b)advance scientific knowledge and contribute to the creation of informed, effective, and responsive public policies across the Union and beyond. The Programme shall actively promote the use of the results of publicly funded research and of scientific evidence in policy-making processes at all levels, fostering stronger links between research, innovation, and the development of evidence-informed public policies. This shall include encouraging collaborative mechanisms, R&I initiatives and science-for-policy interfaces connecting policy makers with the scientific community, as well as facilitating the use of research outcomes in shaping future legislative and regulatory frameworks at all levels. Special emphasis shall be placed on ensuring that scientific insights are accessible and relevant to decision makers and citizens, with instruments for the effective use of research results, policy briefs, and recommendations.

(c)encourage open science practices including by ensuring open access to peer-reviewed scientific publications regarding results, as well as open access to research data and other results following the principle ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’.

Article 6 - Budget 

4.The indicative financial envelope of the Programme for the period 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2034 shall be EUR 175 002 000 000 in current prices.  

5.The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article for the Specific Programme referred to in Article 1(2)(a), shall be:  

(a)EUR 44 079 000 000 for Part I ‘Excellent Science’, of which EUR 2 600 000 000 for non-nuclear direct actions of Joint Research Centre (JRC).

(b)EUR 75 876 000 000 for Part II ‘Competitiveness and Society’, of which:

i. EUR 68 270 000 000 for ‘Competitiveness’ of which:

EUR 25 331 000 000 for collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter IV ‘Clean Transition and Industrial Decarbonisation’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

EUR 19 650 000 000 for collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter V ‘Health, Biotech, Agriculture and Bioeconomy’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

EUR 16 854 000 000 for collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter VI ‘Digital Leadership’ of the European Competitiveness Fund;

EUR 6 435 000 000 for collaborative research and innovation activities under Chapter VII ‘Resilience and Security, Defence Industry and Space’ of the European Competitiveness Fund.

ii. EUR 7 606 000 000 for ‘Society.

(c)EUR 38 785 000 000 for Part III ‘Innovation’.

(d)EUR 16 262 000 000 for Part IV ‘European Research Area’, of which EUR 5 387 000 000 for widening participation and spreading excellence.

1.The amount referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the amounts of additional resources referred to in Article 7 may also be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Programme, such as preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities,  information technology systems and platforms, information and communication activities, including corporate communication on the political priorities of the Union, and all other technical and administrative assistance or staff-related expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the Programme.  

2.If necessary to enable the management of actions not completed by 31 December 2034, appropriations may be entered in the Union budget beyond 2034 to cover the expenses necessary and to enable the management of actions not completed by the end of the Programme.  

3.Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be broken down into annual instalments over several years. 

Article 7 - Additional resources 

1.Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, third countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other third parties, may make additional financial or non-financial contributions to the Programme. Additional financial contributions shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2), points (a), (d), or (e) or Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

2.Resources allocated to Member States under shared management may, at their request, be made available to the Programme. The Commission shall implement those resources directly or indirectly in accordance with Article 62(1), point (a) or (c) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. They shall be additional to the amount referred to in Article 6(1) of this Regulation. Those resources shall be used for the benefit of the Member State concerned. Where the Commission has not entered into a legal commitment under direct or indirect management for additional amounts thus made available to the Programme, the corresponding uncommitted amounts may, at the request of the Member State concerned, be transferred back to one or more respective source programmes or their successors.

Article 8 - Alternative, combined and cumulative funding

1.The Programme shall be implemented in synergy with other Union programmes. An action that has received a Union contribution from another programme may also receive a contribution under this Programme. The rules of the relevant Union programme shall apply to the corresponding contribution or a single set of rules may be applied to all contributions and a single legal commitment may be concluded. If the Union contribution is based on eligible costs, the cumulative support from the Union budget shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action and may be calculated on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the documents setting out the conditions for support.

2.Award procedures under the Programme may be jointly conducted under direct or indirect management with Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, third countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other third parties, provided the protection of the financial interests of the Union is ensured. Such procedures shall be subject to a single set of rules and lead to the conclusion of single legal commitments. For that purpose, the partners to the joint award procedure may make resources available to the Programme in accordance with Article 7 of this Regulation, or the partners may be entrusted with the implementation of the award procedure, where applicable in accordance with Article 62(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. In joint award procedures, representatives of the partners to the joint award procedure may also be members of the evaluation committee referred to in Article 153(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509,

3.Under this programme, in addition to the conditions set out in Article 8(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund], a Competitiveness Seal shall be awarded only to high-quality actions that have not been financed under the Programme due to budgetary constraints.

