Facilitate the engagement of European stakeholders in international digital standardisation (CSA)

This EU grant opportunity titled "Facilitate the engagement of European stakeholders in international digital standardisation (CSA)" falls under the Horizon Europe program, with a specific focus on digital technologies. The funding opportunity will be available for applications starting on November 17, 2026, and the deadline for submissions is March 18, 2027. The total budget for this initiative is €7,000,000, anticipating a single grant allocation to support activities that enhance European engagement in global digital standards development. Eligible applicants include small and medium enterprises (SMEs), research and innovation institutions, members of the open-source community, academicians, and other societal stakeholders based in EU member states and associated Horizon Europe countries. Although no particular countries are specifically mentioned, participation is open across the EU and related regions. The funding type is a lump sum grant, which is designed to simplify financial management by providing fixed amounts instead of reimbursement based on expenses. This grant supports the execution of coordination and support actions (CSA), aimed at strengthening the influence of European experts in international standardisation activities in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, computer graphics, and computer vision. Notably, a minimum of 75% of the budget must be allocated for financial support to third parties, who will receive up to €60,000 for their contributions. This structure aims to enhance the capacity and capabilities of European stakeholders through training, workshops, and participation in key standardisation meetings led by international bodies like ISO/IEC JTC1 and 3GPP. The application process consists of a single submission stage, making it accessible for eligible entities. The initiative is anticipated to bolster knowledge sharing, foster connections among stakeholders, and promote the role of standardisation in enhancing the competitiveness of the EU’s digital sector. The overarching goal is to improve the skills and involvement of European experts in standards-setting discussions, thereby advancing EU strategic interests and values in the global arena. The call explicitly encourages the development of educational materials and tools to raise awareness of the importance of digital standardisation and its benefits, particularly for SMEs and researchers. Overall, this funding opportunity aims to reinforce the European standardisation landscape in emergent digital sectors, promote Europe's strategic autonomy in technology, and foster a vibrant ecosystem for digital innovations aligned with EU policy objectives.

This EU funding opportunity, HORIZON-CL4, aims to facilitate the engagement of European stakeholders in international digital standardisation through Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). It falls under the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program, specifically the DIGITAL (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04) call. The grant type is a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS], and the deadline model is single-stage. The planned opening date is 17 November 2026, and the deadline is 18 March 2027, 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this funding opportunity are:

Increasing the participation and influence of European experts in digital standardisation to promote EU values and strategic interests, contributing to strengthen EU competitiveness in the digital field.

Improvement of the skills of European experts, especially from SMEs, R&I institutions, Open-Source community, academia and societal stakeholders, to successfully contribute and lead in the development of digital standards.

Development and update of standardisation landscapes and gap analyses of key digital technologies as outlined in the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation.

Provision of foresight analyses regarding standardisation in new emerging technologies to identify short and medium-term digital standardisation needs to support EU policies and anticipate appropriate participation by EU stakeholders.

More awareness of the benefits and competitive advantages of standardisation, in particular for SMEs and researchers, and more visibility of the European digital standardisation ecosystem.

The scope of the funding opportunity includes:

Contributing to the implementation of the EU Standardisation Strategy and other policy initiatives such as Europe’s Digital Decade, Apply AI Strategy or the Competitiveness Compass, with an emphasis on supporting the EU’s leading position in global standards-setting of key digital technologies.

Goals include strengthening EU competitiveness in the digital domain, contributing to EU tech sovereignty, and promoting EU values and interests internationally by empowering and financially supporting the active participation of European stakeholders in the development of digital international standards.

Reinforcing the presence of experts from the EU and associated Horizon Europe countries in global digital standards setting, especially those coming from SMEs, R&I institutions, Open-Source community, academia and societal stakeholders.

To achieve this objective, proposals should provide for:

Setting up a management facility to support contributions and leadership (e.g. chairing of technical committees, convenor positions) of European specialists in activities in relation to global digital standardisation.

Supporting financially the hosting of international standardisation meetings (e.g. 3GPP, ISO/IEC JTC1) and workshops in Europe to ease the participation of European experts, when relevant.

Landscape and gap analysis of standardisation activities in key digital priority areas, as outlined in the Annual Union Work Programme and the Rolling Plan for ICT standardisation, including identification of new emerging technology areas.

Promotion of the relevance and benefits of digital standardisation, especially for strengthening the competitiveness of EU industry, driving sustainability, achieving tech sovereignty, and promoting EU values.

The proposal should build synergies with other similar EU- and national-funded initiatives and include actions, including development of tools and materials, to promote education and skills on standardisation.

Beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership or grant an exclusive licence must formally notify the granting authority (i.e. DG-CNECT and HaDEA) before the intended transfer or licensing takes place, and the granting authority may object up to four years after the end of the action.

The proposal should consider previous activities carried out in terms of educational material and facilities for funding experts within the topics ICT-40-2017 (StandICT.eu project), ICT-45-2020 (StandICT.eu2023 project), HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01-21 (StandICT.eu 2026) and HORIZON-CL4-2024-HUMAN-03-04 (StandICT.eu 2029).

