Digital forensic equipment and tools

Call EUAF-2026-TA-02 funds the purchase and maintenance of digital forensic equipment, software and mobile forensic tools with compulsory training to strengthen investigative capacity against fraud affecting EU financial interests. The Technical Assistance envelope for 2026 is €10,800,000, individual projects must have a minimum budget of €100,000 and may request up to 15 percent of the TA call (maximum €1,620,000) with a standard funding rate of 80 percent (90 percent in defined priority cases). Eligible applicants are single-beneficiary national or regional public authorities and international organisations established in EU, listed EEA or associated countries, and proposals must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The call opens 17 March 2026 and the submission deadline is 7 May 2026 at 17:00 CET.

Digital forensic equipment and tools — EUAF-2026-TA-02

What it funds

Purchase and maintenance of digital forensic hardware and software, mobile forensic tools and computer-forensic collaborative systems; updates to existing software; compulsory specialised training for staff to operate purchased tools; cross-border operational cooperation encouraged.

Who can apply

Single applicants only (mono-beneficiary). Eligible applicants are legal entities: national or regional public authorities or international organisations whose task is to protect the EU financial interests. Participant registration in the Portal and legal entity validation are required.

Call type and managing programme:Call for proposals under the Union Anti-Fraud Programme (EUAF) — Technical Assistance (EUAF-2026-TA). Projects must include a training component linked to purchased equipment.

1. 1Opening date: 17 March 2026
2. 2Deadline: 7 May 2026, 17:00 Brussels time
3. 3Minimum project budget: €100,000 (Technical Assistance)
4. 4Maximum grant claim per project: up to 15% of the call budget (max approx. €1,620,000)
5. 5Funding rate: typically 80% (90% possible for defined priority actions)
6. 6Calls are budget-based mixed actual cost grants (eligible costs rules apply)

Eligibility and key conditions

Only single beneficiaries may apply. Applicants must be legal entities established in eligible countries (EU Member States, certain EEA/associated countries). Proposals must follow application template and page limits; price quotations for equipment must be provided. Financial and operational capacity checks apply.

Evaluation and award highlights:Award criteria: Conformity with EUAF objectives (30 pts), Added value for protection of EU financial interests (30 pts), Quality (20 pts) and Value for money (20 pts). Thresholds apply; final selection depends on ranking and available budget.

How to apply and contact

Submit electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the EUAF Project Grants / EUAF Action Grant (Budget-Based) models. Use the Submission System templates and upload mandatory detailed budget table and supplier quotes tying to the budget.

For help: olaf-fmb-hercule-ta@ec.europa.eu. Full call document and templates available from the topic page and call fiche on the Funding & Tenders Portal Call fiche and documents. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Call document and annexes (including application templates and detailed budget table) are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal topic page and should be followed exactly when preparing submissions: EUAF call document.

Digital forensic equipment and tools — EUAF-2026-TA-02

Programme: Union Anti-Fraud Programme (EUAF) — Technical Assistance (EUAF-2026-TA). Type of action: EUAF-PJG EUAF Project Grants. Model Grant Agreement: EUAF Action Grant Budget-Based [EUAF-AG]. Opening date: 17 March 2026. Deadline: 07 May 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time. Deadline model: single-stage. Managing authority: European Commission, OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office). Topic page and submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal EUAF-2026-TA-02 Topic Page. Full call document and annexes are available EUAF 2026 TA/TRAI Call Document ¹.

Objective, Scope and Expected Outcome

Objective: Reinforce the investigative capability and operational capacity of national authorities protecting the EU’s financial interests by providing co-funding for purchasing and maintaining digital forensic equipment and tools, accompanied by compulsory specialised training on their use.

Scope: Co-funding for purchase and maintenance of digital forensic equipment and software, mobile forensic tools, and computer forensic collaborative systems used to prevent and fight irregularities, fraud and corruption detrimental to the financial interests of the EU. Cross-border cooperation to exchange information and best practices, particularly at operational level, is strongly encouraged. Projects may include updates of existing software systems and associated training. Specialised training enabling staff to operate these tools is mandatory and must be included as part of the action.