4.The Member States may finance actions to which a Competitiveness Seal was awarded.

Article 9 - Third countries associated to the Programme

1.The Programme may be opened to the participation of the following third countries through full or partial association, in accordance with the objectives laid down in Article 3 and in accordance with the relevant international agreements or any decisions adopted under the framework of those agreements and applicable to: 

(a)members of the European Free Trade Association which are members of the European Economic Area, as well as European micro-states; 

(b)acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates; 

(c)European Neighbourhood Policy countries; 

(d)other third countries. 

2.The association agreements for participation in the Programme shall: 

(a)ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country participating in the Programme; 

(b)lay down the conditions of participation in Programme, including the calculation of financial contributions, consisting of an operational contribution and a participation fee, to the Programme and its general administrative costs; 

(c)not confer on the third country any decision-making power in the Programme; 

(d)guarantee the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect its financial interests. 

(e)where relevant, ensure the protection of security and public order interests of the Union.

3.For the purposes of paragraph 2, point (d), the third country shall grant the necessary rights and access required under Regulations (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, and guarantee that enforcement decisions imposing a pecuniary obligation on the basis of Article 299 TFEU, as well as judgments and orders of the Court of Justice of the European Union, are enforceable. 

4.For the purpose of paragraph 1, point (d), association or partial association with other third countries shall only be possible if they fulfil all the following criteria:

(a)a good capacity in science, technology and innovation;

(b)commitment to a rules-based open market economy, including fair and equitable dealing with intellectual property rights, respect of human rights, backed by democratic institutions;

(c)active promotion of policies to improve the economic and social well-being of citizens.

5.The scope of association of each third country to the Programme shall take into account an analysis of the risks, notably those likely to affect the Union’s public order and security in relevant policy areas, including economic and research security, as well as benefits and the broader objective of driving economic growth and competitiveness of the Union through innovation. Accordingly, with the exception of EEA members, acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidate countries, third countries may be excluded from parts of the Programme in accordance with this Regulation or the association agreement itself.

6.The association agreement setting out the conditions for participation in the Programme, shall, as far as possible, provide for the reciprocal participation of legal entities established in the Union in equivalent programmes of associated countries in accordance with the conditions laid down in those programmes.

7.The conditions determining the level of the financial contributions referred to in paragraph 2, point (b) shall ensure a regular automatic correction of any significant imbalance compared to the amount that entities established in the associated country receive through participation in the Programme, taking into account the costs in the management, execution and operation of the Programme. The allocation of the financial contributions shall take into account the level of participation of the legal entities of the associated countries in each part of the Programme.

Article 10 - Implementation and forms of Union funding

1.The Programme shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, under direct management or under indirect management with bodies referred to in Article 62(1), point (c) of that Regulation.

2.Union funding may be provided in any form in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, in particular through grants, prizes, procurement, non-financial donations, and financial instruments.

3.With the exception of financial instruments under the EIC (Fund) where Union support is provided in the form of a budgetary guarantee or a financial instrument, including where combined with non-repayable support in a blending operation, it shall be exclusively provided through the European Competitiveness Fund InvestEU Instrument and implemented in accordance with the applicable rules of the European Competitiveness Fund InvestEU Instrument through the contribution or guarantee agreements concluded for that purpose. Where the Programme makes use of the ECF InvestEU Instrument, it shall provide the provisioning for the budgetary guarantee and the financing to financial instruments, including when combined with non-repayable support in the form of a blending operation.

4.Where Union funding is provided in the form of a grant, funding shall be provided as financing not linked to cost, or as simplified cost options in particular through lump sums as well as unit costs for personnel, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. Funding may be provided in the form of actual eligible cost reimbursement only where the objectives of an action cannot be achieved otherwise. Where it is necessary to enable other sources of funding including co-investments with national resources subject to State aid rules, funding shall be provided in the form of actual eligible cost reimbursement or simplified cost options. 

5.For the purposes of Article 153(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the evaluation committee may be composed partially or fully of independent external experts. 

Article 11 - European Partnerships

1.Where necessary to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3, activities under this Regulation may be implemented through European Partnerships, by default through the work programmes.  

2.European Partnerships shall be based on a Memorandum of Understanding, agreed and signed between the partners, stipulating: 

(a)the results to be delivered, which shall be clear, measurable, time-bound; 

(b)reporting requirements; 

(c)the related commitments from all partners;   

(d)governance arrangements with a mechanism for partners to discuss and agree on the partnerships’ programming and activities.  

3.In duly justified cases European Partnerships will be implemented by entrusting budget implementation tasks from various Union funding programmes to bodies established pursuant to Articles 185 and 187 TFEU, in accordance with Article 62(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

4.For European Partnerships established pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, support from the Programme shall be conditional upon efficient use of Union financing, a proportionate financial contribution from other partners at least matching the Union contribution and voting rights for the Union in the governing bodies ensuring protection of the interests of the Union in the partnership. For that purpose, Joint Undertakings shall be established through a single establishing act ensuring harmonised rules. 

5.European Partnerships shall: 

(a)be established only in cases where Union action alone or other forms of support under the Programme cannot achieve the desired objectives.

(b)be established for the purpose of addressing challenges that require a critical mass of resources and a unified and coordinated approach, both in terms of programming and implementation, across actors. 

(c)align with and assist in the implementation of major Union policies and policy initiatives. 

(d)be selected in a competitive manner based on a set of quantifiable lifecycle criteria and a strong portfolio approach, resulting in a coherent set of initiatives. 

(e)be based on ex ante, long-term and formal commitments from all partners to contribute financially to the resources of the European Partnership, which shall be centrally managed, except in duly justified cases. 

(f)require a clear lifecycle approach, including an upfront plan for the implementation of the initiative with a strategy for gradually or fully phasing out from Union funding. 

6.Contributions from Partners other than the Union shall take the following forms:

(a)financial contributions to the operational budget of the initiative;

(b)co-financing by the Partners of their own participation, or that of their members, in projects funded through the initiative.

7.All Partners other than the Union shall provide information on the structure, membership and activities developed within the partnership. In cases where partnerships are concluded with representative organisations and associations, this shall include regular information on their membership.


Chapter II

Excellent Science

Article 12 - European Research Council

1.The European Research Council shall provide attractive and flexible funding to enable talented and creative individual researchers, with an emphasis on early- stage researchers, and their teams to pursue the most promising avenues at the frontier of science, regardless of their nationality and country of origin and on the basis of competition based solely on the criterion of excellence.

2.The ERC shall attract the most talented researchers from all over the world and establish the Union as a world-leading centre for research and innovation.

Article 13 - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions

1.The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions shall support the career at all stages, skills development, and mobility of researchers from all over the world subject to security considerations. MSCA shall foster research excellence, attract and retain excellent research talents, and support sustainable research careers in the Union with the aim to increase the Union’s competitiveness in research and innovation.

2.The MSCA shall fund excellent doctoral networks, post-doctoral fellowships, R&I staff exchanges, as well as support mechanisms to foster sustainable careers in view of attracting and retaining the most promising talents. A strong focus shall be put on international, inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary cooperation as well as science outreach. The funding shall support cutting edge research and focus on developing research talent, with targeted support for early career researchers.  It shall support to establish the Union as a leading destination for researchers.

Article 14 - Joint Research Centre

1.The Joint Research Centre shall provide independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. This shall be undertaken through JRC direct actions and through participation of the JRC in indirect actions. Chapter II of Title II shall not apply to direct actions. By way of derogation from Article 21(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the revenues or amounts resulting from the JRC’s research activities (e.g. patents, licenses etc) shall be reusable by the JRC.


Chapter III

Competitiveness and Society

Article 15 - Collaborative research

1.Collaborative research shall support the creation of transnational research and innovation cooperation networks, bringing together entities of different disciplines, to support the development and swift diffusion of high-quality results in favour of the Union’s industrial competitiveness, space, security, clean transition, preparedness and resilience, and addressing societal challenges, including culture and creativity, and to strengthen the impact of research in developing and supporting Union policies.

2.Activities shall be carried out in a balanced manner between lower and higher Technology Readiness Levels, thereby covering the whole value chain.