General conditions for the funding include:

Admissibility Conditions:Proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

Eligible Countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific provisions may exist for non-EU/non-Associated Countries, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Other Eligible Conditions are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

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 described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

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 described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Legal and financial set-up of the grants:The granting authority may object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results up to 4 years after the end of the action, as set out in Annex 5.

Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants, with a maximum amount of €60 000 per third party. A minimum of 75% of the total requested EU contribution should be allocated to FSTP selected through open calls to support European experts in the global ICT standardisation scene. Beneficiaries will define the selection process and establish a pool of evaluators.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021, available on the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme and Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):

Application form templates are available in the Submission System (Standard application form HE CSA).

Evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations (Standard evaluation form HE CSA).

Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.

Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the Lump Sum MGA.

Call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), information on financial support to third parties (HE), and guidance on lump sums are also available.

Additional documents include:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes

HE Programme Guide

HE Framework Programme 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

The budget overview for the call DIGITAL (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04) in 2027 includes several topics:

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-03 (HORIZON-RIA):€35 000 000, indicative number of grants: 2, contributions around €17 500 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08 (HORIZON-IA):€38 000 000, indicative number of grants: 2, contributions around €19 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-09 (HORIZON-IA):€39 000 000, indicative number of grants: 3, contributions around €10 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04 (HORIZON-RIA):€42 000 000, indicative number of grants: 3, contributions around €14 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05 (HORIZON-IA):€18 000 000, indicative number of grants: 1, contributions around €18 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06 (HORIZON-IA):€3 000 000, indicative number of grants: 2, contributions around €1 500 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-10 (HORIZON-CSA):€4 000 000, indicative number of grants: 1, contributions around €4 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11 (HORIZON-RIA):€44 000 000, indicative number of grants: 1, contributions around €44 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-01 (HORIZON-RIA):€39 000 000, indicative number of grants: 8, contributions between €4 800 000 and €5 600 000.

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-02 (HORIZON-CSA):€3 000 000, indicative number of grants: 1, contributions around €3 000 000.

HORIZON-CL4 (HORIZON-CSA):€7 000 000, indicative number of grants: 1, contributions around €7 000 000.

Partner search announcements are available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests.

The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

General FAQs and support are available, including an Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk, the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment, and a Partner Search function.

In summary, this funding opportunity seeks to bolster European expertise and participation in global digital standardisation efforts. It aims to enhance EU competitiveness, promote tech sovereignty, and uphold EU values by supporting European stakeholders in shaping international digital standards. The funding will be distributed through lump sum grants, with a significant portion dedicated to financial support for third parties selected via open calls. The initiative encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the development of educational resources to empower European experts in the digital domain.

Eligible Applicant Types:The eligible applicant types include SMEs, R&I institutions, the Open-Source community, academia, and societal stakeholders. These entities must be based in the EU or associated Horizon Europe countries. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Funding Type:The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA). Financial support to third parties (FSTP) is also provided in the form of grants, with a maximum of €60,000 per third party.

Consortium Requirement:The opportunity does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the scope and objectives, a consortium is likely beneficial, if not implicitly required, to effectively address the various aspects of digital standardisation.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):The geographic eligibility includes the EU and associated Horizon Europe countries. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector:The target sector is digital technologies and ICT standardisation. This includes areas such as AI, Europe’s Digital Decade, and other key digital technologies outlined in the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation.

Mentioned Countries:The opportunity focuses on the EU and associated Horizon Europe countries. It also mentions non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding but have made specific provisions for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Project Stage:The project stage is focused on coordination and support actions, which suggests a mature project stage aimed at facilitating and promoting existing standards and research, rather than early-stage research or development.

Funding Amount:The budget for the HORIZON-CL4 topic is €7,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 1, suggesting a single large project will be funded. For financial support to third parties (FSTP), the maximum amount to be granted to each third party is €60,000.

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

Nature of Support:The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant. They may also provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants.

Application Stages:The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates:Given the budget of €7,000,000 and the indicative number of grants being 1, the success rate is likely to be below 10%, as there will be significant competition for a single grant.

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

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL4, aims to facilitate the engagement of European stakeholders in international digital standardisation. It falls under the DIGITAL call within the Horizon Europe Programme and is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA). The primary goal is to increase the participation and influence of European experts in digital standardisation to promote EU values and strategic interests, thereby strengthening EU competitiveness in the digital domain.

The call seeks to improve the skills of European experts, especially those from SMEs, R&I institutions, the Open-Source community, academia, and societal stakeholders, to enable them to contribute effectively to the development of digital standards. It also aims to develop and update standardisation landscapes and gap analyses of key digital technologies, as well as provide foresight analyses regarding standardisation in new emerging technologies.

Eligible applicants include entities from the EU and associated Horizon Europe countries, with potential participation from non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, with a total budget of €7,000,000 for a single project. A significant portion (at least 75%) of the EU contribution should be allocated to Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) through open calls, with a maximum of €60,000 per third party.

The application process is a single-stage submission, with a planned opening date of 17 November 2026 and a deadline of 18 March 2027. The call encourages proposals that build synergies with other EU- and national-funded initiatives and include actions to promote education and skills on standardisation. The granting authority may object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to four years after the end of the action.