Expected outcome: Strengthened investigative and operational capacity, measurable by the number of successful operations supported by the purchased products, including arrests, convictions, seizures, confiscations, recoveries, prevented losses to national and EU budgets, and fraud schemes uncovered.

Budget and Funding Rate

Total available budget for the Technical Assistance call (all four topics): €10,800,000. Topic EUAF-2026-TA-02 draws from this envelope alongside TA-01, TA-03, TA-04. Minimum total project budget: €100,000. Maximum grant per project: up to 15% of the available Technical Assistance call budget, i.e. up to €1,620,000.

Funding rate: 80% of eligible costs by default. Possibility to request a 90% funding rate for priority actions that reflect findings of the annual Article 325 TFEU reports or the European Court of Auditors Special Report 19/2017 on import procedures, as specified in the call document. Indirect costs flat-rate: 0% for Technical Assistance. VAT is not eligible. Personnel costs are not eligible for Technical Assistance. Equipment can be funded at full cost, including delivery and installation; maintenance is eligible. Travel and subsistence must be calculated as unit costs per Commission Decision on unit costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence, or actuals where unit costs do not apply, and should be budgeted under C.1. Compulsory training costs linked to the purchased equipment must be budgeted under C.3 Other goods, works and services.

Eligibility and Participation

Eligible Applicant Types

For Technical Assistance (EUAF-2026-TA): national or regional public authorities, or international organisations whose task is to protect the EU’s financial interests. Entities must be legal persons. Applicants must register in the Participant Register and pass validation.

Consortium Requirement

Single applicant (mono-beneficiary) applications only. Affiliated entities and other participants (associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions) may be involved as needed, but the grant is awarded to a single beneficiary.

Geographic Eligibility (Beneficiary Scope)

Eligible applicants must be established in an EU Member State (including OCTs), or a listed EEA country or country associated to the EUAF Programme, or a country in ongoing association negotiations where the agreement enters into force before grant signature. International organisations are eligible irrespective of country restrictions. EU bodies (except the Commission’s JRC) are not eligible.

Target Sector and Activities

Target sector: law enforcement and anti-fraud authorities focusing on digital forensics and ICT for investigations; security/cybersecurity; software and data tools; cross-border operational cooperation. Activities financed include purchasing and maintenance of digital and mobile forensic equipment, forensic software, collaborative systems for computer forensics, updates to existing software systems, and a compulsory specialised training component on the use of the purchased tools. Operational cross-border cooperation and exchange of best practices are encouraged.

Key Dates and Process

• Opening date: 17 March 2026
• Submission deadline: 07 May 2026, 17:00:00 Brussels time
• Evaluation period: May to October 2026 (indicative)
• Information on evaluation results: November 2026 (indicative)
• Grant Agreement signature: November to December 2026 (indicative)

Application and Submission

Application type: Open call, single-stage. Submission method: Electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, using the specific online forms and templates available only inside the Submission System. Paper submissions are not accepted. The Part B technical description is limited to 70 pages; additional pages will be disregarded. The project acronym format should be Year-Country-Acronym (for example, 2026-BE-REI). Applicants must ensure consistency between the online summarised budget (Part A) and the uploaded Detailed Budget Table (Excel).

Mandatory components at submission:Part A (administrative forms), Part B (technical description), Detailed Budget Table (EUAF TA, Excel), price quotations and supplier brochures supporting price estimates that tie to the Detailed Budget Table, list of previous key projects from the last 3 years. For Technical Assistance, CVs and annual activity reports are not applicable. All documents must be readable, accessible and printable. Templates and guidance are available in the Submission System and the Online Manual Funding & Tenders Online Manual ¹.

Evaluation and Award

Evaluation is single-step after admissibility and eligibility checks. Proposals are scored against four award criteria with individual thresholds and an overall threshold. Maximum score is 100 points; proposals must pass each criterion’s minimum and achieve at least 60/100 overall.

