Defining the next steps for collaboration in SDV, Data Pooling and Autonomous Driving in the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA...

The European Commission DG CNECT plans a negotiated services procurement (ref. EC-CNECT/2026/MVP/0169-EXA) with a maximum value of €135,000 and a maximum duration of six months. The assignment is a strategic study to define next steps for collaboration in software-defined vehicles, data pooling and autonomous driving, and to validate a European-led collaboration platform and coordinating entity under the ECAVA framework. Expressions of interest will be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal using EU Login, with the EoI period indicated from 24/08/2026 to 17/09/2026 and an indicative launch of the negotiated procedure on 17/09/2026. This is a procurement contract, not a grant, and the final tender documents will specify eligibility, award criteria and contractual terms.

Tender snapshot

Essential facts

Procurement by European Commission DG CNECT to map requirements and methodologies for a collaborative European digital vehicle platform covering software-defined vehicles SDV data pooling AI and hardware collaboration. The activity will conceptualise programme management networking and governance to support a European-led alliance.

What it funds:A 6-month service contract to produce analysis validation and concept material (market research and governance/programme design) to support the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance ECAVA. ¹

1. 1Maximum contract value: €135,000
2. 2Contract duration: up to 6 months
3. 3Procedure type: planned negotiated low/middle value procedure (reference EC-CNECT/2026/MVP/0169-EXA)
4. 4Main CPV: 79310000 Market research services

Who can apply:service providers (consultancies market research firms research organisations or consortia) able to deliver strategic analysis and governance design; electronic submission via the EU Login account is required.

Lead contracting authority:European Commission DG CNECT. Submissions must follow the future negotiated procedure and be made electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal using an EU Login account.

Footnotes

1. 1Full tender reference and portal page: ECAVA tender details.

Opportunity summary and procurement identity

Procedure identifier:EC-CNECT/2026/MVP/0169-EXA. Lead contracting authority: European Commission, DG CNECT - Communications Networks, Content and Technology. Main CPV classification: 79310000 Market research services. Nature of contract: services (procurement). This publication is a planned notice announcing the contracting authority's intention to publish a future negotiated low or middle value procedure (ExA reference). The publication is not itself a call for tenders but invites expressions of interest ahead of a negotiated procedure.

Maximum contract value and duration:Maximum value of the procurement: €135,000. Maximum contract duration (planned): 6 months.

Scope, objectives and deliverables

Purpose:To explore and identify core requirements and methodologies for advancing a collaboration platform in support of a European digital vehicle. The study should validate the potential for a collaborative European-led entity to bring together diverse technology and data domains under a cohesive development strategy. Work will conceptualise programme management, networking and governance structures to enable coherent and outcome-oriented development of common software-defined vehicle (SDV), artificial intelligence and hardware initiatives across Europe.

Expected outputs (indicative, based on description):analytic assessment of requirements for a collaboration platform; recommended governance and programme management models; networking and stakeholder engagement plan; data pooling and interoperability recommendations; roadmap for coordination of SDV, AI and hardware initiatives; proposal for next steps and potential organisational models for a European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA).

Who can apply and eligibility

Eligible applicant types (indicative based on the nature of the procurement):market research and consultancy firms, technology consultancies, transport and mobility consultancies, SME and large enterprise service providers, research organisations and universities, innovation centres, industry associations, consortia combining the above. Public bodies could participate if legally permitted and if they meet the contracting rules. Individual applicants are unlikely to be appropriate given the service/market research scope.

Beneficiary geographic scope:Procurement is issued by the European Commission (DG CNECT) and targets entities able to contract with the EU. Applicants established in EU Member States and other entities eligible under EU procurement rules should be able to participate. The announcement is published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and uses EU Login for submission, indicating EU-wide coverage. No single non-EU country list is provided in the notice.

Administrative and procedural details

Procedure type:Planned negotiated procedure for middle/low value contract (ExA advertisement). Method for expression of interest: electronic submission via the Funding & Tenders Portal; EU Login account is required. Planned date for start of expression of interest: 24/08/2026 Europe/Brussels. Deadline for expression of interest: 17/09/2026 00:59 Europe/Brussels. Indicative launch of the negotiated procedure: 17/09/2026 Europe/Brussels. EXA registration deadline indicated as 16/09/2026 23:59:59 Europe/Brussels in additional metadata.

