Public procurement of innovation for security

The focus is on solutions that have been partially demonstrated on a small scale and are nearly or already available in small quantities but have not yet been widely adopted or produced at scale. These solutions should demonstrate a clear market potential and be new to the procurers, their market segment, or the internal EU market, and must be relevant to procurers across EU Member States and/or Associated Countries. This PPI will specifically target innovative solutions that can address critical challenges in civil security and that are aligned with market readiness criteria. The solutions should meet requirements for sustainability (both operational and environmental), interoperability, adaptability, and be commercially viable while still holding residual market risks, such as not yet being produced in large quantities or at market-ready quality and pricing. This initiative will focus on solutions that have already demonstrated partially successful results but require scaling, refinement, or deployment in new environments to meet mass-market price/quality standards. This is in line with Horizon Europe’s objective of fostering the early adoption of innovations that are critical to improving civil security across Europe [1] . In compliance with the requirements of the Horizon Europe Work Programme – General Annex H, this action will engage in open market consultations with potential tenderers and end-users to identify gaps between perceived procurement needs and current industry developments. Feedback from these consultations will inform the PPI tender specifications, ensuring that the PPI emphasizes the early adoption of innovative solutions rather than the procurement of fully mature or mass-market technologies. The market readiness of the solutions can be verified through conformity testing, certification, or quality labelling. The work will also involve establishing evaluation criteria based on best-value-for-money rather than solely on the lowest price, ensuring that innovations are assessed for both their technical performance and their potential to deliver long-term value. The PPI contract notices will be published EU-wide, with offers evaluated on objective criteria, ensuring transparency and fairness in the selection process. Functional/performance-based specifications will be used to define the challenges and problems to be solved, rather than prescriptive solutions, and procurement will avoid any conflicts of interest. The distribution of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be clearly outlined in the PPI call for tenders, in line with the objective of promoting fair and wide exploitation of the results. The process to be followed for the preparation and publication of the open market consultation and call for tender is described in General Annex H. By fostering the early adoption of innovative technologies, this PPI initiative will enable the European civil security sector to address emerging threats, while contributing to the EU’s broader goals of technological sovereignty and market innovation. This will allow public authorities to remain at the forefront of addressing evolving risks and threats. The action will also catalyse innovation, drive competition, and significantly reduce the time needed to move from the initial concept to market. Finally, proposals are expected to address all applicable considerations expressed in the Introduction of the Strengthened Security Research and Innovation Destination. [1] For more information see General Annex H of Horizon Europe Work Programme – Specific Conditions for Actions with PCP/PPI.

Eligibility and submission conditions

"> General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 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 . 3. Other Eligible Conditions Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. The following additional eligibility criteria apply: This topic requires the participation[[See General Annexes page 12 on the Consortium Composition as regards Public procurement of innovative solutions.]], as beneficiaries, of at least 3 practitioners and 3 public procurers. These beneficiaries must be from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. One organisation can have the role of practitioner and public procurer simultaneously, both counting for the overall number of organisations required for eligibility. Among the public procurers[[Under this topic, the participation is required of minimum three procurers as beneficiaries in the buyer’s group for the PPI. The third procurer in the buyer’s group can be a private procurer or an NGO that provides similar services of public interest as the public procurers.]], minimum two must be independent legal entities that are public procurers, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country and with at least one of them established in a Member State. For participants with practitioner status, 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). described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual . 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5. PCP/PPI procurement costs are eligible. The specific conditions for actions with PCP/PPI procurements in section H of the General Annexes apply to grants funded under this topic. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in section B Security — EU classified and sensitive information of the General Annexes. Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE PPI) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE PCP PPI) Guidance HE Programme Guide Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA Call-specific instructions Information on financial support to third parties (HE) Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 6. Civil Security for 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

