NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support

This EU funding opportunity is under the Horizon Europe program, specifically within Cluster 5, and is titled "NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support." It focuses on supporting regulatory frameworks for innovations related to net-zero industries. The funding mechanism is a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, with an application opening date of May 6, 2025, and a deadline of September 2, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time.

Eligible applicants include national and regional authorities, SMEs and companies, research institutions, civil society organizations, universities, and other stakeholders involved in net-zero regulatory sandboxes. The grant promotes collaboration, suggesting a consortium approach may be preferred, although not mandatory. The program targets EU Member States and associated countries, with some provisions for non-EU countries that align with the objectives of Horizon Europe.

The primary target sector includes climate-neutral technologies and regulatory innovations aimed at net-zero transitions. The project is focused on the validation and demonstration phases of net-zero technologies in real-world environments. While the specific funding amount for this call is not detailed, similar initiatives generally have budgets ranging from €500,000 to €69 million.

The application process is a single-stage open call. Funding amounts are provided as a lump sum, and co-funding is typically not required. Success rates for grants within Horizon Europe range from approximately 10% to 39%.

Proposals should facilitate the setting up and operation of regulatory sandboxes, encourage best practice sharing among Member States, and provide a repository of information on net-zero technology projects. Tasks include conducting analyses of national legislative frameworks, engaging stakeholders, promoting societal involvement, and ensuring accessibility of data produced during projects.

The objective of the funding is to accelerate the testing and deployment of innovative technologies necessary for achieving the EU's climate neutrality goals. The projects should last for three years and meet specific admissibility conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Work Programme annexes.

Overall, this call represents an important opportunity for stakeholders in the net-zero technology sector, aiming to enhance cooperation, streamline regulatory processes, and support the transition to a sustainable energy system across the EU.

This EU funding opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under Cluster 5, call 02-2025. It aims to support the goals of the Net-Zero Europe Platform related to net-zero regulatory sandboxes. The call, titled "NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support," is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant. The opening date for submission is May 6, 2025, and the deadline is September 2, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this funding are:

Regulatory learning of how regulation supports or hampers the enhanced use of innovative net-zero technologies.

Well-established, streamlined, and designed net-zero regulatory sandboxes schemes.

Active and smooth information exchange among Member States (contact points and competent authorities) and stakeholders through the Net-Zero Europe Platform, facilitated by the project.

The scope of the proposals should cover the following points:

Support the goals of the Net Zero Europe Platform related to net-zero regulatory sandboxes. This includes reaching out to stakeholders involved in these sandboxes across Member States, such as assigned contact points, competent authorities, potential participating entities (including SMEs and start-ups), social partners, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders.

Support the exchange of best practices and lessons learned, and enhance cooperation between Member States. This also includes coordination with other similar initiatives.

Prepare comparative analyses and assessments of national legislative frameworks for net-zero regulatory sandboxes and other relevant regulatory sandboxes. These analyses should align with the Regulation on strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology manufacturing ecosystem and cover: regulatory barriers for innovative net-zero technologies, national net-zero regulatory sandbox schemes (including application procedures), concrete trials, impacts and regulatory learning, lessons learned, and exploration of other forms of regulatory experimentation for net-zero technologies in the energy sector.

Create and regularly update a publicly available free repository on regulatory sandbox schemes and concrete projects for net-zero technologies in the Union.

Actively include contributions from national and regional authorities, companies (industry and SMEs), social partners, research and civil society organizations, consumers’ and users’ associations, universities, European associations representing relevant sectors, and any other stakeholders related to net-zero regulatory sandboxes.

Develop and implement robust outreach approaches and societal engagement actions across the EU to maximize impact and widen participation.

Include appropriate means to consider the experience and possibilities of SMEs and start-ups as potential participants in regulatory sandbox schemes.

Develop a dissemination and exploitation strategy and implement dissemination and networking activities.

Contribute to the Commission’s reporting on the results of the implementation of net-zero regulatory sandboxes, including good practices, lessons learned, and recommendations on their setup and application within the net-zero regulatory sandbox of Union law.

Include actions to ensure the accessibility and reusability of data produced during the project.

Include a finance and sustainability plan for future continuation beyond the project's lifetime.

The project duration should be designed for three years.