3.This Programme shall include the collaborative research and innovation activities in a specific dedicated part of the work programmes adopted under Chapters IV to VII of the Regulation (EU) XXX European Competitiveness Fund. Those work programmes shall be adopted in accordance with Article 15 of the Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund Regulation].

4.The Programme shall support activities to tackle global societal challenges in the areas of strengthening democratic values and tackling disinformation, including rule of law and fundamental rights; promoting socio-economic transformations that contribute to inclusion and growth, addressing demographic and intergenerational challenges, including from a youth perspective and including migration management and integration of migrants.

5.The Programme shall contribute to EU Missions notably through the identification of priority actions for R&I funding for the development of new knowledge, technologies, services, and products in view of their goals. Funding for the EU Missions established under Article 8 of the Regulation (EU) 2021/695 shall be awarded on the basis of work programmes covering up to the budgetary year 2030.

6.The Programme shall support the R&I component of the New European Bauhaus Facility.


Chapter IV

Innovation

Article 16 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)

1.The EIC shall identify, develop and scale up deep tech and disruptive innovation from research to scale-up. It shall be implemented mainly through open bottom-up calls for proposals while ensuring a balanced portfolio of actions across thematic areas. This shall be complemented by targeted thematic and ‘Challenge’ calls in areas of potential strategic interest in close coordination and synergy with the ECF policy windows, in particular with the ECF InvestEU Instrument.

2.The EIC may in particular provide the following types of support:

(a)Pathfinder grants for high-risk research, including proof of concept and prototyping;

(b)Transition grants to develop pathways to commercial development for research results, including the creation of spin-offs and start-ups;

(c)Accelerator blended finance and investment-only support for single companies to develop, and bring to market their innovations;

(d)Incentives to procurers to test and provide first customers for deep tech and disruptive innovations;

(e)Business Accelerator Services to complement EIC funding by providing access, in complementarity and coordination with the Project Advisory referred to in Chapter III of the of the Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund], to deep-tech expertise, coaching and mentoring, match making with investors, procurers, corporates and other innovation partners.

3.The types of support referred to in paragraph 2 shall be combined flexibly in EIC Challenges developed and overseen by EIC Programme Managers. EIC Challenges shall be implemented using a portfolio approach where actions are selected based on their complementarities to achieve defined objectives and interact with each other under the supervision of EIC Programme Manager.

4.All EIC investment support shall be implemented by one or more dedicated investment vehicles set up in line with the law of a Member State (the EIC Fund). The EIC Fund shall be structured in a way that it can attract other public or private investors in order to increase the leverage effect of the Union contribution.

5.The EIC may support innovation in critical technologies with focus on defence applications in close coordination with the ECF policy window ‘Resilience and Security, Defence Industry and Space’. In those cases, Articles 51 and 52 of the Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund] shall apply.

Article 17 - Innovation Ecosystems

1.The Programme shall support organisations to create competitive, robust and connected innovation ecosystems and framework conditions. Synergies with Union, national and regional programmes shall be pursued to this end.

2.The Programme shall support activities to foster the integration of the knowledge triangle – higher education, research and innovation, and business – across the Union.


Chapter V

European Research Area

Article 18 - European Research Area and infrastructures

1.The objective of the European Research Area (‘ERA’) is to create a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the Union, in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely.

2.The Programme shall ensure the effective promotion and protection of values and principles of the ERA and the Pact for research and innovation, notably ethics and integrity in research and innovation, freedom of scientific research and gender equality and equal opportunities, and the promotion of attractive research careers and mobility. The funding of the Research and Technology Infrastructures shall contribute to equip the Union with a strong and coherent ecosystem of world-class sustainable facilities and services, building on prioritised pan-European infrastructures and complementary state-of-the-art national capacities and using funding instruments, including European partnerships. The Programme shall contribute up to 20% of the building costs of critical new world-class capacities of European research and technology infrastructures.

3.The Policy Support Facility shall provide Member States and Associated Countries with practical expert support to design, implement and evaluate reforms that enhance the quality of their research and innovation investments, policies and systems. It shall contribute to building stronger and more effective national research and innovation systems and a more robust European Research Area.

Article 19 - Widening

1.‘Widening countries’ are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia for the purposes of funding the actions under paragraph 5, points a) and b).

