Increasing competitiveness and resilience of multimodal freight transport and logistics for competitive supply chains

The Horizon Europe call under the title "Increasing competitiveness and resilience of multimodal freight transport and logistics for competitive supply chains" HORIZON-CL5 aims to enhance the European freight transport networks by fostering innovation through a budget of €20 million. The call will open on June 4, 2026, with a submission deadline of October 8, 2026, at 17:00 CET. The initiative seeks to award three grants, each up to €6.5 million, targeting projects that develop advanced tools and solutions for multimodal logistics integrating rail, inland waterways, and short sea shipping. Key expected outcomes include the creation of solutions to improve real-time visibility, predictive analytics, and enhanced synchromodality within freight transport systems. The project aims to resolve challenges faced by the sector, especially the dominance of unimodal road transport, by promoting greater integration of multimodal data and capabilities. Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity include large enterprises, SMEs, research institutions, universities, public authorities, and public-private partnerships involved in freight transport and logistics ecosystems. The call encourages multi-stakeholder collaboration, requiring active participation from transport operators and logistics service providers to ensure practical implementation. Funding is provided through lump sum grants, simplifying financial management. A consortium of diverse participants is needed to meet the call's collaborative scope, which underscores the importance of real-world validation through two large pilot demonstrations along main European freight transport corridors. Projects must achieve at least Technology Readiness Level 7, indicating operational prototypes, and will focus on practical applications in real operational environments. Despite no explicit co-funding requirement stated, the structure implies that beneficiaries should expect to contribute resources beyond the grant funds, reflecting best practices in Horizon Europe applications. The application process is single-stage, requiring complete proposals to be submitted electronically. The competitive landscape indicates anticipated success rates in line with historical trends for Horizon Europe calls, typically between 10-30%. Overall, this Horizon Europe initiative aims to stimulate the digital transformation of the European logistics sector, improving efficiency, sustainability, and the resilience of multimodal transport networks, ultimately addressing the pressing demand for innovative solutions in freight transport.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call under the BATTERIES and MOBILITY section (HORIZON-CL5-2026-10). The specific topic is HORIZON-CL5, titled "Increasing competitiveness and resilience of multimodal freight transport and logistics for competitive supply chains." It is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] Model Grant Agreement (MGA). The deadline model is single-stage. The planned opening date is 04 June 2026, and the deadline date is 08 October 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this topic are:advanced tools and solutions to enhance the competitiveness of European multimodal freight transport networks, ensuring sustainability, resilience, security, and increased freight transport capacity; solutions providing real-time visibility, tracking, and predictive analytics for multimodal services, performance, and network status to support better planning and increase shippers' adoption of multimodal transport; and strengthened integration of multimodal data, along with improved synchromodal solutions, enabling more agile, flexible, responsive, and resilient multimodal transport logistic systems.

The scope of this topic focuses on addressing the challenges in the European freight transport sector, where demand is expected to double in the coming decades. Despite policy goals to strengthen multimodal transport, unimodal road transport remains more competitive. The lack of integration of data from rail, inland waterways, and multimodal sources into logistics and supply chain solutions is a major barrier. The call aims to improve system resilience by developing better tools and solutions for multimodal operators to manage disruptions and ensure supply chain continuity.

Proposals should address the following aspects:

Develop interoperable tools and solutions integrated into existing platforms, leveraging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, to connect shippers, carriers, and other stakeholders with multimodal information. These tools should help operators react rapidly to disruptions.

Map and identify datasets to enhance the integration of multimodal solutions in supply chain processes.

Assess how new technologies, such as generative Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, can be leveraged, including the management of smart containers.

Explore synchromodality strategies for logistics hubs and multimodal transport networks.

Develop interoperable solutions and tools to support freight forwarders and multimodal operators in addressing shippers’ demands for information provision and sharing.

Define use cases for multimodal transport for intra-European flows between 500 and 1,000 km and collaborative business models to shift freight transport demand to multimodal solutions.

Validate, measure the performance, and demonstrate the proposed solutions in two large pilots along segments of the main European freight transport corridors, ensuring geographical balance and covering various industrial sectors.

Assess and quantify the value generation of the proposed solutions for shippers, multimodal operators, and terminals, including sustainability and energy consumption reduction.

Analyze and propose recommendations for contingency plans to address disruptions in multimodal supply chains.

Provide recommendations on possible revisions to the existing regulatory framework and propose initiatives to remove barriers to the adoption of multimodal transport solutions.