Priority order for tie-breaking considers uncovered themes, then scores for Added Value, Conformity, and Quality, and, if needed, portfolio balance for geographical and thematic coverage. Invitation to Grant Agreement preparation does not constitute a funding commitment until legal checks are completed.

Financial and Legal Set-up

Grant form: budget-based mixed actual cost grant with unit costs and flat-rate elements. Eligible direct cost categories for TA include B. Subcontracting; C. Purchase costs (C.1 Travel and subsistence as unit or actual where applicable; C.2 Equipment at full cost including maintenance, delivery and installation; C.3 Other goods, works and services such as compulsory training linked to purchased equipment). Indirect costs flat-rate for TA: 0%. Personnel costs: not eligible for TA. VAT is not eligible. Financial support to third parties is not allowed. Prefinancing is typically 50% of the maximum grant amount; no interim payments; balance at the end subject to final accepted costs and revenues, no-profit rule applies to for-profit beneficiaries. Prefinancing guarantees may be required depending on the financial capacity assessment. Durability and visibility obligations apply as per the MGA.

What Will Be Funded (Technology and Equipment Examples)

• Digital forensic hardware and software suites for acquisition, preservation, examination and analysis of digital evidence across devices and media, including encryption handling within lawful mandates
• Mobile device forensic tools for extraction (logical, file system, physical/advanced acquisition where lawful), decoding, and analysis of smartphones, tablets, and wearables
• Computer forensic collaborative platforms to facilitate case management, evidence sharing, chain-of-custody tracking, and joint analytical workflows among authorised investigators
• Updates and upgrades to existing forensic software systems, including licenses, modules, and maintenance contracts
• Ancillary items essential for the operationalisation of the forensic toolchain such as write blockers, forensic duplicators, secure storage for evidence, forensic workstations, servers dedicated to forensic analysis, and secure network segments for lab operations
• Training packages directly linked to the purchased solutions, covering installation, configuration, lawful use, procedures, evidence handling, reporting, and cross-border operational cooperation

Mandatory Training Component

Each project under the Technical Assistance call must include a specialised training component proportionate and reasonable to the value of the equipment purchased. Training must be directly linked to the purchased equipment and enable staff to operate the tools. Stand-alone events or workshops not linked to purchased equipment are discouraged under TA and instead addressed under the EUAF-2026-TRAI call.

Compliance and Complementarity

Applicants must ensure there is no duplication with other EU support instruments, notably the Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI). The EUAF targets equipment that is outside the scope of CCEI or, where relevant, that targets different authorities than those under CCEI. Interoperability with tools purchased under EUAF or other EU programmes, and complementarity with other EU funding, will be evaluated under Conformity and Added Value.

Implementation, Duration and Location

Project duration: normally 12 to 24 months, extensions possible by amendment if duly justified. Activities must generally take place in eligible countries, unless agreed otherwise for specific justified cases (for example, staff exchanges or training essential to protect the EU’s financial interests). Milestones are not applicable for EUAF calls; deliverables are managed through the Portal Grant Management System. For TA projects, an ex post implementation questionnaire must be submitted one year after the end of the action.

Applicant Capacity and Exclusion

Financial capacity: applicants must have stable and sufficient resources to implement the project and their co-funding share. Public bodies and international organisations are exempt from the financial capacity check. Operational capacity: applicants must demonstrate know-how and resources commensurate with the project. Exclusion: entities subject to EU restrictive measures or falling under exclusion grounds of the Financial Regulation cannot participate in any capacity.

Structured Answers to Categorisation Questions

Eligible Applicant Types:National public authorities, regional public authorities, international organisations whose task is to protect the EU’s financial interests. Other entity types such as universities, research institutes, NGOs or nonprofits are not eligible under Technical Assistance unless they qualify as the above; these entities are primarily eligible under the Training call (EUAF-2026-TRAI), not under Technical Assistance.