2.‘Transition countries’ are Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia, for the purposes of funding the actions under paragraph 5, point b).

3.Only legal entities established in widening countries or transition countries shall be eligible as coordinators under the ‘widening participation and spreading excellence’ component of the ‘Strengthening the ERA’ part of the Programme.

4.For associated countries, legal entities from the list of eligible countries as defined based on an indicator and published in the work programme shall be fully eligible as coordinators under this component. Legal entities from outermost regions as defined in Article 349 TFEU shall be also eligible as coordinators under this component and shall be subject to the same rules applying to widening countries under this Article, with the exception of paragraph 7. 

5.‘Widening’ includes the following:

(a)capacity building measures; 

(b)measures supporting networking, knowledge valorisation, countering brain drain and dedicated National Contact Points (NCP) support.

6.The Programme shall assist widening and transition countries to increase their participation and to promote a broad geographical coverage in excellent collaborative projects. Those efforts shall be mirrored by proportional measures by Member States.

7.From 2030 onwards access to capacity building measures is restricted to those widening countries that have increased their real expenditure of public investment in research and development in the latest known year compared to the year prior to it.


Title II - Rules for participation and dissemination

Chapter I

General provisions

Article 20 - ECF rules

1.Article 10(2), 10(3) on EU Preference, Article 13 on Application of the rules on classified information and sensitive information and Article 20 on Accelerated and Targeted Action for Competitiveness of Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund] shall apply for the purpose of this Regulation, unless otherwise specified.

Article 21 - Eligibility

1.Eligibility criteria shall be set to support achievement of the general and specific objectives laid down in Article 3, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and apply to all award procedures under the Programme.

2.In award procedures under direct and indirect management one or more of the following categories of legal entities may be eligible to receive Union support:

(a)entities established in a Member State;

(b)entities established in an associated third country;

(c)other entities established in low to middle income non-associated third countries or, exceptionally, in other non-associated third countries if the third country is identified in the work programme adopted by the Commission; 

(d)other entities established in non-associated countries where the funding of such entities is essential for implementing the action and contributes to the objectives laid down in Article 3.

3.Except when the work programme otherwise provides, to be eligible for participation in grant actions legal entities shall form a consortium that includes as beneficiaries three legal entities independent of each other and each established in different countries as follows:

(a)at least two legal entities established in different Member States; and

(b)at least one other legal entity established in another Member State or an associated country.

4.ERC frontier research actions, EIC actions, research and training actions and actions that involve or have as their primary aim the implementation of pre-commercial procurement or procurement of innovative solutions, may be implemented by one or more legal entities, provided that one of those legal entities shall be established in a Member State or associated country. 

5.Coordination and support actions may be implemented by one or more legal entities, which may be established in a Member State, associated country or, in exceptional cases, in another third country.

6.International European research organisations and legal entities created under Union law shall be deemed to be established in a Member State other than the ones in which other legal entities participating in the action are established.

7.International organisations other than international European research organisations shall be deemed to be established in a non-associated third country, unless otherwise provided for in the work programme or the call for proposals.

8.In addition to Article 168(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, associated third countries referred to in Article 9(1) and international organisations may, where relevant, participate in and benefit from any procurement mechanisms set out in Article 168(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. Rules applicable to Member States shall be applied, mutatis mutandis, to participating associated third countries and international organisations.

9.In award procedures, the following activities shall not be eligible for funding:

(a)activities that are prohibited by Union law, applicable international law, or by national law in all Member States; activities that are already fully financed from other public or private sources, except contributions from the Union in the context of actions referred to in Article 8(1);

(b)activities aiming at human cloning for reproductive purposes;

(c)activities intended to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such modifications heritable, except research relating to cancer treatment of the gonads;

(d)activities intended to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research, technological development and demonstration activities or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer;

(e)research on human stem cells, both adult and embryonic, may be financed depending both on the contents of the scientific proposal and the legal framework of the Member States involved;

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (a), no funding shall be provided in a Member State for a research, technological or demonstration activity which is forbidden in that Member State.

10.In addition to the grounds set out in Article 132 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, award procedures and resulting legal commitments shall allow for termination where the objectives of the action are unlikely to be achieved at all or within the set timelines, or the action has lost its policy relevance.

