Digital solutions for regulatory compliance through data

The DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-COMPLIANCE grant opportunity is part of the Digital Europe Programme, aimed at developing AI-driven digital solutions for regulatory compliance, particularly concerning data management and security. This program invites legal entities, including startups, SMEs, universities, research institutes, large enterprises, and public-private partnerships from eligible countries to apply for funding. Public bodies and international organizations are also considered eligible.

The grant type is an action grant, categorized as budget-based, which allows for partial reimbursement of eligible costs incurred in the project. The application process is single-stage, allowing for both individual and consortium submissions, although single applicants are encouraged for straightforward projects. The geographic eligibility primarily focuses on EU member states, along with EEA countries and associated nations, while non-EU entities may participate if aligned with specific terms.

The targeted sectors for this opportunity include AI technologies, data security, and regulatory compliance, and the program specifically addresses the challenges posed by the complexity and volume of EU legislative requirements. Projects should operate at the development, validation, and demonstration stages, testing solutions in realistic operational environments.

The total budget for this grant is €8 million, with an expected award of three grants, which translates to roughly €2.6 million per project. The submission deadline for applications is September 2, 2025. Financial support will be provided as reimbursement against eligible costs, which include personnel, equipment, and subcontracting.

Co-funding is required, with the expectation that the EU will cover 50% of the eligible costs, necessitating that applicants secure the remaining funding from private or public sources. Given the limited number of grants, the projected success rates for applicants hover between 10% and 39%, although specific success rates are not documented.

The objective of awarded projects will be to streamline compliance reporting through automating processes and using advanced technologies such as data capturing, cloud storage, encryption, and APIs for real-time compliance checks. Systems developed under this call must adhere to European data standards, prioritize data privacy, and incorporate best practices in data governance. Proposals should aim at legislative areas with quantifiable compliance metrics capable of being assessed autonomously through data analysis.

In summary, this call seeks to fund innovative digital solutions that aid in regulatory compliance within the EU, significantly reducing the bureaucratic burden faced by various sectors. Successful proposals should deliver pilot projects, demonstrate their solutions, and effectively share findings with stakeholders, thereby aligning with the broader goals of enhancing EU competitiveness and simplifying regulatory processes.

The DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-COMPLIANCE call, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) and the AI Continent (DIGITAL-2025-AI-08) call, aims to streamline regulatory reporting through automated and trusted sharing of compliance data. It seeks innovative digital solutions to ease the growing complexity and volume of EU legislative reporting requirements for both regulatory bodies and public/private entities, enhancing EU competitiveness.

The call is for DIGITAL Simple Grants, with a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG] model agreement. The submission process is single-stage, opening on 15 April 2025 and closing on 02 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget for this topic is 8,000,000 EUR, with an indicative number of 3 grants to be awarded.

The expected outcome is the delivery of three or four separate projects that demonstrate how governance, technical, legal, and processing aspects of streamlining regulatory reporting through automated and trusted sharing of compliance data have been addressed. Each project must deliver a pilot in realistic operational conditions, a live presentation (demo) of the pilot use case, and a final report. Project outcomes, including developed solutions, must be disseminated to relevant stakeholders, such as public administrations and private entities (particularly SMEs), showcasing the benefits of streamlining compliance processes and reducing administrative burdens.

The objective is to support projects testing digital solutions for transmitting information relevant for compliance with EU legislation (e.g., regulations on environmental issues) and automate the compliance process for a number of pilot use cases. This involves addressing the difficulties faced by regulatory bodies in enforcing laws and by public/private entities in complying with the increasing complexity of EU legislation.

The scope of the activities funded includes:

Technical aspects:
Utilizing advanced technologies such as data capturing technologies, automatic transmission and analysis, cloud storage, and encryption for data security and compliance with regulations.
Implementing comprehensive APIs to enable real-time compliance and self-compliance checks.
Employing machine learning algorithms for automated monitoring and reporting.
Where possible use precisely defined concepts available in the data catalogue entries of common European data spaces enabling deterministic data collection.
Establishing direct communication channels with regulatory authorities for automated updates and reporting, keeping the system updated with changing regulations (e.g. by expressing the reporting requirements in machine readable and executable way).
Ensuring robust access control and maintaining audit trails for transparency and accountability.
Minimizing the risk of non-compliance and potential penalties through these technological and procedural safeguards.
Integrating the EU Digital Identity Wallet for secure identification of individuals and legal entities.
All systems must incorporate robust data privacy and security measures.
Proposers must ensure that the systems developed are open source, interoperable with existing government data systems and adhere to European data standards and specifications.
The system must be scalable to handle large volumes of data and high transaction rates.
The system must be designed with end-users in mind, ensuring ease of use and accessibility.
A comprehensive data governance framework must be established, including policies for data quality management, data stewardship, and data lifecycle management.
Active engagement with all relevant stakeholders is essential.
Proposals should target legislations that have clear, quantifiable compliance metrics that can be automatically assessed using data analytics and they should ensure no overlaps with ongoing initiatives (e.g. Digital Product Passport, Customs reform).