Programme context

Since the Preparatory Action for Security Research [1] the EU-funded security research and innovation programme has contributed substantially to knowledge and value creation in the field of internal security. The programme has been fundamental to the consolidation of a European security ecosystem, which is better equipped to capitalise on research and innovation outcomes to support the EU security priorities. This Destination aims to contribute to reducing thematic fragmentation, bringing closer together the actors from different security domains, and expanding the market beyond traditional thematic silos. It also creates knowledge and value through research in matters (including technology, but also social sciences and humanities) that are not exclusive of only one security area, but cross-cutting to the whole Cluster. As underlined in the Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027, proposals for the topics under this Destination ‘should support with cross-cutting actions the expected impacts outlined above [in the Cluster 3 Destinations]. This destination will increase the impact of the work carried out in the EU security Research and Innovation (R&I) ecosystem and contribute to its core values, namely: a focus on the potential and practical final use of the outcomes of security R&I; forward-looking planning of EU security capabilities; the development of security technologies that are socially acceptable, developed in quadruple helix [2] and that have added value for industrialisation, joint procurement, commercialisation, and the acquisition and deployment of successful R&I outcomes; safeguarding the EU’s open strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty in critical security areas by contributing to a more competitive and resilient EU civil security technology and industrial base; experimenting with research and innovation programming; and helping to make the European R&I ecosystem more consistent’. Many of the programme outcomes have materialised in relevant scientific findings, maturation of promising technology areas, operational validation of innovative concepts or support to policy implementation. However, a key challenge remains in improving innovation uptake and thus contributing to the development of security capabilities [3] , support of Start-ups and Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and deployment of innovation by security practitioners. The extent to which innovative technologies developed thanks to EU R&I investment are industrialised and commercialised by EU industry, and acquired and deployed by end-users, could reflect the impact achieved with the programme. As explained in the Commission staff working document on Enhancing security through research and innovation [4] there are factors inherent to the EU security ecosystem (often attributed to the market) that hinder the full achievement of this impact, such as market fragmentation, cultural barriers, analytical weaknesses, programming weaknesses, ethical, legal and societal considerations or lack of synergies between funding instruments, among others. To that aim, there is a need to create a favourable environment that is designed with the main purpose of increasing the impact of security R&I, which provides the right tools that serve to tackle the factors that hinder innovation uptake. Therefore, security research and innovation should foster and enhance the development of innovative tools, technologies and capabilities for the benefit of practitioners that can use in their day-to-day work. To this end , proposals under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following impacts: A more effective and efficient evidence and knowledge-based development of EU civil security capabilities built on a stronger, more systematic and analysis-intensive security research and innovation cycle; Increased cooperation between demand and supply market actors, including with actors from other domains, fosters swift industrialisation, commercialisation, adoption and deployment of successful outcomes of security research and reinforces the competitiveness and resilience of EU security technology and industrial base and safeguards the security of supply of EU-products in critical security areas; R&I-enabled knowledge and value in cross-cutting matters reduces sector specific bias and breaks thematic silos that impede the proliferation of common security solutions. This Destination will trigger actions that will help bringing these and other developments closer to the market, thus contributing to the measures facilitating the uptake of innovation. Those actions will help developers (including industry, research organisations and academia) to accelerate product development and improve the valorisation of their research investment. They will also support buyers and users in materialising the uptake of innovation and further develop their security capabilities. The aim is to increase the capacity of EU public procurers to align their requirements with the EU security industrial capacity and to attract innovation and innovators from security and other sectors through common validation strategies, rapid innovation, experimentation and pre-commercial procurement. Finally, this Destination will contribute to the development of the tailored analytical capacity required for the adoption of capability-driven approaches aimed at fostering a forward-looking capability-driven approach in security. Where possible and relevant, synergy-building and clustering initiatives with successful proposals in the same area should be considered, including the organisation of international conferences in close coordination with the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) [5] activities and/or other international events. Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes. [1] COM(2004) 72. [2] Through the interaction of public authorities, academia, industry and the public. [3] For the purpose of the work programme, the terms “Capability” should be understood as "the ability to pursue a particular policy priority or achieve a desired operational effect”. The term “capability” is often interchanged with the term “capacity”, but this should be avoided. “Capacity” could refer to an amount or volume of which one organisation could have enough or not. On the other hand, “capability” refers to an ability, an aptitude or a process that can be developed or improved in consonance with the ultimate objective of the organisation. [4] https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ff888398-0b0a-4511-9717-ad41beb22314_en?filename=SWD-2021-422_en.PDF [5] https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/networks/ceris-community-european-research-and-innovation-security_en

Hivatkozott dokumentumok

Annex A Horizon Europe Programme Guide Online Manual Standard application form (HE PPI) Standard evaluation form (HE PCP PPI) HE MGA Information on financial support to third parties (HE) HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 6. Civil Security for Society 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 Terms and Conditions https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ff888398-0b0a-4511-9717-ad41beb22314_en?filename=SWD-2021-422_en.PDF