Funding Type:Grant. EUAF Project Grant using a budget-based mixed actual cost model with unit cost and flat-rate elements as defined in the EUAF Model Grant Agreement.

Consortium Requirement:Single applicant (mono-beneficiary) required. Affiliated entities and other participants may be included, but one beneficiary signs the Grant Agreement and is responsible for implementation.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):EU Member States including OCTs; listed EEA countries or countries associated to the EUAF Programme; countries in ongoing association negotiations if the agreement enters into force before grant signature. International organisations are eligible regardless of territorial restrictions.

Target Sector:Security and law enforcement; anti-fraud; digital forensics; ICT and software tools; cybersecurity; data systems supporting investigations and operational cooperation.

Mentioned Countries:Regions explicitly referenced: EU Member States including OCTs, EEA associated countries, EUAF associated countries. No individual country names are singled out; eligibility is regional as per programme rules.

Project Stage:Implementation and operational deployment. Projects focus on procurement, installation, updates, and immediate operational use of digital forensic capabilities, with compulsory training. This is not a research call; it is for applied operational capacity-building and deployment.

Funding Amount:Typical range driven by minimum of €100,000 total project costs. Maximum EU contribution per project up to €1,620,000 (15% of €10.8 million TA call envelope). Funding rate 80% by default, with an option to seek 90% for defined priority actions.

Application Type:Open call via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, single-stage submission.

Nature of Support:Money. Co-funding of eligible costs for equipment, maintenance, and training as specified. No operating grants; no financial support to third parties.

Application Stages:1 stage. Single-stage submission and one-step evaluation.

Success Rates:Not specified in the call documentation. Funding allocation will depend on proposal quality and available budget following evaluation.

Co-funding Requirement:Yes. The EU contribution typically covers 80% of eligible costs (up to 90% for priority actions), implying at least 10–20% co-funding from the beneficiary. VAT is ineligible and must be covered by the beneficiary. Personnel costs are ineligible in TA and must not be included.

Templates and Application Structure

Applicants must use the templates provided within the Submission System. The following outlines will help structure applications in line with the provided forms.

Part A: Administrative Forms (auto-generated in the Portal):Contains general information (topic, acronym, title, duration, abstract), participants and contact data, budget summary, declarations (consent of applicants, correctness and completeness, compliance with eligibility, financial and operational capacity, use of the Portal and data protection), and other questions (ethics and security tables where applicable).

Part B: Technical Description (to be uploaded as PDF, max 70 pages):Recommended structure: 1) Conformity with EUAF Programme objectives: background, general objectives, needs analysis with clear, measurable, realistic objectives and indicators; relevance, complementarity, European added value and interoperability. 2) Quality: concept and methodology; project management, quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation strategy with indicators; project team and resources (for TA, personnel costs are not eligible, but describe team roles and expertise); risk management with likelihood and impact assessments and mitigation. 3) Value for money: cost-effectiveness, clarity and justification of budget, link to expected impact and sustainability. 4) Added value for protection of the EU financial interests: expected short-, medium-, long-term impact; environmental impact and green procurement considerations; communication, dissemination and visibility plan; sustainability and continuation beyond funding. 5) Workplan: work packages (for simple equipment projects, a single WP may suffice; otherwise, WP1 for management, WP2+ for implementation), tasks, roles, deliverables, timetable (M1 to M24). 6) Other: ethics, security. 7) Declarations: applicant type, higher funding rate justification (if applicable), double funding confirmation.

Detailed Budget Table (Excel) — key instructions for TA:Use the unmodified official Excel template. Complete sheets in order: Start, Detailed budget table, Consolidated table (participant), Consolidated table (project). For TA: equipment entries should start as of line 3 in the detailed table. Add one line per equipment item with a detailed description and ensure each item clearly ties to the provided supplier quotes. Enter compulsory training costs under C.3 linked to the equipment; do not include generic events/workshops. Consumables in C.3 are not eligible under TA. Travel and subsistence for training must use unit costs where applicable and be listed under C.1 by travel category with origins/destinations, distance band, days/nights, number of persons, and transport means. Ensure numerical consistency between Part A budget and the Detailed Budget Table.

