Open topic on preventing and countering the misuse of emerging technologies for criminal purposes, including issues related to lawful access to data

The grant opportunity under Horizon Europe is titled "Open topic on preventing and countering the misuse of emerging technologies for criminal purposes, including issues related to lawful access to data." It falls under the Civil Security for Society program (HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-02) and is classified as a Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA). The call is pertinent for EU Member States and Associated Countries, and it seeks to empower Police Authorities by providing them with modern tools, methodologies, and training curricula to combat the misuse of emerging technologies.

The anticipated opening date for the submission process is May 6, 2026, with a deadline for applications set for November 5, 2026. The funding associated with this call totals €9 million, aiming to support approximately two projects, each receiving about €4.5 million.

Eligible applicants must include at least two Police Authorities from different EU Member States or Associated Countries within their consortium. Other eligible participants can include research institutions, universities, technology companies, and public-private partnerships. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant rather than reimbursement for actual costs, streamlining financial management.

Proposals must address a range of sectors related to security, including law enforcement and cybersecurity, particularly focusing on the evolving challenges posed by technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and quantum technologies. Projects must emphasize developing tools and methodologies for crime detection and law enforcement training while ensuring that data access respects fundamental rights.

The application process is a single-stage submission; applicants are required to submit full proposals by the specified deadline. Although the success rates for applications are not explicitly detailed, historical trends suggest competitive rates similar to other Horizon Europe opportunities.

While co-funding is not mandated, applicants are encouraged to explore additional funding sources to enhance their projects. The call emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration to share best practices, ensuring that projects are comprehensive and practical.

Overall, this grant opportunity aims to address critical gaps in security by enabling law enforcement to adapt to new technological challenges while maintaining legal and ethical standards.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call under the Civil Security for Society 2026 program (HORIZON-CL3-2026-01). The specific topic is HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-02, titled "Open topic on preventing and countering the misuse of emerging technologies for criminal purposes, including issues related to lawful access to data." It is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call employs a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 06 May 2026, and the deadline for submission is 05 November 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of this call are:

1.  Empowering Police Authorities in Europe with modern, accessible, and validated tools, methodologies, and training curricula to anticipate and cope with the misuse of new and emerging technologies for criminal purposes. This aims to facilitate prevention, detection, efficient data access, and investigation of criminal offenses lawfully and with full respect for fundamental rights, including the right to protection of personal data and privacy.
2.  Reinforcing interdisciplinary collaboration at the European level through partnerships among technologists, policymakers, and Police Authorities. This should result in a holistic understanding of the challenges posed by emerging technologies and in the sharing of best practices.
3.  Creating clear guidelines and frameworks, including procedures and rules, that ensure lawful access to data, balancing the needs of security with respect for privacy and fostering a European approach to the related challenges for the police and the judiciary.

The scope of this call is to address the challenges that new and emerging technologies pose for the police and the judiciary. These technologies include new communication technologies, quantum technologies, new biometrics and identification technologies, cloud computing technologies, and generative AI. The call aims to tackle the misuse of these technologies for criminal purposes and ensure lawful access to data while respecting applicable legislation and fundamental rights.

Proposals are welcome to address new and emerging technologies not covered by other projects from previous Horizon Europe Calls Fighting Crime and Terrorism, as well as the current Call Fighting Crime and Terrorism 2026-2027. Proposals should emphasize adaptive methodologies and frameworks that can evolve in response to new threats and challenges, empowering Police Authorities to act effectively while ensuring adherence to legal standards regarding data access. Research activities should:

1.  Develop modern tools, methodologies, and training material for police to tackle the problem of misuse for criminal purposes of the new and emerging technologies under consideration.
2.  Address issues related to lawful access to data in this context.

The integration of the gender and intersectional dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement. Coordination among successful proposals is encouraged to avoid duplication and exploit complementarities.

Proposals addressing issues within Europol's mandate are expected to engage with the Europol Innovation Lab. Similarly, proposals concerning drug-related issues should engage with the EU Drugs Agency. For Police Authorities’ training-related aspects, cooperation of successful proposals with CEPOL is expected, provided that the Agency opts out from applying for funding.

Proposals are expected to address all applicable considerations expressed in the Introduction of the Fighting Crime and Terrorism Destination.