Admissibility conditions require adherence to Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes for proposal page limits and layout, with specific details in 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 outlined 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 detailed 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.

Eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum, as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

The legal and financial setup of the grants is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms, as well as the model grant agreement (MGA), are available in the Submission System. The standard application form is HE CSA, and the standard evaluation form is HE CSA.

Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide. The Model Grant Agreement is a Lump Sum MGA. Call-specific instructions and a detailed budget table (HE LS) are also available, along with guidance on lump sums.

Additional documents include: HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction, HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility, HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. 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, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget overview for 2025 includes various topics under Cluster 5, with opening dates on May 6, 2025, and deadlines on September 2, 2025. The topics range from Innovation Actions (IA) to Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) and Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), with budgets varying from EUR 500,000 to EUR 69,000,000 and indicative grant numbers from 1 to 15.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants.

The Electronic Submission Service can be accessed via the submission button, and existing draft proposals can be accessed through the Funding & Tenders Portal.

This funding opportunity supports the establishment and enhancement of net-zero regulatory sandboxes across EU Member States, fostering innovation and regulatory learning in net-zero technologies. It aims to facilitate the testing and deployment of these technologies to achieve climate neutrality and ensure a resilient energy system. The projects are expected to support the Net Zero Europe Platform, analyze legislative frameworks, and create a public repository of relevant information. The call encourages broad participation from various stakeholders, including SMEs, and emphasizes the accessibility and reusability of project data. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and projects should have a duration of three years.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types for this opportunity include national and regional authorities, companies (including industry and SMEs), social partners, research and civil society organizations, consumers’ and users’ associations, universities, and European associations representing relevant sectors, and any other stakeholders related to net zero regulatory sandboxes. The opportunity specifically encourages the inclusion of SMEs and start-ups.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) framework. There are also HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA), HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions (HORIZON-COFUND)

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity encourages active inclusion of various stakeholders, implying that a consortium is preferred, although not explicitly stated as mandatory.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility focuses on EU Member States, with encouragement for outreach and societal engagement actions to span across the EU. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible for funding if they have specific provisions, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is cleantech, specifically net-zero technologies. This includes areas related to climate, energy, and the resilience of the Union’s energy system. The program also touches upon innovation, regulatory learning, and experimentation spaces.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity focuses on EU Member States. It also mentions non-EU and non-associated countries that have specific provisions for funding in Horizon Europe projects.

Project Stage: The project stage targets validation and demonstration, as the focus is on testing innovative net-zero technologies in real-world environments and scaling up successful initiatives.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific action type (HORIZON-IA, HORIZON-CSA, HORIZON-RIA, HORIZON-COFUND). For the specific call HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D2-12, the budget is EUR 500,000. Other calls have budgets ranging from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 69,000,000.

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.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants is provided for each topic, which can be used to estimate the potential success rate based on the number of expected applications.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is not explicitly mentioned as a requirement, but the HORIZON-COFUND action implies co-funding from other sources.

Summary:

This opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under Cluster 5, and aims to support the Net-Zero Industry Act's objectives by fostering innovation and regulatory learning in net-zero technologies. The core of the initiative involves setting up and supporting net-zero regulatory sandboxes across EU Member States, which allow for the real-world testing and potential scaling of innovative technologies crucial for achieving the EU's climate neutrality goals.

The program targets a wide array of stakeholders, including national and regional authorities, companies (SMEs and large enterprises), research institutions, civil society organizations, and universities, encouraging them to actively contribute to the development and implementation of these regulatory sandboxes. The projects are expected to facilitate the exchange of best practices and lessons learned among Member States, identify regulatory barriers, and create a publicly accessible repository of information on net-zero technology projects.

Funding is provided through various Horizon Europe action types, including Innovation Actions (IA), Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), and Programme Cofund Actions (COFUND), each with different budget allocations and objectives. Eligible costs are covered as a lump sum, and projects are designed to last for three years.

The ultimate goal is to accelerate the deployment of innovative net-zero technologies, enhance the resilience of the Union’s energy system, and contribute to the Commission’s reporting on the implementation and best practices of net-zero regulatory sandboxes. This initiative is crucial for regulatory learning and ensuring that regulations support rather than hinder the adoption of these vital technologies.