1. 1Submission method: Electronic via Funding & Tenders Portal (EU Login required).
2. 2Expressions of interest must be sent exclusively to the address specified in the portal entry.
3. 3This EXA document is to announce intent; the contracting authority will run a negotiated procedure (middle/low value) subsequently.
4. 4No procurement documents were attached to the EXA notice; applicants must monitor the portal for the actual tender launch and documentation.

Categorisation and structured answers

Eligible Applicant Types:Consultancies and market research providers; technology and mobility consultancies; SMEs and large enterprises offering services in transport, automotive software, AI or data governance; universities and research institutes with relevant expertise; industry associations and consortia that combine technical, policy and stakeholder engagement capabilities. Public authorities may participate where procurement rules allow. The notice does not limit applicant legal forms explicitly.

Funding Type:Procurement / service contract (the contracting authority will procure services through a negotiated procedure). This is not a grant, loan, or equity instrument.

Consortium Requirement:Other. The notice does not mandate a consortium. Single entities may apply; consortia are typically permitted and may be advantageous given the multidisciplinary scope (market research, technical expertise, governance design, stakeholder engagement). The final tender documentation will specify whether consortia or subcontracting arrangements are required or limited.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):EU-wide eligibility via the European Commission procurement process. The contracting authority is DG CNECT; the portal uses EU Login. No explicit list of eligible third countries is given in the EXA notice; applicants should consult the final tender rules when published to confirm any participation restrictions for non-EU entities.

Target Sector:Transport and mobility (connected and autonomous vehicles), automotive software-defined vehicle (SDV) development, data pooling and data governance, artificial intelligence (AI) for driving/autonomy, hardware coordination for vehicle platforms, digital mobility ecosystems, policy and standards alignment in automotive/transport sectors.

Mentioned Countries:No specific countries are listed in the notice. The contracting authority is the European Commission and the geographic scope is Europe / EU. The portal timezone and deadlines are Europe/Brussels.

Project Stage:Conceptualisation and validation stage: the assignment is a strategic study and design exercise intended to validate the potential of a collaborative European-led entity and to define requirements, governance, networking and programme management approaches rather than to implement operational pilot deployments. This is primarily a research/analysis, validation and planning activity.

Funding Amount:Maximum contract value: €135,000. This is the total budget ceiling for the contract under the planned procedure.

Application Type:Expression of interest followed by a negotiated procedure (planned). The initial stage is an open electronic expression of interest via the Funding & Tenders Portal using EU Login. The final procurement will be launched as a negotiated procedure for a low or middle value contract; this is not an open competitive call for proposals in the same way as Horizon calls.

Nature of Support:Monetary: a paid service contract awarded by the European Commission. The selected contractor will be remunerated for services under the contract up to the indicated maximum value. No non-monetary services are specified as part of the procurement.

Application Stages:Two-stage process is indicated by the EXA: (1) expression of interest submission by the deadline, and (2) subsequent negotiated procedure (invitation to negotiate / tender) leading to contract award. The exact number and structure of stages (for example, shortlisting, clarifications, negotiation rounds) will be defined in the formal tender documentation.

Success Rates:Not provided. EXA publications do not include success rates. For negotiated low/middle value procedures, success rates depend on the number of expressions of interest and the contracting authority's shortlist; historical EXA processes vary widely. Treat success likelihood as unknown and dependent on proposal quality and fit to the authority's needs.

Co-funding Requirement:Not required. This is a procurement for services; the contractor is paid from the contract budget. There is no grant co-financing model indicated in the notice.

Templates and application form structure:No tender documents or application templates are attached to the EXA notice. The EXA instructs interested parties to use the Funding & Tenders Portal and EU Login for expression of interest. The final tender package (when published) will include: technical specification of required services, Terms of Reference (ToR), award criteria and weighting, administrative forms, declaration of honour, financial offer template, contract draft, and procurement-specific forms. Applicants should monitor the portal for the formal tender documentation and prepare to provide: company profile, relevant experience and references, methodology and work plan for the 6-month study, CVs of proposed team members, breakdown of tasks and deliverables, timeline, and a detailed price proposal aligned with EU procurement forms.

1. 1Recommended application content to prepare now: capability statement, past experience in SDV/automotive/AI/governance studies, examples of stakeholder engagement deliverables, proposed governance models and programme management approaches, team CVs, and a clear methodology for producing the final roadmap and recommendations within 6 months.
2. 2Administrative documents to have ready: company registration, financial identification form (if required), declarations (ethical, conflict of interest), and subcontracting/sub-consortium agreements if applicable.
3. 3Portal / procedural readiness: obtain an EU Login account and ensure an organisational registration on the Funding & Tenders Portal to enable submission on the indicated dates.