Annexes:Mandatory for TA: Detailed Budget Table (Excel), price quotations and supplier brochures tied to the budget lines, list of previous key projects in the last 3 years. Not applicable for TA: CVs of core team, annual activity reports.

Post-award Obligations and Deliverables

• Communication and visibility must acknowledge EU funding using the European flag and standard funding statement in all communication and dissemination materials.
• Durability and proper use of equipment as per the Grant Agreement.
• Record-keeping for audits: maintain original or legally valid digital records for the required period following final payment.
• TA mandatory deliverable: ex post implementation questionnaire due one year after the end of the action.
• No financial support to third parties. No double funding and no-profit rule apply (for-profit beneficiaries must declare project-generated revenues).

Partner Search and Support

Partner search announcements can be published by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants with a public Person profile via the Portal. For help on this call: olaf-fmb-hercule-ta@ec.europa.eu. IT Helpdesk provides technical submission support. See the Online Manual for end-to-end guidance.

Summary and Explanation

EUAF-2026-TA-02 funds the procurement, maintenance, and deployment of digital and mobile forensic capabilities and collaborative systems for authorities safeguarding the EU’s financial interests. It is a mono-beneficiary grant targeting national or regional public authorities and international organisations in eligible countries. Each project must purchase and operationalise specific forensic tools, ensure interoperability and complementarity with other EU-funded assets, and embed a compulsory, proportionate training component enabling safe and effective use of the tools in real investigations. Priority is placed on practical, measurable operational gains such as increasing successful operations, arrests, convictions, seizures, recoveries, and prevention of losses to the EU and national budgets. The call’s financing conditions are precise: personnel costs are ineligible under Technical Assistance; equipment can be funded at full cost with maintenance and installation; VAT is ineligible; travel and subsistence apply unit costs where available; training must be tied to the purchased tools. The evaluation emphasises relevance to EUAF objectives, quality of implementation and management, value for money, and added value for protecting the EU’s financial interests. Proposals must be complete, consistent across forms and budgets, and demonstrate financial and operational capacity. With a single-stage submission and a clear budget envelope, authorities ready to modernise their forensic toolchain and procedures, strengthen cross-border operational cooperation, and deliver quantifiable enforcement outcomes should apply via the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1Key sources: EU Funding & Tenders Portal topic page EUAF-2026-TA-02, the EUAF 2026 Technical Assistance and Training Call Document (Version 1.0, 12 March 2026), EUAF Model Grant Agreement (V1.0 – 01.11.2024), and the EUAF Application Form templates. See topic and documents at EUAF-2026-TA-02 Topic Page and EUAF 2026 TA/TRAI Call Document.

Digital Forensic Equipment and Tools - EUAF-2026-TA-02

Funding Opportunity Overview

This is a call for proposals under the Union Anti-Fraud Programme (EUAF) Technical Assistance component, specifically targeting the acquisition and maintenance of digital forensic equipment, software, mobile forensic tools, and computer forensic collaborative systems. The funding supports national and regional public authorities and international organisations in strengthening their investigative and operational capacity to combat fraud, corruption, and irregularities affecting the EU financial interests.

Key Funding Details

Total Available Budget:€10,800,000 allocated specifically to the Technical Assistance call (EUAF-2026-TA), which encompasses four topics including digital forensic equipment and tools.

Individual Project Budget Requirements:Minimum €100,000 per project. Maximum grant amount that could be requested is up to 15 percent of the available call budget, meaning maximum €1,620,000 per project.

Funding Rate:Standard funding rate is 80 percent of eligible costs. A higher funding rate of 90 percent may be available for priority actions that reflect findings of annual reports on implementation of Article 325 TFEU on combating fraud or findings of the European Court of Auditors' Special Report 19/2017 on import procedures.

