The impact of EU labour mobility on the Member States of the EU

Overview

The EU grant opportunity, titled HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-04, is part of the Horizon Europe Programme and focuses on the impact of labor mobility within EU Member States. The opening date for applications is May 13, 2027, with a submission deadline of September 23, 2027. The total budget allocated for this topic is €12 million, with three expected grants ranging from €3 million to €4 million each.

Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, private companies involved in research, non-profit organizations, and think tanks. Partnerships are crucial, as a consortium with at least three independent legal entities from different EU or associated countries is required. The funding is structured as a lump sum grant, which simplifies the financial management of the projects compared to traditional reimbursement models.

The key focus areas for proposed projects include labor market dynamics, social security systems, demographic analysis, and the socio-economic impacts of labor mobility. Research must leverage quantitative methods and data-driven approaches, generating insights that can inform effective labor mobility policies across the EU.

The call seeks to address the socio-economic implications of labor mobility, including its effects on wages, regional development, and demographic patterns while also connecting to broader issues like climate change and digital transitions. It emphasizes the importance of understanding both sending and receiving areas to formulate comprehensive policies.

The application process is a single-stage where complete proposals are evaluated by expert panels. Success rates for similar past calls have typically fallen below 10%, indicating a competitive application environment.

Applicants are encouraged to engage with available European research infrastructures and data for their analysis. Additional support is provided through several non-monetary services, including access to the European Open Science Cloud and guidance from national contact points.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims at generating detailed, actionable research on the impacts of labor mobility, enhancing the understanding of its role within the EU's internal market, and fostering policy development that maximizes benefits while addressing associated challenges.

Detail

This EU funding opportunity, HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-04, falls under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society call for 2027 (HORIZON-CL2-2027-01). It aims to address the underexplored long-term social and economic dynamics and implications of EU labor mobility on both receiving and sending regions. The project type is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA), utilizing a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement. The deadline model is single-stage, with a planned opening date of May 13, 2027, and a deadline of September 23, 2027, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of projects funded under this topic include providing policymakers with insights into the economic and social effects of worker mobility across the EU, including its impact on wages, fiscal budgets, and social systems for both sending and receiving regions. Furthermore, the projects should aim to maximize the benefits of mobility by providing actionable recommendations that consider challenges such as demographic changes, regional effects, digitalization, the green transition, adaptation to climate change, and geopolitical instabilities.

The scope of the projects should focus on gaining a deeper, data-supported understanding of the diverse and complex effects of labor mobility, which is crucial for shaping policies that effectively harness its benefits across Europe. Research should contribute to strengthening the internal market, enhancing Europe's competitiveness, ensuring social fairness, and delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights, particularly regarding fair working conditions and access to adequate income and social protection. Variations across different groups, such as gender, age, and level of qualification, should also be explored.

Proposals should build on relevant previous research, including from SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities) disciplines, and have a clear focus. Quantitative approaches and/or econometrics should be part of the proposed methodology, with approaches that capture developments over time, such as panel analysis, being of added value. Projects should analyze the effects of labor mobility on the functioning of social security systems in countries of origin and destination, as well as their coordination, and foster informed debate on potential strategies for future-proof and efficient EU-level social security coordination.

Beyond these core requirements, projects may also:

Explore ways to improve the quantification of the volume of various forms of labor mobility and make available figures more comparable across Member States.
Develop economic models to assess the EU-level economic effects of labor mobility.
Pay attention to the ecological effects of labor mobility and link those with the socio-economic effects.
Analyze whether and in which way the composition of movers matters for the socio-economic effects observed in the countries/regions of origin/destination.
Provide a comparative analysis of intra-EU labor mobility with labor mobility in other world regions or to geographical mobility within Member States.
Develop and test a model to forecast labor mobility in different scenarios.
Take an evidence-based position on whether and in which way geographical mobility contributes to managing economic change.
Analyze to what extent and under which conditions regions with net-outward mobility have benefited or can benefit from this mobility.
Investigate the economic and social differences between labor migration and labor mobility.
Provide evidence on which policy instruments are most suitable to ensure labor mobility is not perceived as unfair.

Where applicable, proposals should leverage data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).

The general conditions for this funding opportunity include:

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.
Eligible Countries: As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
Other Eligible Conditions: Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: As described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as 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 action's end. Eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of July 7, 2021.

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

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

Application form templates available in the Submission System (Standard application form HE RIA, IA).
Evaluation form templates to be used with necessary adaptations (Standard evaluation form HE RIA, IA).
Guidance from the HE Programme Guide.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) including the Lump Sum MGA.
Call-specific instructions including a detailed budget table (HE LS) and guidance on lump sums.