Proposals must plan for active collaboration among selected projects for dissemination, evaluation, and coordination. Information exchange with Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking Flagship Area 5 is advised. If solutions use position, navigation, and/or timing (PNT) services or data, beneficiaries must use Galileo.

General conditions include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout (described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form), eligible countries (described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide), and other eligible conditions, including restrictions on control by entities from China and the use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for projects using satellite-based data.

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

Legal and financial aspects of the grants include the possibility for the granting authority to object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to 4 years after the action's end. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

Specific conditions indicate that there are no specific conditions applicable.

Application and evaluation forms are available in the Submission System, with standard forms for HE RIA and IA. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, Lump Sum MGA, call-specific instructions, detailed budget table (HE LS), and guidance on lump sums.

Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027, the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions, rules for legal entity validation, the EU Grants AGA, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Statement.

The budget overview lists several topics under the call, including HORIZON-CL5, with a budget of €20,000,000 and an indicative number of 3 grants. The opening date is 2026-06-04, and the deadline is 2026-10-08.

Partner search announcements are available for collaboration on this topic. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header. General FAQs and support are available through the 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, ETSI Research Helpdesk, the European Charter for Researchers, and Partner Search tools.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to foster innovation in multimodal freight transport and logistics to enhance the competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability of European supply chains. It seeks to integrate data and leverage new technologies to create interoperable tools and solutions that improve real-time visibility, tracking, and decision-making for shippers and operators. The call encourages collaborative projects that validate and demonstrate these solutions through large-scale pilots, ultimately contributing to a more efficient and resilient multimodal transport system in Europe.

Eligible Applicant Types:The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of Horizon Europe funding, eligible applicants can include a wide range of entities such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations from eligible countries. The mention of LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) suggests that any legal entity validated by the EU can apply, assuming they meet the specific criteria of the call.

Funding Type:The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, which falls under HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA).

Consortium Requirement:The opportunity does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the scope and the need for active collaboration among projects, a consortium is highly probable. The partner search announcements further suggest that consortia are expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector:The program targets the following sectors:

* Transport (specifically freight transport)

* Logistics

* Technology (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, data governance)

* Sustainability and Energy

* Rail, inland waterways and short sea shipping

Mentioned Countries:The opportunity mentions "eligible countries" as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes and "non-EU/non-Associated Countries". It also mentions China as an entity that, if controlling an applicant, could render them ineligible. The primary geographic focus is Europe, as indicated by the emphasis on European freight transport networks and intra-European flows.

Project Stage:The expected maturity of the project is at the innovation and demonstration stage, focusing on development, validation, and piloting of tools and solutions. The call specifically mentions Innovation Actions (IA) and Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), implying a focus beyond just research and into practical application and coordination.

Funding Amount:The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call:

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D2-03:€100,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-01:€100,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-02:€4,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-03:€13,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5:€20,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-07:€4,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-09:€12,000,000

* HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-10:€10,000,000

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 a lump sum grant to cover eligible costs.

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

Success Rates:The success rates can be estimated based on the indicative number of grants and the budget. For example, HORIZON-CL5 with a budget of €20,000,000 aims to award around 3 grants, suggesting a relatively competitive success rate.

Co-funding Requirement:The opportunity does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, under the BATTERIES and MOBILITY theme (HORIZON-CL5-2026-10), focuses on "Increasing competitiveness and resilience of multimodal freight transport and logistics for competitive supply chains." It aims to enhance European freight transport networks by developing advanced tools and solutions that integrate various modes of transport (rail, inland waterways, short sea shipping) and leverage technologies like AI and IoT. The goal is to improve the efficiency, sustainability, and resilience of multimodal transport, addressing the current dominance of unimodal road transport.

The call invites proposals for Innovation Actions (IA), Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) that build on existing data governance models and interoperable platforms. Projects should focus on real-time visibility, predictive analytics, and synchromodal solutions to enable agile and flexible logistics systems. A key aspect is the validation and demonstration of proposed solutions through large-scale pilots along European freight transport corridors, involving transport operators, logistics companies, and infrastructure managers.

The expected outcomes include enhanced competitiveness, increased adoption of multimodal transport by shippers, and strengthened integration of multimodal data. Proposals should also provide recommendations for regulatory revisions and initiatives to facilitate the adoption of multimodal transport solutions.

The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the call is open to a wide range of entities from eligible countries, with a single-stage application process. Active collaboration among selected projects is required for dissemination, evaluation, and coordination, with information exchange advised with Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking Flagship Area 5. The use of Galileo for position, navigation, and timing services is also mandated where appropriate.