Eligibility and Applicant Requirements

Eligible Applicants:Only single beneficiaries are allowed (no consortia required). Eligible entities must be national or regional public authorities or international organisations whose task is to protect the EU financial interests. Applicants must be from EU Member States, EEA countries, or countries associated with the EUAF Programme.

Eligible Countries:All EU Member States including overseas countries and territories (OCTs), listed EEA countries, and countries associated with the EUAF Programme or in ongoing negotiations for association agreements where the agreement enters into force before grant signature.

Financial and Operational Capacity:Applicants must demonstrate stable and sufficient resources to implement the project. Public bodies and international organisations are exempted from the operational capacity check. Financial capacity checks will normally be conducted for all beneficiaries except public bodies or if the individual requested grant amount does not exceed €60,000.

Scope and Eligible Activities

The Commission will support the purchase and maintenance of digital forensic equipment and software, mobile forensic tools, and computer forensic collaborative systems used to prevent and fight against irregularities, fraudulent irregularities, fraud, and corruption detrimental to the EU financial interests. Projects may include updates of existing software systems and associated training. Specialised training to enable staff to operate these tools must be included as a compulsory component of the action.

Cross-border cooperation enabling the exchange of information and best practice, particularly at operational level, is strongly encouraged. The training component should be proportionate and reasonable compared to the price of the equipment to be purchased and must be linked to purchased equipment.

Expected Outcomes and Impact Measurement

Projects should strengthen and improve beneficiaries' investigative and operational capacity, measured by indicators such as the number of successful operations carried out with purchased products, number of arrests, convictions, seizures, confiscations, recoveries, prevented losses to national and EU budgets, and fraud schemes uncovered. Applicants must demonstrate how the purchased equipment will contribute to these measurable outcomes.

Project Duration and Timeline

Project Duration:Projects should normally range between 12 months and 24 months, with extensions possible if duly justified and through an amendment.

Call Timeline:Call opening: 17 March 2026. Deadline for submission: 7 May 2026 at 17:00:00 CET (Brussels time). Evaluation period: May to October 2026. Information on evaluation results: November 2026. Grant agreement signature: November to December 2026.

Submission Requirements and Documents

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline. Paper submissions are not accepted. Proposals must include Application Form Part A (administrative information), Application Form Part B (technical description, maximum 70 pages), and mandatory annexes including a detailed budget table in Excel format.

For the Technical Assistance call, applicants must provide documents supporting price estimates for equipment, such as price quotations and supplier brochures. Price quotations should clearly tie to the submitted detailed budget table. All amounts in the summarised budget table must correspond to amounts in the detailed budget table; in case of discrepancies, the online summarised budget table will prevail.

Evaluation and Award Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated against four main criteria: Conformity with EUAF Programme objectives (30 points), Quality (20 points), Value for money (20 points), and Added value for the protection of EU financial interests (30 points). Individual thresholds are 18/30, 12/20, 12/20, and 18/30 points respectively. Overall threshold is 60 points. Proposals that pass both individual and overall thresholds will be considered for funding within available budget limits.

Conformity with EUAF Programme Objectives (30 points):Evaluates coherence based on needs analysis, clarity and realism of objectives, relevance to call themes and priorities, contribution to EU strategic context, complementarity with other EU programmes, trans-national dimension, and potential for cross-border cooperation.

Quality (20 points):Assesses project team competences, cooperation arrangements, project design and implementation methodology, technical quality, feasibility within proposed timeframe, and appropriate allocation of resources.

Value for Money (20 points):Evaluates whether the budget is sufficient and appropriate for proper implementation in context of expected long-term impact and results, with clear and detailed budget supported by appropriate documentation.

Added Value for Protection of EU Financial Interests (30 points):Assesses expected short, medium, and long-term impact on target groups, EU-level impact, impact for multiple countries, sustainability of results after EU funding ends, and appropriateness of dissemination strategy for ensuring sustainability and multiplier effects.

