Demand-led innovation in security

The Horizon Europe funding opportunity HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02 focuses on demand-led innovation in security. This Pre-commercial Procurement (PCP) initiative is part of the Civil Security for Society cluster, aiming to develop and validate innovative technology solutions to address civil security challenges. The total budget for this call is €5,830,000, with one grant anticipated to be awarded. Applications will be accepted from a single-stage submission process opening on May 6, 2026, and closing on November 5, 2026.

Eligible applicants must form a multi-stakeholder consortium, consisting of at least three civil security practitioners and three public procurers, from a minimum of three different EU Member States or Associated Countries. This composition should include independent legal entities that are public procurers and can also comprise NGOs providing public interest services. The opportunity encourages collaboration among various sectors, including technology providers, research organizations, and universities.

The PCP mechanism allows public procurers to commission research and development instead of purchasing off-the-shelf products. Funding covers costs related to R&D services, prototype development, validation, and deployment activities. The funding structure allows for subcontracted services as well, and financial support up to €100,000 per third party is available to incentivize end-users to adopt the solutions developed through this initiative.

Geographically, this opportunity targets entities located in EU Member States and Associated Countries, with requirements for open market consultations to be conducted in at least three EU Member States prior to submission. The project aims to progress through several stages, including preparation, design, integration, validation, and potential commercialization of prototypes developed in line with the project’s objectives.

While specific success rates are not explicitly provided, the competitive nature of this funding indicates that quality proposals will play a crucial role in selection. Co-funding may be encouraged and will depend on the specifics of the partnership agreements, though explicit co-funding percentages are not laid out.

Overall, this call seeks to bridge the gap between research and market deployment in civil security technologies, supporting the growth of SMEs and startups and aiming for sustainable cross-border solutions that are socially acceptable and operationally viable within the EU context. The focus on collaboration, consultation, and commitment to results beyond project completion emphasizes the importance of creating a responsive and dynamic security innovation ecosystem.

This EU funding opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under the call for Civil Security for Society 2026. The focus is on "Demand-led innovation in security," and the specific topic is HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02, which is a HORIZON Pre-commercial Procurement (PCP) action. The indicative budget for this topic is 5,830,000 EUR, and it is a single-stage application process. The planned opening date is May 6, 2026, and the deadline for submission is November 5, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this funding opportunity are:

1.  Establishment of a community of EU civil security practitioners with shared needs for innovative technology solutions, supported by a strong industrial base, particularly SMEs and Startups, to facilitate their access to the public procurement market and enable business scaling.

2.  Facilitation by procurers of the commercialization of innovative solutions developed by successful suppliers, providing them with first customer references for validation and initial pilot deployments.

3.  Validation of the EU technology and industrial base's capacity to develop and produce technology prototypes that effectively address the diverse needs of the EU user community, considering gender, age, and abilities.

4.  Improved understanding of the EU market for innovative civil security systems, encompassing both demand and supply aspects, and articulating alternative options for uptake based on varying industrialization, commercialization, acquisition, deployment, and funding needs.

The scope of this funding opportunity is to encourage public procurers to strategically utilize Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) to address societal challenges and open up the procurement market for startups. Applicants are expected to submit proposals for PCP actions aimed at acquiring Research and Development (R&D) services and innovative civil security technology solutions.

Key aspects to be addressed in the proposals include:

*  Demonstrating interest from a broad community of potential buyers beyond the direct beneficiaries, indicating shared needs and openness to jointly adopting developed solutions.

*  Providing an analysis of the state of the art and market landscape, aligning research activities with identified needs, and presenting a range of technical alternatives.

*  Organizing proposals to stimulate dialogue with the supply side and demonstrate the sustainability of the action beyond the project's lifespan.

*  Building on the outcomes of previous CSA projects under Horizon Europe aimed at strengthening pre-commercial procurement of innovative security technologies.

*  Providing clear evidence to justify and de-risk the PCP action, demonstrating the significance of the identified challenge and the necessity of PCP to mature technologies and compare alternatives.

*  Demonstrating commitment from a consolidated group of practitioners and procurers with shared needs and requirements to the PCP process, enabling informed decisions on future joint procurement of innovative solutions.

*  Cooperating with policymakers to reinforce national policy frameworks and mobilize additional national budgets for PCP and innovation procurement.

*  Demonstrating commitment to exploiting project results beyond the project's conclusion, ensuring stakeholder engagement and strategies for future uptake.

*  Clarifying measures to ensure compliance with the principles of the EU Directive on public procurement, particularly those related to PCP.

*  Completing required open market consultations in at least three EU Member States, utilizing prior consultations from previous CSA projects where relevant.

*  Involving procurement decision-makers to ensure the adoption of end solutions by public buyers.

Procurers should declare their interest in deploying solutions resulting from the PCP, indicating whether they will:

*  Procure successful solution(s) as part of the PCP.

*  Launch a separate follow-up procurement after the PCP to buy such type of solutions.

*  Adopt successful solutions without the need to procure them (e.g., in case of open-source solutions).

*  Foresee financial or regulatory incentives for others to adopt successful solutions (e.g., in case the final end-users of the solutions are not the procurers but for example citizens).

In these four cases, the procurers can implement the project as a fast-track PCP. In the first case, the procurers should foresee the budget in the proposal to purchase at least one solution during the PCP. In the second case, the procurers should include in the proposal a deliverable that prepares the follow-up procurement to purchase such type of solution(s) after the PCP. In the first and third case, the procurers should foresee sufficient time during the project to deploy and validate that the solutions function well after installation. In the fourth case, the procurers can use financial support to third parties to provide financial incentives to final end-users that are not part of the consortium (e.g. citizens) to adopt the solutions, including costly hardware components, with a maximum budget of EUR 100.000.

Applicants should propose an implementation of the project that includes:

*  A minimal preparation stage dedicated to finalising the tendering documents package for a PCP call for tenders based on the technical input, and to define clear verification and validation procedures, methods and tools for the evaluation of the prototypes to be developed throughout the PCP phases.

*  Launching the call for tenders for research and development services. The call for tenders should envisage a competitive development composed of different phases that would lead to at least 2 prototypes from 2 different providers to be validated in real operational environment at the end of the PCP cycle.

*  Conducting the competitive development of the prototypes following the PCP principles including a design phase, an integration and technical verification phase and a validation in real operational environment phase. In evaluating the proposals and the results of the PCP phases, the applicants should consider technical merit, feasibility and commercial potential of proposed research efforts.

*  Consolidating the results of the evaluation of the developed prototypes, extracting conclusions and recommendations from the validation process, and defining a strategy for a potential uptake of solutions inspired in the PCP outcomes, including a complete technical specification of the envisaged solutions and standardisation needs and/or proposals. This strategy should consider joint-cross border procurement schemes and exploit synergies with other EU and national non-research funds.

Applicants are expected to maximise the visibility of the project outcomes to the wide community of potential EU public buyers and to address all applicable considerations expressed in the Introduction of the Strengthened Security Research and Innovation Destination.

The general conditions for admissibility include proposal 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. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Other eligibility conditions include restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. The topic requires participation, as beneficiaries, of at least 3 practitioners and 3 public procurers from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Among the public procurers, minimum two must be independent legal entities that are public procurers, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country and with at least one of them established in a Member State.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are detailed in Annex D, while submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is also described in Annex F.

Legal and financial aspects include the granting authority's right to object to transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to 4 years after the action's end. PCP/PPI procurement costs are eligible, and specific conditions for PCP/PPI procurements in section H of the General Annexes apply. Subcontracted work must be performed in at least 3 Member States, unless otherwise approved. Financial support to third parties is allowed up to EUR 100,000 per third party to provide incentives for end-users to adopt solutions.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, with specific forms for HE RIA, IA, CSA, RI, PCP, PPI, COFUND, FPA, MSCA, ERC, and EIC actions. Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), and call-specific instructions. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027, EIC Work Programme 2026, ERC Work Programme 2026, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, and other relevant regulations and guidelines.

The budget overview lists various topics under the Civil Security for Society 2026 call, including their respective budget, action type, opening date, deadline, and indicative number of grants.

This funding opportunity aims to foster demand-driven innovation in the civil security sector by encouraging public procurers to use pre-commercial procurement to acquire R&D services and innovative solutions. It seeks to create a community of EU civil security practitioners, support SMEs and startups, and improve the EU market for innovative civil security systems. The funding supports projects that demonstrate a commitment to exploiting results, engaging stakeholders, and complying with EU procurement principles. The goal is to enhance the capacity of the EU technology and industrial base to develop and produce effective security prototypes, ultimately increasing the societal impact of related research activities.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include practitioners, public procurers, SMEs, and startups. The call specifically mentions the need for a consortium with at least 3 practitioners and 3 public procurers from different EU Member States or Associated Countries. NGOs providing similar services of public interest as public procurers are also considered eligible as the third procurer in the buyer's group.

Funding Type: The funding type is a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) action, which is a type of procurement where public procurers purchase research and development services.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium of multiple applicants is required. Specifically, the consortium must include at least 3 practitioners and 3 public procurers from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and Associated Countries. The open market consultations must be completed in at least three EU Member States.

Target Sector: The target sector is civil security, focusing on innovative technology solutions for civil security challenges.

Mentioned Countries: At least three EU Member States are explicitly mentioned as locations where open market consultations must be completed. The call also refers to EU Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on acquiring Research and Development (R&D) services and maturing civil security technology solutions. The projects should lead to at least 2 prototypes from 2 different providers to be validated in a real operational environment.

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02 topic is EUR 5,830,000. The indicative number of grants is 1.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to fund the pre-commercial procurement activities. Financial support to third parties is also possible, with a maximum of EUR 100,000 per third party, to provide financial incentives to final end-users (e.g., citizens) to adopt the solutions.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process. However, the PCP itself involves multiple phases, including a design phase, an integration and technical verification phase, and a validation in a real operational environment phase. The call also allows public buyers to use the fast-track PCP option (e.g. 2 instead of 3 phases) when they commit to buying or deploying the resulting solutions after the PCP.

Success Rates: The success rate is not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for the HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02 topic is 1.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is not explicitly mentioned as a requirement. However, the call encourages cooperation with policymakers to mobilise substantial additional national budgets for PCP and innovation procurement in general beyond the scope of the project.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02, focuses on "Demand-led innovation in security" and aims to foster the development and adoption of innovative civil security technology solutions through pre-commercial procurement (PCP). The call invites consortia of practitioners and public procurers from at least three EU Member States or Associated Countries to submit proposals for PCP actions. The goal is to identify and support a community of EU civil security practitioners with common needs, enabling SMEs and startups to access the public procurement market. The selected projects will acquire R&D services to develop and validate technology prototypes, with a focus on sustainability, uptake, and compliance with EU public procurement directives. The call encourages involvement of procurement decision-makers and offers a fast-track PCP option for procurers committed to deploying the resulting solutions. The funding amount for this specific topic is EUR 5,830,000, with an indicative number of 1 grant to be awarded. The call emphasizes the importance of open market consultations, collaboration with policymakers, and maximizing the visibility of project outcomes to potential EU public buyers.