Additional documents include:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 5. Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society
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 indicates that the total budget for this topic is 12,000,000 EUR, with contributions ranging from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 EUR, and an indicative number of 3 grants to be awarded. The opening date for submissions is planned for May 13, 2027, with a deadline of September 23, 2027.

This funding opportunity seeks to enhance the understanding of EU labor mobility's multifaceted impacts and to inform policy development that maximizes its benefits while addressing its challenges. It encourages research that is both quantitative and qualitative, data-driven, and forward-looking, with a focus on social security systems, economic modeling, ecological effects, and the composition of mobile workers. The ultimate goal is to create a vision for the future of labor mobility in the EU that is economically sound, socially equitable, and aligned with the evolving realities of the labor market.

In simpler terms, this grant aims to fund research projects that will help us better understand how the free movement of workers within the EU affects different regions and people. The EU wants to make sure that everyone benefits from this mobility, so they're looking for projects that can provide solid data and suggest ways to improve policies related to worker movement, social security, and fairness in the labor market. They're particularly interested in projects that use numbers and data analysis to predict future trends and consider the environmental impact of worker mobility.

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Breakdown

Eligible Applicant Types: The call is part of the Horizon Europe program, so eligible applicants include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The call text mentions the Enterprise Europe Network which focuses on SMEs. The call also mentions LEARs, Account Administrators or self-registrants. The call is open to entities from EU member states, associated countries, and potentially certain non-EU countries as specified in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Funding Type: The primary funding type is a grant, specifically HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA). The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) is a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Consortium Requirement: The call requires a consortium of multiple applicants. Partner search announcements are explicitly mentioned, indicating that collaborative projects are encouraged.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility is for entities located in EU member states and countries associated with the Horizon Europe program. However, the call also mentions that 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 target sector is Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society. The specific research area focuses on the impact of EU labor mobility on member states, including economic, social, and policy implications. The call also touches upon the green and digital transitions.

Mentioned Countries: The call explicitly mentions EU member states and non-EU/non-Associated Countries. The primary geographic focus is on the European Union.

Project Stage: The project stage is primarily research and innovation actions (RIA) and innovation actions (IA), suggesting projects should be in the research, development, validation, or demonstration phases. The call also includes coordination and support actions (CSA), which implies activities that support and network existing research and innovation efforts.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call. The indicative contributions range from €3,000,000 to €5,000,000.
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-01 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 3 500 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 3500000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 20 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 8 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-08 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3500000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-01 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 5 000 000 EUR, contributions 4500000 to 5000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-02 - HORIZON-CSA HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions 5 000 000 EUR, contributions 4500000 to 5000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 3500000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 16 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 500 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 3500000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 14 500 000 EUR, contributions 4000000 to 4800000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 15 000 000 EUR, contributions 2500000 to 3000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-08 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-01 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-02 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 10 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 3300000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-03 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-04 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-05 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-06 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-07 - HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions 12 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 4000000 EUR
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-08 - HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions 15 000 000 EUR, contributions 3000000 to 3750000 EUR

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

Nature of Support: The 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 is provided for each topic, allowing for an estimation based on the expected number of applications.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly stated.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call, part of the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society pillar, aims to fund research and innovation projects that explore the multifaceted impacts of labor mobility within the European Union. The call encourages projects that use quantitative methods and econometric analysis to provide policymakers with insights into the economic, social, and ecological effects of worker mobility. The goal is to maximize the benefits of mobility while addressing challenges related to demographic changes, regional disparities, and the green and digital transitions. The call is structured around a single-stage application process, with funding provided as lump sum grants to successful consortia. The call is open to a wide range of entities, including research institutions, universities, SMEs, and other organizations from EU member states, associated countries, and potentially certain non-EU countries. The call includes various topics related to democracy, heritage, and transformations, each with its own budget and indicative number of grants.

Short Summary

Impact
This funding aims to enhance the understanding of the economic and social impacts of EU labor mobility on both sending and receiving regions, providing actionable insights for policymakers.
Applicant
Applicants should possess expertise in labor economics, migration studies, macroeconomic analysis, or social policy, and be capable of forming multi-country consortia for rigorous empirical research.
Developments
The funding will support research projects focused on labor market dynamics, social security systems, regional economic development, and policy research for European governance.
Applicant Type
This funding is designed for research-performing organizations, research institutes, universities, and organizations from the business sector that engage in research activities.
Consortium
A consortium of multiple applicants is required, involving at least three independent legal entities from different EU/Associated countries.
Funding Amount
The total budget for this topic is €12,000,000, with a minimum contribution of €3,000,000 and a maximum contribution of €4,000,000 per project.
Countries
The funding is relevant for all EU Member States and EEA countries, as the research focuses on EU labor mobility.
Industry
This funding targets the social and economic sciences and humanities sector, specifically addressing labor economics, macroeconomics, and social policy.

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