The general conditions for this call include:

1.  Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.
2.  Eligible Countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3.  Other Eligible Conditions:
 *  Active involvement of at least 2 Police Authorities from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated Countries as beneficiaries.
 *  Applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form.
 *  Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
 *  If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.
4.  Financial and operational capacity and exclusion as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5.  Evaluation and award:
 *  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.
 *  Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6.  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.
 *  Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Application forms, evaluation forms, and model grant agreements are available in the Submission System. Additional guidance documents include the HE Programme Guide, HE MGA, HE Unit MGA, Lump Sum MGA, Operating Grants MGA, Framework Partnership Agreement FPA, Detailed budget table (HE LS), Information on financial support to third parties (HE), Information on clinical studies (HE), and Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?".

Additional documents also include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 for various areas, the EIC Work Programme 2026, the ERC Work Programme 2026, 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 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 this call includes various topics, each with its own budget, type of action, opening date, deadline, contributions, and indicative number of grants. The topic HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-02 specifically has a budget of 9,000,000 EUR and aims to award around 2 grants.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants after logging into the Portal. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated on the topic header.

This Horizon Europe call focuses on addressing the challenges posed by emerging technologies in the context of crime and terrorism. It seeks to empower European Police Authorities with the necessary tools, methodologies, and training to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate criminal offenses involving these technologies, while upholding fundamental rights and ensuring lawful data access. The call encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of clear guidelines and frameworks to balance security needs with privacy concerns. The funding mechanism is based on lump sum grants, and the call is open to a wide range of participants, with a particular emphasis on the involvement of Police Authorities from EU Member States and Associated Countries. The call aims to foster a European approach to tackling the challenges posed by emerging technologies in the fight against crime and terrorism.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are Police Authorities, technologists, and policymakers. The call specifically requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 2 Police Authorities from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. The term "Police Authorities" refers to public authorities explicitly designated by national law, or other entities legally mandated by the competent national authority, for the prevention, detection, and/or investigation of terrorist offences or other criminal offences, specifically excluding police academies, forensic institutes, training facilities as well as border and customs authorities.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) and HORIZON Pre-commercial Procurement (HORIZON-PCP) and HORIZON Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (HORIZON-PPI). Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required, with a minimum requirement of at least 2 Police Authorities from 2 different EU Member States or Associated Countries.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and Associated 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 sectors are civil security, fighting crime and terrorism, digital technologies, law enforcement, and research and innovation related to new and emerging technologies. Specific technologies mentioned include new communication technologies, quantum technologies, new biometrics and identification technologies, cloud computing technologies, and generative AI.

Mentioned Countries: EU Member States and Associated Countries are mentioned as regions.

Project Stage: The project stage is variable, encompassing research, development, and innovation actions, as well as pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative solutions.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic, ranging from €1,330,000 to €12,000,000. The indicative number of grants also varies, with some topics expected to fund one project and others expected to fund two.
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-BM-01 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 12 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-BM-02 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 8 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-BM-03 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 1 330 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 6 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-02 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 8 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-03 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 8 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-04 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 6 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-05 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 4 500 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 8 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 9 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-03 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 5 000 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 6 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-05 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 9 670 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-FCT-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 3 000 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-INFRA-01 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 9 670 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-INFRA-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 4 000 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-INFRA-03 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 9 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 3 000 000 Single-stage 2 grants
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-02 - HORIZON-PCP HORIZON Pre-commercial Procurement 5 830 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-03 - HORIZON-PPI HORIZON Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions 2 000 000 Single-stage 1 grant
HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-SSRI-04 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 3 000 000 Single-stage 1 grant

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 consists of a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants per topic is provided, allowing for a rough estimation based on the expected number of applications.

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

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, "Civil Security for Society 2026," focuses on preventing and countering the misuse of emerging technologies for criminal purposes, including addressing issues related to lawful access to data. The call aims to empower Police Authorities in Europe with modern tools, methodologies, and training to tackle the challenges posed by new technologies such as quantum computing, AI, and biometrics. It encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among technologists, policymakers, and law enforcement to develop effective strategies and guidelines that balance security needs with fundamental rights. The call requires the active involvement of at least two Police Authorities from different EU Member States or Associated Countries in each project. Funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process involves a single stage. The call encompasses various types of actions, including research and innovation actions, innovation actions, coordination and support actions, pre-commercial procurement, and public procurement of innovative solutions, with varying budget allocations and expected numbers of grants per topic.