Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Under this topic, proposals are welcome to address new, upcoming or unforeseen challenges and/or creative or disruptive solutions for improving capabilities of practitioners for the security of customs and the supply chain. Contexts and scenarios in Europe’s border regions that may in the future be impacted by geopolitical instabilities, tensions from outside the EU or impact on the environment, and need sustained and improved surveillance and reaction capabilities, could be particularly considered. If they relate to some of the topics covered by Horizon Europe Calls Effective Management of EU External Borders 2021-2022 or 2023-2024, the proposals should convincingly explain how they will build on and not duplicate them.
Proposals may also address capabilities related to possible future detection of threats in the flow of goods and/or in the supply chain in a flexible, rapid, relocatable way. Detection capabilities could target one or more type(s) of dangerous, illicit and/or illegal goods or materials, including illicit drugs and their precursors, illegally traded species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) considering the European Deforestation Free Products Regulation, contraband, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRN-E) threats and/or various modi operandi related to cross-border trafficking, including involving cargo.
Projects should integrate aspects of:
Proposals that include solutions and/or methods that would contribute to a lower environmental impact and footprint, better cost-efficiency, better energy-efficiency, and/or better operational autonomy of the capabilities and solutions in this topic, would be welcome.
Depending on the particular scope of the proposal, participation of Police Authorities, Border and/or Coast Guards is welcome.
To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project.
In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content should be addressed only if relevant in relation to the objectives of the research effort.
Proposals should plan their activities opting for the financial support to third parties in order to provide financial support to additional (i.e., beyond those partners in the Consortium) practitioners (i.e., authorities with competences of Customs) to engage during the project for additional piloting, testing and/or validation of technologies or methods. From 5% up to 20% of the EU funding requested by the proposal may be allocated to the purpose of financial support to third parties.
Proposals must clearly describe the objectives and the expected results to be obtained, including the elements listed in the application template. Proposals are also expected to describe the methods and processes relevant to comply with the general eligibility conditions for financial support to third parties set out in General Annex B and to demonstrate effectiveness (impact).
70%
Expected EU contribution per project: €3.00 million.
Beneficiaries must provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is €100.000 to support the expected outcomes of the topic and effective collaboration and/or coordination with additional relevant national Customs Authorities, including testing and validation activities within the projects.
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.
The following additional eligibility criteria apply:
This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 2 Customs Authorities from at least 2 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.
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 (other data and services may additionally be used).
Research and Innovation Foundation
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Contact Persons:
Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
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Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy