Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (Text with EEA relevance)

• CELEX: Regulation (EU) 2021/695
• Articles: 64

Article 1 Subject matter

1.   This Regulation establishes Horizon Europe - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (the 'Programme') for the duration of the MFF 2021-2027, sets out the rules for participation and dissemination concerning indirect actions under the Programme and determines the framework governing Union support for R&I activities for the same duration.

This Regulation lays down the objectives of the Programme, the budget for the period 2021 to 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.

2.   The Programme shall be implemented through:

(a)

the specific programme established by Decision (EU) 2021/764;

(b)

a financial contribution to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology established by the EIT Regulation;

(c)

the specific programme on defence research established by Regulation (EU) 2021/697.

3.   This Regulation does not apply to the specific programme on defence research referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 of this Article, with the exception of Articles 1 and 5, Article 7(1) and Article 12(1).

4.   The terms 'Horizon Europe', 'the Programme' and 'specific programme' used in this Regulation refer to matters relevant only to the specific programme referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2, unless otherwise specified.

5.   The EIT shall implement the Programme in accordance with its strategic objectives for the period 2021 to 2027, as laid down in the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the EIT, taking into account the strategic planning referred to in Article 6 and in the specific programme referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2 of this Article.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)

'research infrastructures' means facilities that provide resources and services for the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields, including the associated human resources, major equipment or sets of instruments; knowledge-related facilities such as collections, archives or scientific data infrastructures; computing systems, communication networks and any other infrastructure of a unique nature and open to external users, essential to achieve excellence in R&I; they may, where relevant, be used beyond research, for example for education or public services and they may be 'single sited', 'virtual' or 'distributed';

(2)

'smart specialisation strategy' means the national or regional innovation strategies which set priorities in order to build competitive advantage by developing and matching R&I own strengths to business needs in order to address emerging opportunities and market developments in a coherent manner, while avoiding duplication and fragmentation of efforts, including those that take the form of, or are included in, a national or regional R&I strategic policy framework, and fulfilling the enabling condition set out in the relevant provisions of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027;

(3)

'European Partnership' means an initiative, prepared with the early involvement of Member States and associated countries, where the Union together with private and/or public partners (such as industry, universities, research organisations, bodies with a public service mission at local, regional, national or international level or civil society organisations including foundations and NGOs) commit to jointly supporting the development and implementation of a programme of R&I activities, including those related to market, regulatory or policy uptake;

(4)

'open access' means online access, provided free of charge to the end user, to research outputs resulting from actions under the Programme in accordance with Article 14 and Article 39(3);

(5)

'open science' means an approach to the scientific process based on open cooperative work, tools and diffusing knowledge, and includes the elements listed in Article 14;

(6)

'mission' means a portfolio of excellence-based and impact-driven R&I activities across disciplines and sectors, intended to: (i) achieve, within a set timeframe, a measurable goal that could not be achieved through individual actions; (ii) have an impact on society and policy-making through science and technology; and (iii) be relevant for a significant part of the European population and a wide range of European citizens;

(7)

'pre-commercial procurement' means the procurement of research and development services involving risk-benefit sharing under market conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation of the research and development services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products;

(8)

'public procurement of innovative solutions' means procurement where contracting authorities act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services which are not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformity testing;

(9)

'access rights' means rights to use results or background under terms and conditions laid down in accordance with this Regulation;

(10)

'background' means any data, know how or information whatever its form or nature, tangible or intangible, including any rights such as intellectual property rights, that is: (i) held by beneficiaries prior to their accession to a given action; and (ii) identified by the beneficiaries in a written agreement as needed for implementing the action or for exploiting its results;

(11)

'dissemination' means the public disclosure of the results by appropriate means, other than resulting from protecting or exploiting the results, including by scientific publications in any medium;

(12)

'exploitation' means the use of results in further R&I activities other than those covered by the action concerned, including among other things, commercial exploitation such as developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, creating and providing a service, or in standardisation activities;

(13)

'fair and reasonable conditions' means appropriate conditions, including possible financial terms or royalty-free conditions, taking into account the specific circumstances of the request for access, for example the actual or potential value of the results or background to which access is requested and/or the scope, duration or other characteristics of the exploitation envisaged;

(14)

'funding body' means a body or organisation, as referred to in point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation, to which the Commission has entrusted budget implementation tasks under the Programme;

(15)

'international European research organisation' means an international organisation, the majority of whose members are Member States or associated countries, whose principal objective is to promote scientific and technological cooperation in Europe;

(16)

'legal entity' means a natural person, or a legal person created and recognised as such under Union, national or international law, which has legal personality and the capacity to act in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity which does not have legal personality as referred to in point (c) of Article 197(2) of the Financial Regulation;

(17)

'widening countries' or 'low R&I performing countries' means countries where legal entities need to be established in order to be eligible as coordinators under the 'widening participation and spreading excellence' component of the 'Widening Participation and Strengthening ERA' part of the Programme; from the Member States, those countries are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, for the whole duration of the Programme; for associated countries, it means the list of eligible countries as defined based on an indicator and published in the work programme. Legal entities from outermost regions as defined in Article 349 TFUE shall be also fully eligible as coordinators under this component;

(18)

'non-profit legal entity' means a legal entity which by its legal form is non-profit-making or which has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or individual members;

(19)

'small or medium-sized enterprise' or 'SME' means a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC  ( 27 ) ;

(20)

'small mid-cap' means an entity that is not an SME and that has up to 499 employees where the staff headcount is calculated in accordance with Articles 3 to 6 of Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC;

(21)

'results' means any tangible or intangible effect of a given action, such as data, knowhow or information, whatever its form or nature and whether or not it can be protected, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights;

(22)

'research output' means the results generated by a given action to which access can be given in the form of scientific publications, data or other engineered results and processes such as software, algorithms, protocols and electronic notebooks;

(23)

'Seal of Excellence' means a quality label which shows that a proposal submitted to a call for proposals exceeded all of the evaluation thresholds set out in the work programme, but could not be funded due to lack of budget available for that call for proposals in the work programme and might receive support from other Union or national sources of funding;

(24)

'strategic R&I plan' means an implementing act laying out a strategy for realising content in the work programme covering a maximum period of four years, follows a broad mandatory multi-stakeholder consultation process and specifies the priorities, suitable types of action and forms of implementation to be used;

(25)

'work programme' means a document adopted by the Commission for the implementation of the specific programme in accordance with Article 14 of Decision (EU) 2021/764 or a document equivalent in content and structure adopted by a funding body;

(26)

'contract' means an agreement concluded between the Commission or the relevant funding body with a legal entity implementing an innovation and market deployment action and supported by Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance;

(27)

'reimbursable advance' means the part of the Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance that corresponds to a loan under Title X of the Financial Regulation, but that is directly awarded by the Union on a non-profit basis to cover the costs of activities corresponding to an innovation action, and which is to be reimbursed by the beneficiary to the Union under the conditions provided for in the contract;

(28)

'classified information' means European Union classified information as defined in Article 3 of Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 as well as classified information of Member States, classified information of third countries with which the Union has a security agreement and classified information of international organisation with which the Union has a security agreement;

(29)

'blending operation' means an action supported by the Union budget, including within a blending facility or platform as defined in point (6) of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation, that combines non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors;

(30)

'Horizon Europe blended finance' means financial support to a programme implementing innovation and market deployment action, consisting of a specific combination of a grant or reimbursable advance and an investment in equity or any other repayable form of support;

(31)

'EIC blended finance' means direct financial support provided under the EIC to an innovation and market deployment action consisting of a specific combination of a grant or reimbursable advance and an investment in equity or any other repayable form of support;

(32)

'research and innovation action' means an action primarily consisting of activities aiming to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation on a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment;

(33)

'innovation action' means an action primarily consisting of activities directly aiming to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services, possibly including prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication;

(34)

'ERC frontier research action' means a principal investigator-led research action, including ERC Proof of Concept, hosted by single or multiple beneficiaries receiving funding from the European Research Council (ERC);

(35)

'training and mobility action' means an action geared towards the improvement of the skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers, based on mobility between countries and, if relevant, between sectors or disciplines;

(36)

'programme co-fund action' means an action to provide multi-annual co-funding to a programme of activities established or implemented by legal entities managing or funding R&I programmes, other than Union funding bodies; such a programme of activities may support networking and coordination, research, innovation, pilot actions, and innovation and market deployment actions, training and mobility actions, awareness raising and communication, dissemination and exploitation, and provide any relevant financial support, such as grants, prizes and procurement, as well as Horizon Europe blended finance or a combination thereof. The programme co-fund action may be implemented by those legal entities directly or by third parties on their behalf;

(37)

'pre-commercial procurement action' means an action the primary aim of which is to realise the pre-commercial procurement implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(38)

'public procurement of innovative solutions action' means an action the primary aim of which is to realise the joint or coordinated public procurement of innovative solutions implemented by beneficiaries that are contracting authorities or contracting entities;

(39)

'coordination and support action' means an action contributing to the objectives of the Programme, excluding R&I activities, except when undertaken under the component 'widening participation and spreading excellence' of the part 'Widening participation and strengthening the ERA'; and bottom-up coordination without co-funding of research activities from the Union that allows for cooperation between legal entities from Member States and associated countries in order to strengthen the ERA;

(40)

'inducement prize' means a prize to spur investment in a given direction by specifying a target prior to the performance of the work;

(41)

'recognition prize' means a prize to reward past achievements and outstanding work after it has been performed;

(42)

'innovation and market deployment action' means an action which embeds an innovation action and other activities necessary to deploy an innovation in the market, including the scaling-up of companies, Horizon Europe blended finance or EIC blended finance;

(43)

'indirect actions' means R&I activities to which the Union provides financial support and which are undertaken by participants;

(44)

'direct actions' means R&I activities undertaken by the Commission through its JRC;

(45)

'procurement' means procurement as defined in point (49) of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation;

(46)

'affiliated entity' means an entity as defined in Article 187(1) of the Financial Regulation;

(47)

'innovation ecosystem' means an ecosystem that brings together at Union level actors or entities whose functional goal is to enable technology development and innovation; it encompasses relations between material resources (such as funds, equipment, and facilities), institutional entities (such as higher education institutions and support services, research and technology organisations, companies, venture capitalists and financial intermediaries) and national, regional and local policy-making and funding entities;

(48)

'project-based remuneration' means remuneration that is linked to the participation of a person in projects, is part of the beneficiary's usual remuneration practices and is paid in a consistent manner.

Article 3 Programme objectives

1.   The general objective of the Programme is to deliver scientific, technological, economic and societal impact from the Union's investments in R&I so as to strengthen the scientific and technological bases of the Union and foster the competitiveness of the Union in all Member States including in its industry, to deliver on the Union strategic priorities and to contribute to the realisation of Union objectives and policies, to tackle global challenges, including the SDGs by following the principles of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, and to strengthen the ERA. The Programme shall thus maximise Union added value by focusing on objectives and activities that cannot be effectively realised by Member States acting alone, but in cooperation.

2.   The Programme has the following specific objectives:

(a)

to develop, promote and advance scientific excellence, to support the creation and diffusion of high-quality new fundamental and applied knowledge, of skills, technologies and solutions, to support training and mobility of researchers, to attract talent at all levels and contribute to the full engagement of the Union's talent pool in actions supported under the Programme;

(b)

to generate knowledge, strengthen the impact of R&I in developing, supporting and implementing Union policies and support the access to and uptake of innovative solutions in European industry, in particular SMEs, and in society to address global challenges, including climate change and the SDGs;

(c)

to foster all forms of innovation, facilitate technological development, demonstration and knowledge and technology transfer, strengthen deployment and exploitation of innovative solutions;

(d)

to optimise the Programme's delivery with a view to strengthening and increasing the impact and attractiveness of the ERA, to foster excellence-based participation from all Member States, including low R&I performing countries, in the Programme and to facilitate collaborative links in European R&I.

Article 4 Programme structure

1.   For the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and the EIT, the Programme shall be structured in parts as follows, which contribute to the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3:

(a)

Pillar I 'Excellent Science', with the following components:

(i)

the ERC;

(ii)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA);

(iii)

research infrastructures;

(b)

Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', with the following components, taking into account that SSH play an important role across all clusters:

(i)

cluster 'Health';

(ii)

cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society';

(iii)

cluster 'Civil Security for Society';

(iv)

cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space';

(v)

cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(vi)

cluster 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment';

(vii)

non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC;

(c)

Pillar III 'Innovative Europe', with the following components:

(i)

the EIC;

(ii)

European innovation ecosystems;

(iii)

the EIT;

(d)

Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA', with the following components:

(i)

widening participation and spreading excellence;

(ii)

reforming and enhancing the European R&I System.

2.   The broad lines of activities of the Programme are set out in Annex I of this Regulation.

Article 5 Defence research and development

Activities to be carried out under the specific programme referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2) and which are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/697, shall have an exclusive focus on defence research and development, with objectives and broad lines of activities aiming to foster the competitiveness, efficiency and innovation capacity of the European defence technological and industrial base.

Article 6 Strategic planning and implementation and forms of Union funding

1.   The Programme shall be implemented by means of direct management or by means of indirect management by the funding bodies.

2.   Funding under the Programme may be provided by means of indirect actions in any of the forms laid down in the Financial Regulation, however grants shall be the main form of support under the Programme. Funding under the Programme may also be provided through prizes, procurements and financial instruments within blending operations and equity support under the Accelerator.

3.   The rules for participation and dissemination laid down in this Regulation shall apply to indirect actions.

4.   The main types of action to be used under the Programme are defined in Article 2. The forms of funding referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be used in a flexible manner across all objectives of the Programme with their use being determined on the basis of the needs and the characteristics of the particular objectives.

5.   The Programme shall also support direct actions. Where those direct actions contribute to initiatives established under Article 185 or 187 TFEU, that contribution shall not be considered to be part of the financial contribution allocated to those initiatives.

6.   The implementation of the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and the EIT's KICs shall be supported by a transparent and strategic planning of R&I activities as laid down in the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2), in particular for the pillar 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' and cover also relevant activities in other pillars and the 'Widening participation and strengthening the ERA' part.

The Commission shall ensure the early involvement of Member States and extensive exchanges with the European Parliament, to be complemented by consultations with stakeholders and the general public.

Strategic planning shall ensure alignment with other relevant Union programmes and consistency with Union priorities and commitments and increase complementarity and synergies with national and regional funding programmes and priorities, thereby strengthening the ERA. Areas for possible missions and areas for possible Institutionalised European Partnerships shall be established in Annex VI.

7.   Where appropriate, in order to allow faster access to funds for small collaborative consortia, a fast track to research and innovation procedure (FTRI procedure) may be proposed under some of the calls for proposals dedicated to select research and innovation actions or innovation actions under the pillar 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' and the European Innovation Council Pathfinder.

A call for proposals under the FTRI procedure shall have the following cumulative characteristics:

(a)

bottom-up calls for proposals;

(b)

a shorter time-to-grant, not exceeding six months;

(c)

a support provided only to small collaborative consortia composed of maximum six different and independent eligible legal entities;

(d)

a maximum financial support per consortium not exceeding EUR 2,5 million.

The work programme shall identify the calls for proposals which use the FTRI procedure.

8.   Activities of the Programme shall be delivered primarily through open, competitive calls for proposals, including within missions and European Partnerships.

Article 7 Principles of the Programme

1.   Research and innovation activities carried out under the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and under the EIT shall have an exclusive focus on civil applications. Budgetary transfers between the amount allocated to the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and the EIT and the amount allocated to the specific programme referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2) shall not be allowed and unnecessary duplication between the two programmes shall be avoided.

2.   The Programme shall ensure a multidisciplinary approach and shall, where appropriate, provide for the integration of SSH across all clusters and activities developed under the Programme, including specific calls for proposals on SSH related topics.

3.   The collaborative parts of the Programme shall ensure a balance between lower and higher TRLs, thereby covering the whole value chain.

4.   The Programme shall ensure the effective promotion and integration of cooperation with third countries and international organisations and initiatives based on mutual benefits, the Union interests, international commitments and, where appropriate, reciprocity.

