Digital Europe Programme is the first EU programme that aims to accelerate the recovery and drive the digital transformation of Europe.

Worth €7.6 billion (in current prices), the Programme is a part of the next long-term EU budget, (the Multiannual Financial Framework), and it covers 2021 to 2027. It will provide funding for projects in five crucial areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society.

The Programme is fine-tuned to fill the gap between the research of digital technologies and their deployment, and to bring the results of research to the market – for the benefit of Europe’s citizens and businesses, and in particular SMEs. Investments under the Digital Europe programme supports the Union’s twin objectives of a green transition and digital transformation and strengthens the Union’s resilience and strategic autonomy.

To implement appropriate necessary standardisation activities to efficiently support an operational EuroQCI infrastructure with dedicated QKD and quantum cryptography services.

While the available QKD products have now been made available by industry for a market of early adopters and innovators, there is the need to intensify standardization efforts at all levels, from QKD components, systems and applications to network capabilities and components for future quantum networks, to enable integration of quantum devices into wider complex systems, to build a solid industrial base and anticipate foreseeable work on components for future quantum networks and future certification.

95%

Coordination and Support Actions

• Energy
• Information and Communication Technologies
• Information Technology
• Public Administration
• Research, Technological Development and Innovation
• Space
• Telecommunications

• Businesses
• Educational Institutions
• Legal Entities
• Natual person / Citizen / Individual
• Other Beneficiaries
• Private Bodies
• Services Providers
• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
• State-owned Enterprises
• Training Centres

Eligible participants (eligible countries)
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
• EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))

Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation).

For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.

For this reason, eligibility and participation conditions as per Article 22 of the Union Secure Connectivity Regulation (which are set out in Article 24 of the Union Space Programme) apply for all topics. In particular:

(a) the eligible legal entities are established in a Member State and its executive management structures are established in that Member State;
(b) the eligible legal entities commit to carry out all relevant activities in one or more Member States; and
(c) the eligible legal entities are not to be subject to control by a third country or by a third country entity.

Please note that:

• ‘executive management structure’ means the body of a legal entity appointed in accordance with national law, and which, where applicable, reports to the chief executive officer or any other person having comparable decisional power, and which is empowered to establish the legal entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and oversees and monitors management decision-making.

• ‘control’ means the ability to exercise a decisive influence over a legal entity directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediate legal entities.

• The eligibility and participation conditions are implemented in the strictest way as defined in Article 24.2. In this call, Article 24.3 and Article 24.4 of the Union Space Programme do NOT apply (no possibility for waiver).

In order to determine the ownership and control status, participants will be required to fill in and submit an ownership control declaration as part of the proposal (and later on be requested to submit supporting documents) (see Guidance on participation in DEP, HE, EDF and CEF-DIG restricted calls).

The activation of these restrictions will also make a number of specific provisions in the Grant Agreement applicable, such as:

• country restrictions for eligible costs,

• country restrictions for subcontracting, and

• special rules for implementation, exploitation of results and transfers and exclusive licensing of results.

Thus:

• participation in any capacity (as beneficiary, affiliated entity, associated partner, subcontractor or recipient of financial support to third parties) is also limited to entities established in and controlled from eligible countries,

• project activities (including subcontracted work) must take place in eligible countries,

• the Grant Agreement provides for specific IPR restrictions.

Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Directorate of Research and Innovation

Telephone: +357 22 691918

https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/write-us_en

• Funding & Tenders
• Call document