Budget Categories and Cost Eligibility

For the Technical Assistance call, eligible budget categories include Personnel costs (not eligible for TA call), Subcontracting costs, Purchase costs (including Travel and subsistence, Equipment at full cost, and Other goods/works/services), and Indirect costs at 0 percent flat-rate. VAT is not eligible. Equipment costs are eligible at full cost, including purchase, maintenance, delivery, and installation costs.

Ineligible costs include VAT, costs for infrastructure and land purchase, costs incurred during grant agreement suspension, and costs declared under other EU grants (except in specific Synergy action cases). Consumables are not eligible under the Technical Assistance call.

Grant Agreement and Payment Terms

Form of Grant:Budget-based mixed actual cost grant reimbursing only eligible costs actually incurred, with 80 percent funding rate (or 90 percent for priority actions).

Payment Schedule:Initial prefinancing payment of approximately 50 percent of maximum grant amount, paid 30 days from entry into force or financial guarantee (whichever is latest). Final payment calculated after project completion and approval of final report. No interim payments are foreseen for this call.

Prefinancing Guarantee:May be required and will be set during grant preparation. Amount will normally be equal to or lower than the prefinancing payment. Guarantee should be in euro from an approved bank/financial institution in an EU Member State.

No-Profit Rule:Grants may not produce a profit (surplus of revenues plus EU grant over costs). For-profit organisations must declare revenues, and if there is profit, the Commission will deduct it from the final grant amount.

Reporting and Deliverables

Mandatory deliverables for Technical Assistance projects include an ex post implementation questionnaire to be submitted one year after the end of the action. This questionnaire should document the outcomes and impact of the purchased equipment on investigative and operational capacity.

Beneficiaries must keep records and supporting documents for at least 3 years after final payment to prove proper implementation of the action and justify declared costs. Records must include contracts, invoices, accounting records, and evidence of equipment purchase and use.

Compliance and Exclusion Criteria

Applicants subject to EU exclusion decisions or in exclusion situations cannot participate. These include bankruptcy, breach of social security or tax obligations, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, links to criminal organisations, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes, child labour, human trafficking, significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under EU contracts, or irregularities within meaning of EU Regulation 2988/95.

Applicants will also be refused if they misrepresented information required as a condition for participating, failed to supply required information, or were previously involved in call preparation in a way that distorts competition.

Special Considerations and Compliance Requirements

All projects must comply with EU policy interests and priorities including environmental impact, social protection, security, health protection, gender equality, digitalisation of society, and industrial and trade policy. Projects should take into account results of projects supported by other European Commission funding programmes, with complementarities described in proposals.

Applicants must ensure compliance with GDPR, AI Act, Data Act, and NIS2 Directive. For Technical Assistance projects involving digital forensics, equipment specifications must demonstrate that equipment is reliable, secure, safe, and environmentally friendly. In case of equipment replacement, applicants must ensure environmentally responsible disposal of replaced equipment.

Contact and Support

For non-IT related questions about this call, applicants should contact olaf-fmb-hercule-ta@ec.europa.eu. For IT helpdesk support regarding submission system access and technical aspects, contact the IT Helpdesk through the Portal. Applicants are encouraged to consult the Online Manual and FAQs on the Topic page for detailed guidance on submission procedures and requirements.

Key Strategic Context

This call reflects the EUAF Programme's commitment to reinforcing investigative capability and capacity of national authorities through digitalisation. It supports the EU's strategic priorities in combating fraud affecting both revenue and expenditure sides of the EU budget. The focus on digital forensics aligns with emerging challenges including synthetic content detection, quantum-resistant cryptography, and AI-enhanced investigative capabilities, as identified in recent Europol Industry and Research Days documentation.

Footnotes

1. 1Regulation (EU) 2021/785 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021 establishing the Union Anti-Fraud Programme (OJ L 172, 17.5.2021, p. 110). EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 provides the overarching financial rules applicable to this grant.