5.   The Programme shall assist widening countries to increase their participation in it and to promote a broad geographical coverage in collaborative projects, including through spreading scientific excellence, boosting new collaborative links, stimulating brain circulation as well as through the implementation of Article 24(2) and Article 50(5). Those efforts shall be mirrored by proportional measures by Member States, including through setting attractive salaries for researchers, with the support of Union, national and regional funds. Without undermining the excellence criteria, particular attention shall be paid to geographical balance, subject to the situation in the field of R&I concerned, in evaluation panels and bodies such as boards and expert groups.

6.   The Programme shall ensure the effective promotion of equal opportunities for all and the implementation of gender mainstreaming, including the integration of the gender dimension in R&I content. It shall aim to address the causes of gender imbalance. Particular attention shall be paid to ensuring, to the extent possible, gender balance in evaluation panels and in other relevant advisory bodies such as boards and expert groups.

7.   The Programme shall be implemented in synergy with other Union programmes while aiming for maximal administrative simplification. A non-exhaustive list of synergies with other Union programmes is included in Annex IV.

8.   The Programme shall contribute to increasing public and private investment in R&I in Member States, thereby helping to reach an overall investment of at least 3 % of Union GDP in research and development.

9.   When implementing the Programme, the Commission shall continue to aim for administrative simplification and a reduction of the burden for the applicants and beneficiaries.

10.   As part of the general Union objective of mainstreaming climate actions into Union sectoral policies and Union funds, actions under this Programme shall contribute at least 35 % of the expenditure to climate objectives where appropriate. Climate mainstreaming shall be adequately integrated in R&I content.

11.   The Programme shall promote co-creation and co-design through the engagement of citizens and civil society.

12.   The Programme shall ensure transparency and accountability of public funding in R&I projects, thereby preserving the public interest.

13.   The Commission or the relevant funding body shall ensure that sufficient guidance and information is made available to all potential participants at the time of publication of the call for proposals, in particular the applicable model grant agreement.

Article 8 Missions

1.   Missions shall be programmed within the pillar 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', but may also benefit from actions carried out within other parts of the Programme as well as complementary actions carried out under other Union programmes. Missions shall allow for competing solutions, resulting in pan-European added value and impact.

2.   Missions shall be defined and implemented in accordance with this Regulation and the specific programme, ensuring the active and early involvement of the Member States and extensive exchanges with the European Parliament. The missions, their objectives, budget, targets, scope, indicators and milestones shall be identified in strategic R&I plans or the work programmes as appropriate. Evaluations of proposals under the missions shall be carried out in accordance with Article 29.

3.   During the first three years of the Programme, a maximum of 10 % of the annual budget of Pillar II shall be programmed through specific calls for proposals for implementing the missions. For the remaining years of the Programme that percentage may be increased subject to a positive assessment of the mission selection and of the management process. The Commission shall communicate the total budgetary share of each work programme dedicated to missions.

4.   Missions shall:

(a)

using SDGs as sources for their design and implementation, have a clear R&I content and Union added value, and contribute to reaching Union priorities and commitments and the Programme objectives referred to in Article 3;

(b)

cover areas of common European relevance, be inclusive, encourage broad engagement and active participation from various types of stakeholders from the public and private sector, including citizens and end-users, and deliver R&I results that could benefit all Member States;

(c)

be bold and inspirational, hence have wide, scientific, technological, societal, economic, environmental or policy relevance and impact;

(d)

indicate a clear direction and clear objectives, be targeted, measurable and time-bound and have a clear budgetary envelope;

(e)

be selected in a transparent manner and be centred on ambitious, excellence-based and impact-driven, but realistic goals and on research, development and innovation activities;

(f)

have the necessary scope, scale and mobilisation of the resources and leverage of additional public and private funds required to deliver their outcome;

(g)

stimulate activities across disciplines (including SSH) and encompass activities from a broad range of TRLs, including lower TRLs;

(h)

be open to multiple, bottom-up approaches and solutions which take into account human and societal needs and benefits and recognise the importance of diverse contributions to their achievement;

(i)

benefit from synergies with other Union programmes in a transparent manner as well as with national and, where relevant, regional innovation ecosystems.

5.   The Commission shall monitor and evaluate each mission in accordance with Articles 50 and 52 and Annex V, including progress towards short, medium and long-term targets, covering the implementation, monitoring and phasing-out of the missions. An assessment of the first missions established under the Programme shall take place no later than 2023 and before any decision is taken on creating new missions, or on continuing, terminating or redirecting ongoing missions. The results of that assessment shall be made public and shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of their selection process and of their governance, budget, focus and progress to date.

Article 9 The European Innovation Council

1.   The Commission shall establish the EIC as a centrally managed one-stop shop for implementing actions under Pillar III 'Innovative Europe' which relate to the EIC. The EIC shall focus mainly on breakthrough and disruptive innovation, targeting especially market-creating innovation, while also supporting all types of innovation, including incremental.

The EIC shall operate in accordance with the following principles:

(a)

clear Union added value;

(b)

autonomy;

(c)

ability to take risk;

(d)

efficiency;

(e)

effectiveness;

(f)

transparency;

(g)

accountability.

2.   The EIC shall be open to all types of innovators including individuals, universities, research organisations and companies (SMEs, including start-ups, and, in exceptional cases, small mid-caps) as well as single beneficiaries and multi-disciplinary consortia. At least 70 % of EIC budget shall be dedicated to SMEs, including start-ups.

3.   The EIC Board and the management features of the EIC are described in Decision (EU) 2021/764.

Article 10 European Partnerships

1.   Parts of the Programme may be implemented through European Partnerships. The involvement of the Union in European Partnerships shall take any of the following forms:

(a)

participation in European Partnerships set up on the basis of memoranda of understanding or contractual arrangements between the Commission and the partners referred to in point (3) of Article 2, specifying the objectives of the European Partnership, related commitments of the Union and of the other partners regarding their financial and/or in-kind contributions, key performance and impact indicators, the results to be delivered and reporting arrangements. They include the identification of complementary R&I activities that are implemented by the partners and by the Programme (Co-programmed European Partnerships);

(b)

participation in and financial contribution to a programme of R&I activities, specifying the objectives, key performance and impact indicators, and the results to be delivered, based on the commitment of the partners regarding their financial and/or in-kind contributions and the integration of their relevant activities using a Programme co-fund action (Co-funded European Partnerships);

(c)

participation in and financial contribution to R&I programmes undertaken by several Member States in accordance with Article 185 TFEU or by bodies established pursuant to Article 187 TFEU, such as Joint Undertakings or by the EIT's KICs in accordance with the EIT Regulation (Institutionalised European Partnerships).

Institutionalised European Partnerships shall be implemented only where other parts of the Programme, including other forms of European Partnerships, would not achieve the objectives or would not generate the necessary expected impacts, and where justified by a long-term perspective and a high degree of integration. European Partnerships in accordance with Article 185 or Article 187 TFEU shall implement a central management of all financial contributions, except in duly justified cases. In the case of central management of all financial contributions, project level contributions from one participating state shall be made on the basis of the funding requested in proposals from legal entities established in that participating state, unless otherwise agreed among all participating states.

The rules for Institutionalised European Partnerships shall specify, among other things, the objectives, key performance and impact indicators, and the results to be delivered, as well as the related commitments for financial and/or in-kind contributions of the partners.

2.   European Partnerships shall:

(a)

be established for the purpose of addressing European or global challenges only in cases where the objectives of the Programme would be achieved more effectively through a European Partnership than by the Union alone and when compared to other forms of support under the Programme; an appropriate share of the budget of the Programme shall be allocated to those actions of the Programme that are implemented through European Partnerships; the majority of the budget in Pillar II shall be allocated to actions outside European Partnerships;

(b)

adhere to the principles of Union added value, transparency and openness, and to having impact within and for Europe, strong leverage effect on sufficient scale, long-term commitments of all involved parties, flexibility in implementation, coherence, coordination and complementarity with Union, local, regional, national and, where relevant, international initiatives or other European Partnerships and missions;

(c)

have a clear life-cycle approach, be limited in time and include conditions for phasing-out the Programme funding.

3.   European Partnerships under points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be identified in strategic R&I plans before being implemented in work programmes.

4.   Provisions and criteria for the selection, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and phasing-out of European Partnerships are set out in Annex III.

Article 11 Review of missions and partnership areas

By 31 December 2023, the Commission shall carry out a review of Annex VI to this Regulation as part of the overall monitoring of the Programme, including missions and Institutionalised European Partnerships established pursuant to Article 185 or 187 TFEU and present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Article 12 Budget

1.   The financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 shall be EUR 86 123 000 000 in current prices for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT and EUR 7 953 000 000 in current prices for the specific programme referred to in point (c) of Article 1(2).

2.   The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in paragraph 1 for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT shall be:

(a)

EUR 23 546 000 000 for Pillar I 'Excellent Science' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which:

(i)

EUR 15 027 000 000 for the ERC;

(ii)

EUR 6 333 000 000 for MSCA;

(iii)

EUR 2 186 000 000 for research infrastructures;

(b)

EUR 47 428 000 000 for Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which:

(i)

EUR 6 893 000 000 for cluster 'Health';

(ii)

EUR 1 386 000 000 for cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society';

(iii)

EUR 1 303 000 000 for cluster 'Civil Security for Society';

(iv)

EUR 13 462 000 000 for cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space';

(v)

EUR 13 462 000 000 for cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(vi)

EUR 8 952 000 000 for cluster 'Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment';

(vii)

EUR 1 970 000 000 for the non-nuclear direct actions of the JRC;

(c)

EUR 11 937 000 000 for Pillar III 'Innovative Europe' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which:

(i)

EUR 8 752 000 000 for the EIC;

(ii)

EUR 459 000 000 for European innovation ecosystems;

(iii)

EUR 2 726 000 000 for the EIT;

(d)

EUR 3 212 000 000 for Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA' for the period 2021 to 2027, of which:

(i)

EUR 2 842 000 000 for 'widening participation and spreading excellence';

(ii)

EUR 370 000 000 for 'reforming and enhancing the European R&I System'.

3.   As a result of the Programme specific adjustment provided for in Article 5 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 the amount referred to in the paragraph 1 for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) of this Regulation and for the EIT shall be increased by an additional allocation of EUR 3 000 000 000 in constant 2018 prices as specified in Annex II to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093.

4.   The indicative distribution of the amount referred to in paragraph 3 shall be as follows:

(a)

EUR 1 286 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar I 'Excellent Science', of which:

(i)

EUR 857 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for the ERC;

(ii)

EUR 236 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for MSCA;

(iii)

EUR 193 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for research infrastructures;

(b)

EUR 1 286 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar II 'Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness', of which:

(i)

EUR 686 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society';

(ii)

EUR 257 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Civil Security for Society';

(iii)

EUR 171 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Digital, and Industry and Space';

(iv)

EUR 171 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(c)

EUR 270 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Pillar III 'Innovative Europe', of which:

(i)

EUR 60 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for European innovation ecosystems;

(ii)

EUR 210 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for the EIT;

(d)

EUR 159 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA', of which:

(i)

EUR 99 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for 'widening participation and spreading sharing excellence';

(ii)

EUR 60 000 000 in constant 2018 prices for 'reforming and enhancing the European R&I System'.

5.   In order to respond to unforeseen situations or to new developments and needs, the Commission may, within the annual budgetary procedure, deviate from the amounts referred to in paragraph 2 up to a maximum of 10 %. There shall be no such deviation in respect of the amounts referred to in point (b)(vii) of paragraph 2 and the total amount set out for Part 'Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA' of paragraph 2.

6.   The amount referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT, may also cover expenses for preparation, monitoring, control, audit, evaluation and other activities and expenditures necessary for managing and implementing the Programme, including all administrative expenditure, as well as evaluating the achievement of its objectives. The administrative expenses related to indirect actions shall not exceed 5 % of the total amount of indirect actions of the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and of the EIT. Moreover, the amount referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article for the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and for the EIT may also cover:

(a)

in so far as they are related to the objectives of the Programme: expenses relating to studies, to meetings of experts, information and communication actions;

(b)

expenses linked to information technology networks focusing on information processing and exchange, including corporate information technology tools and other technical and administrative assistance needed in connection with the management of the Programme.

7.   If necessary to enable the management of actions not completed by 31 December 2027, appropriations may be entered in the Union budget beyond 2027 to cover the expenses provided for in paragraph 6.

8.   Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be broken down into annual instalments over several years.

9.   In accordance with point (a) of the second subparagraph of Article 193(2) of the Financial Regulation, in duly justified cases specified in the financing decision and for a limited period, activities supported under this Regulation and the underlying costs may be considered eligible as of 1 January 2021, even if they were implemented and incurred before the grant application was submitted.

Article 13 Resources from the European Union Recovery Instrument

1.   Subject to Article 3(3), (4), (7) and (9) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 the measures referred to in Article 1(2) of that Regulation shall be implemented under the Programme through amounts referred to in point (a)(iv) of Article 2(2) of that Regulation.

2.   The amounts referred to in point (a)(iv) of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 shall constitute external assigned revenue as set out in Article 3(1) of that Regulation. Those additional amounts shall exclusively be allocated to actions for R&I directed at addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, in particular its economic, social and societal consequences. Priority shall be given to innovative SMEs and special attention shall be paid to their integration in collaborative projects under Pillar II.

3.   The indicative distribution of the amounts referred to in point (a)(iv) of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 shall be:

(a)

25 % to cluster 'Health';

(b)

25 % to cluster 'Digital, Industry and Space';

(c)

25 % to cluster 'Climate, Energy and Mobility';

(d)

25 % to the EIC.

Article 14 Open science

1.   The Programme shall encourage open science as an approach to the scientific process based on cooperative work and diffusing knowledge, in particular in accordance with the following elements which shall be ensured in accordance with Article 39(3) of this Regulation:

(a)

open access to scientific publications resulting from research funded under the Programme;

(b)

open access to research data, including those underlying scientific publications, in accordance with the principle 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary'.

2.   The principle of reciprocity in open science shall be promoted and encouraged in all association and cooperation agreements with third countries, including agreements signed by funding bodies entrusted with the indirect management of the Programme.

3.   Responsible management of research data shall be ensured in line with the principles 'findability', 'accessibility', 'interoperability' and 'reusability' (the 'FAIR principles'). Attention shall also be paid to the long-term preservation of data.

4.   Other open science practices shall be promoted and encouraged, including for the benefit of SMEs.

Article 15 Alternative, combined and cumulative funding and transfers of resources

1.   The Programme shall be implemented in synergy with other Union programmes, in accordance with the principle set out in Article 7(7).

2.   The Seal of Excellence shall be awarded for calls for proposals specified in the work programme. In accordance with the relevant provision of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027 and the relevant provision of the 'CAP Strategic Plan Regulation', the ERDF, the ESF+ or the EAFRD may support:

(a)

co-funded actions selected under the Programme; and

(b)

actions which were awarded a Seal of Excellence provided that they comply with all of the following conditions:

(i)

they have been assessed in a call for proposals under the Programme;

(ii)

they comply with the minimum quality requirements of that call for proposals; and

(iii)

they have not been financed under that call for proposals only due to budgetary constraints.

3.   Financial contributions under programmes co-financed by the ERDF, the ESF+, the EMFAF and the EAFRD may be considered to be a contribution of the participating Member State to European Partnerships under points (b) and (c) of Article 10(1) of this Regulation, provided that the relevant provisions of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027 and the fund-specific regulations are complied with.

4.   An action that has received a contribution from another Union programme may also receive a contribution under the Programme, provided that the contributions do not cover the same costs. The rules of the relevant Union programme shall apply to the corresponding contribution to the action. The cumulative financing shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action. The support from the different Union programmes may be calculated on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the documents setting out the conditions for support.

5.   Resources allocated to Member States under shared management may, at the request of the Member State concerned, be transferred to the Programme subject to the conditions set out in the relevant provisions of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027. The Commission shall implement those resources directly in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation or indirectly in accordance with point (c) of that subparagraph. Those resources shall be used for the benefit of the Member State concerned.

6.   Where the Commission has not entered into a legal commitment under direct or indirect management for resources transferred in accordance with paragraph 5, the corresponding uncommitted resources may be transferred back to one or more respective source programmes, at the request of the Member State, in accordance with the conditions set out in the relevant provisions of the Common Provisions Regulation for 2021-2027.

Article 16 Third countries associated to the Programme

1.   The Programme shall be open to association of the following third countries (associated countries):

(a)

Members of the European Free Trade Association, which are members of the EEA, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Agreement on the European Economic Area;

(b)

acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions or similar agreements and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(c)

European Neighbourhood Policy countries, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements and Association Council decisions or in similar agreements and in accordance with the specific conditions laid down in agreements between the Union and those countries;

(d)

third countries and territories that fulfil all of the following criteria:

(i)

a good capacity in science, technology and innovation;

(ii)

commitment to a rules-based open market economy, including fair and equitable dealing with intellectual property rights, respect of human rights, backed by democratic institutions;

(iii)

active promotion of policies to improve the economic and social well-being of citizens.

2.   Association to the Programme of each of the third countries under point (d) of paragraph 1 shall be in accordance with the conditions laid down in an agreement covering the participation of the third country to any Union programme, provided that the agreement:

(a)

ensures a fair balance as regards the contributions and benefits of the third country participating in the Union programmes;

(b)

lays down the conditions of participation in the Union programmes, including the calculation of financial contributions to individual programmes, and their administrative costs;

(c)

does not confer on the third country any decision-making power in respect of the Union programme;

(d)

guarantees the rights of the Union to ensure sound financial management and to protect the Union's financial interests.

The contributions referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall constitute assigned revenues in accordance with Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation.

3.   The scope of association of each third country to the Programme shall take into account an analysis of the benefits for the Union and the objective of driving economic growth in the Union through innovation. Accordingly, with the exception of EEA members, acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, parts of the Programme may be excluded from an association agreement for a specific country.

4.   The association agreement shall, as far as possible, provide for the reciprocal participation of legal entities established in the Union in equivalent programmes of associated countries in accordance with the conditions laid down in those programmes.

5.   The conditions determining the level of financial contribution shall ensure a regular automatic correction of any significant imbalance compared to the amount that entities established in the associated country receive through participation in the Programme, taking into account the costs in the management, execution and operation of the Programme. The allocation of the financial contributions shall take into account the level of participation of the legal entities of the associated countries in each part of the Programme.

Article 17 Funding bodies and direct actions of JRC

1.   The rules set out in this Title do not apply to direct actions undertaken by the JRC.

2.   In duly justified cases, funding bodies may depart from the rules set out in this Title, except for Articles 18, 19 and 20, if:

(a)

such a departure is provided for in the basic act setting up the funding body or entrusting budget implementation tasks to it; or

(b)

for funding bodies under points (ii), (iii) or (v) of point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation if it is provided for in the contribution agreement and if their specific operating needs or the nature of the action so require.

Article 18 Eligible actions and ethical principles

1.   Without prejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article, only actions implementing the objectives referred to in Article 3 shall be eligible for funding.

The following fields of research shall not be financed:

(a)

activities aiming at human cloning for reproductive purposes;

(b)

activities intended to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such modifications heritable  ( 28 ) ;

(c)

activities intended to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer.

2.   Research on human stem cells, both adult and embryonic, may be financed depending both on the contents of the scientific proposal and the legal framework of the Member States involved. No funding shall be provided within or outside the Union for research activities that are prohibited in all Member States. No funding shall be provided in a Member State for a research activity which is forbidden in that Member State.

Article 19 Ethics

1.   Actions carried out under the Programme shall comply with ethical principles and relevant Union, national and international law, including the Charter and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Supplementary Protocols.

Particular attention shall be paid to the principle of proportionality, to the right to privacy, the right to the protection of personal data, the right to the physical and mental integrity of a person, the right to non-discrimination and to the need to ensure protection of the environment and high levels of human health protection.

2.   Legal entities participating in an action shall provide:

(a)

an ethics self-assessment identifying and detailing all the foreseeable ethics issues related to the objective, implementation and likely impact of the activities to be funded, including a confirmation of compliance with paragraph 1 and a description of how it will be ensured;

(b)

a confirmation that the activities will comply with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity published by All European Academies and that no activities excluded from funding will be conducted;

(c)

for activities carried out outside the Union, a confirmation that the same activities would have been allowed in a Member State; and

(d)

for activities making use of human embryonic stem cells, as appropriate, details of licensing and control measures that shall be taken by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned as well as details of the ethics approvals that shall be obtained before the activities concerned start.

3.   Proposals shall be systematically screened to identify actions which raise complex or serious ethics issues and submit them to an ethics assessment. The ethics assessment shall be carried out by the Commission unless it is delegated to the funding body. All actions involving the use of human embryonic stem cells or human embryos shall be subject to an ethics assessment. Ethics screenings and assessments shall be carried out with the support of ethics experts. The Commission and the funding bodies shall ensure the transparency of the ethics procedures without prejudice to the confidentiality of the content of those procedures.

4.   Legal entities participating in an action shall obtain all approvals or other mandatory documents from the relevant national, local ethics committees or other bodies, such as data protection authorities, before the start of the relevant activities. Those documents shall be kept on file and provided to the Commission or the relevant funding body upon request.

5.   If appropriate, ethics checks shall be carried out by the Commission or the relevant funding body. For serious or complex ethics issues, ethics checks shall be carried out by the Commission unless the Commission delegates this task to the funding body.

Ethics checks shall be carried out with the support of ethics experts.

6.   Actions which do not fulfil the ethics requirements referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 and are therefore not ethically acceptable, shall be rejected or terminated once the ethical unacceptability has been established.