11.The work programme or the documents related to the award procedure may specify the eligibility criteria set out in this Regulation or set additional eligibility criteria for specific actions including to take into account specific policy requirements.

Article 22 - Ethics and research integrity

1.Actions carried out shall comply with:

(a)relevant Union, national and international law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Supplementary Protocols;

(b)ethical principles, including the highest standards of research integrity.

2.For award procedures identified in the work programme, legal entities participating in an action shall fulfil all the following requirements:

(a)provide an ethics self-assessment relating to the objective, implementation and likely impact of the activities, including a confirmation and description of compliance with paragraph 1;

(b)provide a confirmation that the activities will comply with (i) the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, (ii) the Global Code of Conduct for Equitable Research Partnerships and that no activities excluded from funding will be conducted;

(c)provide for activities carried out outside the Union, a confirmation that the same activities would have been allowed in a Member State;

(d)provide for activities making use of human embryonic stem cells, as appropriate, details of licensing and control measures that shall be taken by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned as well as details of the ethics approvals that shall be obtained before the start of the relevant activities;

(e)obtain all approvals or other mandatory documents from the relevant national, local ethics committees or other bodies, such as data protection authorities, before the start of the relevant activities and keep those documents on file to be provided to the Commission or the relevant implementation body upon request.


Chapter II

Grants

Article 23 - Calls for proposals

1.A call for proposals is not required for coordination and support actions which:

(a)are to be carried out by legal entities identified in the work programme; and

(b)do not fall within the scope of a call for proposals, in accordance with Article 198, point (e), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

2.The work programme shall specify calls for proposals for which Competitiveness Seals may be awarded. Information concerning the application and the evaluation may be shared with interested financing authorities, subject to the conclusion of confidentiality agreements unless explicitly objected by the applicant.

Article 24 - Financial capacity of applicants

1.In addition to the exceptions mentioned in Article 201(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the financial capacity shall be verified only if the requested funding from the Union for the action is equal to or greater than EUR 1.000 000.

2.Notwithstanding paragraph 1, if there are grounds to doubt the financial capacity of an applicant, or if there is a higher risk due to the participation in several ongoing actions funded by Union R&I programmes, the financial capacity of other applicants, or of coordinators even where the requested funding is below the threshold referred to in paragraph 1 shall also be verified.

3.If the financial capacity is structurally guaranteed by another legal entity, the financial capacity of that other legal entity shall be verified.

4.In the case where the financial capacity of an applicant is weak, the participation of the applicant may be made conditional on provision of a declaration on joint and several liability by an affiliated entity.

5.The contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism set out in Article 30 shall be considered to be a sufficient guarantee under Article 155 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. No additional guarantee or security shall be accepted from beneficiaries or imposed upon them.

Article 25 - Award criteria and selection

1.A proposal shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

(a)excellence;

(b)impact;

(c)quality and efficiency of the implementation.

The work programme shall lay down details concerning the application of the award criteria referred to in paragraph 1. 

2.By derogation from paragraph 1, only the excellence criterion referred to in point (a) of that paragraph shall apply for evaluations under ERC frontier research actions and research and training actions.

Article 26 - Time-to-grant

1.By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 197(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the following periods shall apply:

(a)for informing all applicants of the outcome of the evaluation of their application, a maximum period of five months from the final date for submission of complete proposals;

(b)for signing grant agreements with applicants, a maximum period of seven months from the final date for submission of complete proposals.

2.The work programme may establish shorter periods than those provided for in paragraph 1.

3.In addition to the exceptions laid down in Article 197(2), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the periods referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be exceeded for ERC actions, missions-oriented approach and when actions are submitted to an ethics assessment, security scrutiny or assessments to protect the competitiveness of the Union including its strategic assets and interests.

Article 27 - Funding rates

1.A single funding rate per action shall apply for all activities it funds. The maximum rate per action shall be fixed in the work programme.

2.Up to 100 % of total eligible costs of an action under the Programme may be reimbursed, except for for-profit legal entities where up to 70% of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed. By way of exception, SMEs shall be eligible for a funding rate of up to 100% of the total eligible costs.

Article 28 - Indirect costs

1.Indirect eligible costs shall be 25% of the total direct eligible costs, excluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting, financial support to third parties and any unit costs or lump sums which include indirect costs. Where appropriate, indirect costs included in unit costs or lump sums shall be calculated using the flat rate referred to in the previous sentence.