Timetable and portal details

Key dates from the EXA notice:Publication/EXA available from 24/08/2026. Start date for expression of interest: 24/08/2026 Europe/Brussels. Deadline for expression of interest: 17/09/2026 00:59 Europe/Brussels. Indicative date of launch of the negotiated procedure: 17/09/2026 Europe/Brussels. EXA registration deadline metadata: 16/09/2026 23:59:59 Europe/Brussels. Submission method code: ESUBMISSION (electronic). EU Login is required for submission.

Practical recommendations for applicants

Prepare a concise but comprehensive offer that demonstrates capability to deliver a strategic study on SDV collaboration, data pooling and autonomous driving governance in Europe. Emphasise cross-disciplinary experience (technical, legal/data governance, stakeholder engagement, standards and governance design), prior relevant case studies, and a clear, time-phased methodology with measurable deliverables for the 6-month period. Assemble an expert team with CVs ready and ensure organisational registration and EU Login credentials ahead of the EoI start date. Monitor the Funding & Tenders Portal for the formal negotiated tender package and any Q&A.

For portal access and reference see the procurement entry on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal ECAVA EXA tender details ¹.

Overall summary

This EXA notice announces the European Commission DG CNECT's intention to procure a strategic study to define next steps for collaboration in software-defined vehicles, data pooling and autonomous driving under a proposed European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance (ECAVA). The contract is a service procurement with a maximum budget of €135,000 and a planned duration of six months. The assignment is conceptual and validation-focused: mapping requirements, proposing governance and programme management structures, designing stakeholder and networking approaches, and producing a roadmap for a European-led collaboration platform across SDV, AI and hardware domains. Interested entities should prepare to submit an electronic expression of interest via the Funding & Tenders Portal using EU Login by the indicated deadline and should plan to provide market research, technical, governance and stakeholder engagement credentials. The formal negotiated procedure will follow the expression of interest period; the final tender documents will define award criteria, detailed deliverables, consortium rules and contractual terms.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement notice and any future tender documentation will be published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal at the link provided. Check the portal for updates, Q&A, and the formal negotiated procedure launch.

This is a planned EU procurement under procedure EC-CNECT/2026/MVP/0169-EXA for a services contract with a maximum value of €135,000 and a maximum duration of 6 months. The notice is a prior publication announcing the Commission's intention to launch a future negotiated low or middle value procedure ¹.

What the opportunity is about

The assignment concerns defining the next steps for collaboration in software defined vehicles, data pooling and autonomous driving within the European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance. It is aimed at identifying the core requirements and methodologies for a collaboration platform supporting a European digital vehicle and at validating a European led entity that can coordinate common SDV, AI and hardware initiatives.

The wider ECAVA framework focuses on near term EU driven collaboration in software defined vehicles, hardware computing architectures and automotive electronics, AI models, and the development, piloting and testing of autonomous driving[5].

ECAVA working groups have already been active on software defined vehicles, artificial intelligence and data, automotive hardware, and autonomous vehicle deployment, and their outputs are intended to feed into draft roadmaps and the alliance steering process[1].

Who can apply

The public notice does not publish final eligibility criteria, award criteria or a shortlist of invited tenderers. At this stage, interested economic operators can express interest electronically, but participation in the later negotiated procedure will depend on the contracting authority's subsequent invitation and the formal conditions that will be set in the full procurement notice.

The portal metadata indicates that the opportunity is not marked as SME suitable, so applicants should not assume a simplified SME route.

Commercial and procedural details

What applicants should know

• This is a market research style services assignment rather than a grant.
• The scope appears strategic and analytical, focused on ecosystem mapping, requirements definition and governance design.
• The later tender documents should contain the full technical specifications, selection criteria and contract terms.
• There is no public Q and A content yet in the notice.
• Applicants should be ready to demonstrate expertise in automotive digitalisation, platform governance, stakeholder coordination and market analysis.

No funding rate applies because this is a procurement contract, not a grant. In practical terms, the most relevant profile is a supplier that can combine automotive sector knowledge with policy, market and collaboration platform analysis, rather than a contractor delivering hardware or software implementation directly.

Footnotes

1. 1The portal notice explains that references featuring ExA are not calls for tenders but publications announcing the contracting authority's intent to launch a future negotiated low or middle value procedure.