Sectors with a high bureaucratic burden, such as agriculture, environment, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy, are examples of possible pilot use cases to be funded. Consortia can consist of public administrations such as government bodies/ regulatory agencies, private entities or a mix of the two.

Conditions for participation include:

Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form.
Eligible Countries: Described in section 6 of the call document.
Other Eligible Conditions: Described in section 6 of the call document.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: Described in section 7 of the call document.
Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds described in section 9 of the call document.
Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in section 4 of the call document.
Legal and financial set-up of the grants described in section 10 of the call document.

Applicants are directed to the call document and annexes for detailed information, including:

Call document
Standard application form (DEP) available in the Submission System
Detailed budget table available in the Submission System
Digital Europe Programme General MGA v1 Guidance Classification of information in DIGITAL projects
Guidelines on How to Complete your Ethics Self-Assessment
Digital Europe Work Programme 2025-2027
Digital Europe Programme Regulation 2021/694
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Regulation - EU, Euratom - 2024/2509 - EN - EUR-Lex

Partner search announcements are available for those seeking collaborators. Support is available through the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, IT Helpdesk, and Online Manual.

In summary, this call aims to fund projects that develop and test digital solutions to automate and streamline regulatory compliance, reducing administrative burdens and enhancing competitiveness within the EU. It focuses on using advanced technologies to capture, transmit, analyze, and secure compliance data, with an emphasis on interoperability, scalability, and user-friendliness. Successful projects will deliver pilot implementations, demonstrate their benefits, and disseminate their findings to relevant stakeholders.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include public administrations such as government bodies and regulatory agencies, private entities, or a mix of both. Consortia can be formed from these types of organizations.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a DIGITAL Simple Grant (DIGITAL-SIMPLE) and DIGITAL JU Grants for Financial Support (DIGITAL-JU-GFS) and DIGITAL Grants for Procurement (DIGITAL-GP) and DIGITAL Coordination and Support Actions (DIGITAL-CSA). The Model Grant Agreement is a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium, as it is stated that consortia can consist of public administrations, private entities, or a mix of the two.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is within the EU, as the objective is to streamline compliance processes and enhance competitiveness within the EU. The call aims to address the complexity and volume of reporting requirements stemming from EU legislation.

Target Sector: The program targets sectors with high bureaucratic burdens, including agriculture, environment, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy. The focus is on streamlining regulatory reporting through automated and trusted sharing of compliance data. The program also involves the use of advanced technologies, so it also targets the ICT sector.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on the EU.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the pilot stage, with projects testing digital solutions and automating compliance processes for pilot use cases. The projects will deliver a pilot in realistic operational conditions and a live presentation (demo) of the pilot use case.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary by topic:
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-AGRIFOOD: EUR 15,000,000
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-COMPLIANCE: EUR 8,000,000
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-DS-SUPPORT: EUR 10,000,000
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-PROCESSOR: EUR 1,000,000
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-SUPPLY-AI: EUR 21,000,000

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates can be inferred from the indicative number of grants for each topic, but the total number of applications is not provided.
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-AGRIFOOD: 1 grant
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-COMPLIANCE: 3 grants
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-DS-SUPPORT: 1 grant
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-PROCESSOR: 1 grant
DIGITAL-2025-AI-08-SUPPLY-AI: 4 grants

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:
This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) focusing on AI and is named AI Continent (DIGITAL-2025-AI-08). The call aims to fund projects that develop and test digital solutions for streamlining regulatory compliance and reporting within the EU. The core objective is to reduce the complexity and volume of reporting requirements stemming from EU legislation, which pose challenges for both regulatory bodies and public/private entities. The call is structured around several specific topics, each with its own budget and indicative number of grants. These topics include applications in Agrifood, general Compliance solutions, Data Space support, Processor technologies, and AI supply. The call is open to consortia consisting of public administrations, regulatory agencies, private entities, or a mix of these. Projects should focus on developing pilot solutions that utilize advanced technologies such as data capturing, automatic transmission and analysis, cloud storage, encryption, APIs, machine learning, and the EU Digital Identity Wallet. The projects should demonstrate how governance, technical, legal, and processing aspects are addressed. The expected outcomes include delivering pilot projects in realistic operational conditions, live presentations, and dissemination of project results to relevant stakeholders. The submission deadline is September 2, 2025. The call emphasizes the importance of open-source, interoperable, and scalable systems that adhere to European data standards and prioritize data privacy and security.