2.Notwithstanding paragraph 1, if provided for in the work programme, indirect costs may be declared in the form of a lump sum or unit costs.

Article 29 - Eligible costs

1.By way of derogation from Article 193(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, costs of resources made available by third parties by means of in-kind contributions shall be eligible up to the direct eligible costs of the third party.

2.By way of derogation from Article 195(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, income generated by the valorisation of the results shall not be considered to be revenues of the action.

Article 30 - Mutual Insurance Mechanism

1.A Mutual Insurance Mechanism (the ‘MIM’) is hereby established which shall replace and succeed the Mechanism set up in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2021/695. The MIM shall cover the risk associated with non-recovery of sums due by certain ECF beneficiaries under direct management, as well as any preexisting risks covered in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2021/695.  

2.The MIM shall be managed by the Union, represented by the Commission acting as executive agent. Specific rules for the operation of the MIM shall be set out by the Commission by means of an implementing act.  

3.Beneficiaries shall make a contribution to be offset against the initial pre-financing and paid back to the beneficiaries at the payment of the balance.  

4.Any financial return generated by the MIM and any recovered amounts shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 for the Programme, or its successor. If the return is insufficient, the MIM shall not intervene, and the granting authority shall recover any amount directly.   

5.Once all grants for which the risk is covered by the MIM are completed, any amounts held by the MIM may be recovered by the Commission and shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 for the Programme, or its successor.  

Article 31 - Ownership of results

1.Beneficiaries shall own the results they generate.

2.Two or more beneficiaries shall own results jointly if they have jointly generated them and it is not possible to:

(a)establish the respective contribution of each beneficiary; or

(b)separate the results when applying for their protection.

They shall agree in writing on the allocation and terms of exercise of their joint ownership. Unless otherwise agreed, each joint owner may grant non-exclusive licences to third parties to valorise the jointly owned results (without any right to sub-licence), if the other joint owners are given advance notice and fair and reasonable compensation. The joint owners may agree in writing to apply another regime than joint ownership.

3.If third parties involved in the action (including personnel) have rights to the results, the beneficiaries shall ensure that those rights can be exercised in a manner compatible with their obligations regarding those results.

4.Transfer of ownership may be subject to conditions as set out in the work programme, call conditions or grant agreement, including a requirement to pass on any obligations regarding the results.

Article 32 - Valorisation and dissemination

1.Beneficiaries shall manage their results in accordance with the obligations set out in the work programme, call conditions or grant agreement. As part thereof, beneficiaries shall:

(a)protect their results if justified, in particular if the results have commercial potential;

(b)grant access to their results and background if needed for implementing action tasks or for valorising results, including for commercial deployment;

(c)undertake best efforts to valorise their results, either directly or indirectly, including through transfer or licensing; if results are not valorised within a given period, the Commission may identify instruments and tools, such as those serving the valorisation strategy set out in Chapter III of Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund], that the beneficiaries concerned shall use to facilitate the valorisation of those results;

(d) make the results public in an appropriate manner as soon as feasible, while keeping results confidential if needed due to the protection of intellectual assets, security concerns or legitimate interests;

(e) adhere to open science practices, including by:

(i)ensuring open access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications regarding the results;

(ii)managing responsibly the research data in the action and other results in line with the principles ‘findability’, ‘accessibility’, ‘interoperability’ and ‘reusability’ (the FAIR principles) as well as ensuring open access thereto unless doing so would be against legitimate interests, including commercial interests, or other constraints.

(f)unless otherwise provided for in the work programme or call conditions, develop and regularly update a plan to manage their results, including data;

(g)grant free access to their results for developing, implementing and monitoring their policies or programmes to the following entities:

(i)to Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies;

(ii)to Member States’ national authorities, where provided in the work programme, call conditions or grant agreement.

Article 33 - Pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative solutions

1.Grant actions may involve or have as their primary aim the pre-commercial procurement or procurement of innovative solutions. These procurements are to be carried out by beneficiaries which are public procurers or private procurers.

2.The procurement procedures:

(a)when carried out by public procurers: shall comply with competition rules and with the principles of transparency, non-discrimination, equal treatment, sound financial management, proportionality, applicable EU rules for strengthening resilience in supply chains and sector specific regulatory requirements;

(b)when carried out by private procurers: shall comply with the TFEU principles, competition rules and applicable contract law, EU rules for strengthening resilience in supply chains and sector specific regulatory requirements

(c)may authorise the award of multiple contracts within the same procedure (multiple sourcing);

(d)shall provide for the award of the contracts to the tenders offering best value for money while ensuring absence of conflicts of interest.

3.In the case of pre-commercial procurement, the procurement procedure may be conducted with two instead of three phases and may include the purchase of first-of-a-kind solutions to simplify and accelerate implementation.

4.Specific conditions may apply including regarding the place of performance of the procured services, goods or works and the ownership of the results and access thereto. As part thereof, for pre-commercial procurement:

(a)the contractors shall own at least the intellectual property rights to the results they generated, while the procurers shall obtain at least free access to the results for their own use as well as free access to the results for their current and future contractors to use the results for the procurers.

(b)in case of supply chain overdependencies or security of supply issues with the contractors, or in emergency situations where the contractors cannot supply sufficient solutions to satisfy wider demand on the EU market, the procurers shall have the right to give, or require the contractors to give the right to third parties to commercially use the results for the procurer and for wider markets on a non-exclusive basis and under fair and reasonable conditions;

(c)if contractors fail to commercially use their results within a given period or abuse their results against the public interest, they may be required to transfer their ownership of results to the procurers.

5.Procurement actions carried out by the Commission or implementation bodies may take the form of pre-commercial procurement or public procurement of innovative solutions. These procurements shall be carried out by the Commission or the relevant implementation body on its own behalf or jointly with contracting authorities from Member States and associated countries.


Chapter III

European Innovation Council

Article 34 - European Innovation Council specific rules 

1.In accordance with Article 20(2)(a)(i) of Regulation (EU) XXX [European Competitiveness Fund], EIC Transition grants may be awarded without calls for proposals for the purpose of follow up funding for results generated by actions funded by the Programme and Horizon Europe Regulation No 695/2021.

2.The EIC Accelerator shall support only single beneficiaries and single investees who are SMEs, including startups, and small mid-caps.

3.Proposals for EIC Accelerator actions may be submitted by one or more legal entities intending to establish or support a potential recipient, with the prior agreement of that recipient. If the selected for funding, the grant and investment agreement shall be signed only with that recipient.

4.In the case of blended finance actions, the beneficiary and the investee may differ in the sense that the investee may be the holding or the parent company of the beneficiary.

5.Funding bodies implementing Union Programmes, or national or regional programmes certified by the Commission, may directly submit a proposal for a EIC Transition or EIC Accelerator call, where such proposals stem from a project review of an action funded by the certified programme and subject to conditions set out in the EIC work programme (EIC Plug in).

6.For the EIC Accelerator, the third evaluation criteria set out in Article 25(1) shall be replaced by the level of risk of the action, the quality and efficiency of the implementation, and the need for Union support.

7.Investments shall be made in non-bankable investees and jointly with co-investments by other private investors. However, where such support is not provided fully under the European Competitiveness Fund, support to bankable investees or without participation of other investors, may be provided in order to protect the Union’s strategic interests.

8.By way of derogation from Article 212(2)(a) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, the conditions concerning economic viability, shall not apply to EIC Accelerator investment actions.

9.Blended finance actions shall be suspended, amended or, if duly justified, terminated if measurable milestones are not reached or if the beneficiary refuses the investment support without a duly justified reason.

10.The EIC Fund may award follow-on investments:

(a)if needed to protect the Union's strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security; or

(b)if subsequent funding rounds would not proceed or would proceed at significantly less favourable terms without EIC follow-on investment.

11.The EIC work programme may set out additional limitations regarding the award of follow-on support.

Article 35 - Repeal

Regulation (EU) 695/2021 is repealed with effect from 1 January 2028.

Article 36 - Transitional provisions

1.This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification of the actions concerned, until their closure, under Regulation (EU) 695/2021, which shall continue to apply to the actions concerned until their closure.

2.The financial envelope for the Programme may also cover technical and administrative assistance expenses necessary to ensure the transition between the Programme and the measures adopted under its predecessor, Regulation (EU) 695/2021.

Article 37 - Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2028.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.