Article 20 Security

1.   Actions carried out under the Programme shall comply with the applicable security rules and in particular rules on the protection of classified information against unauthorised disclosure, including compliance with any relevant Union and national law. In the case of research carried out outside the Union using or generating classified information, it shall also be necessary that, in addition to the compliance with those requirements, a security agreement shall have been concluded between the Union and the third country in which the research is to be conducted.

2.   Where appropriate, proposals shall include a security self-assessment identifying any security issues and detailing how those issues will be addressed in order to comply with the relevant Union and national law.

3.   Where appropriate, the Commission or the relevant funding body shall carry out a security scrutiny procedure for proposals raising security issues.

4.   Where appropriate, the actions carried out under the Programme shall comply with Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 and its implementing rules.

5.   Legal entities participating in an action shall ensure the protection against unauthorised disclosure of classified information used or generated by the action. They shall provide proof of personal security clearance or facility security clearance from the relevant national security authorities, prior to the start of the activities concerned.

6.   If independent external experts have to deal with classified information, the appropriate security clearance shall be required before those experts are appointed.

7.   Where appropriate, the Commission or the relevant funding body may carry out security checks.

8.   Actions which do not comply with the security rules under this Article may be rejected or terminated at any time.

Article 21 Grants

Grants under the Programme shall be awarded and managed in accordance with Title VIII of the Financial Regulation, unless otherwise specified in this Chapter.

Article 22 Legal entities eligible for participation

1.   Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment and including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations, may participate in actions under the Programme, provided that the conditions laid down in this Regulation have been met together with any conditions laid down in the work programme or call for proposals.

2.   Except in duly justified cases where the work programme otherwise provides, legal entities forming a consortium shall be eligible for participation in actions under the Programme provided that the consortium includes:

(a)

at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and

(b)

at least two other independent legal entities each established in different Member States or associated countries;

3.   ERC frontier research actions, EIC actions, training and mobility actions or programme co-fund actions may be implemented by one or more legal entities, provided that one of those legal entities shall be established in a Member State or associated country on the basis of an agreement concluded in accordance with Article 16.

4.   Coordination and support actions may be implemented by one or more legal entities, which may be established in a Member State, associated country or, in exceptional cases, in another third country.

5.   For actions related to Union strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security, the work programme may provide that the participation can be limited to legal entities established only in Member States or to legal entities established in specified associated or other third countries in addition to Member States. Any limitation of the participation of legal entities established in associated countries which are EEA members shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. For duly justified and exceptional reasons, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, the work programme may also exclude the participation of legal entities established in the Union or in associated countries directly or indirectly controlled by non-associated third countries or by legal entities of non-associated third countries from individual calls for proposals, or make their participation subject to conditions set out in the work programme.

6.   Where appropriate and duly justified, the work programme may provide for eligibility criteria in addition to those set out in paragraphs 2 to 5 to take into account specific policy requirements or the nature and objectives of the action, including the number of legal entities, the type of legal entity and the place of establishment.

7.   For actions benefiting from amounts under Article 15(5), the participation shall be limited to a single legal entity established in the jurisdiction of the delegating managing authority, except if otherwise agreed with that managing authority.

8.   Where indicated in the work programme, the JRC may participate in actions.

9.   The JRC, international European research organisations and legal entities created under Union law shall be deemed to be established in a Member State other than the ones in which other legal entities participating in the action are established.

10.   For ERC frontier research actions, training and mobility actions and when provided for in the work programme, international organisations with headquarters in a Member State or associated country shall be deemed to be established in that Member State or associated country. For other parts of the Programme, international organisations other than international European research organisations shall be deemed to be established in a non-associated third country.

Article 23 Legal entities eligible for funding

1.   Legal entities shall be eligible for funding if they are established in a Member State or an associated country. Only legal entities established in the jurisdiction of the delegating managing authority shall be eligible for funding for actions benefiting from amounts under Article 15(5), except if otherwise agreed by that managing authority.

2.   Legal entities established in a non-associated third country shall bear the cost of their participation. However, a legal entity established in low to middle income non-associated third countries and, exceptionally, other non-associated third countries, shall be eligible for funding in an action if:

(a)

the third country is identified in the work programme adopted by the Commission; or

(b)

the Commission or the relevant funding body considers that the participation of the legal entity concerned is essential for implementing the action.

3.   Affiliated entities are eligible for funding in an action if they are established in a Member State, an associated country or in a third country identified in the work programme adopted by the Commission.

4.   The Commission shall make available on a regular basis to the European Parliament and to the Council information concerning the amount of the Union's financial contributions provided to legal entities established in associated and non-associated third countries. As regards associated countries, that information shall also include information on their financial balance.

Article 24 Calls for proposals

1.   The content of the calls for proposals for all actions shall be included in the work programme.

2.   If necessary to achieve their objectives, calls for proposals may, in exceptional cases, be restricted in order to develop additional activities or to add additional partners to existing actions. In addition, the work programme may provide for the possibility for legal entities from low R&I performing countries to join already selected collaborative R&I actions, subject to the agreement of the respective consortium and provided that legal entities from such countries are not yet participating in it.

3.   A call for proposals is not required for coordination and support actions or programme co-fund actions which:

(a)

are to be carried out by the JRC or legal entities identified in the work programme;

(b)

do not fall within the scope of a call for proposals, in accordance with point (e) of Article 195 of the Financial Regulation.

4.   The work programme shall specify calls for proposals for which Seals of Excellence may be awarded. With prior authorisation from the applicant, information concerning the application and the evaluation may be shared with interested financing authorities, subject to the conclusion of confidentiality agreements.

Article 25 Joint calls for proposals

The Commission or the relevant funding body may issue a joint call for proposals with:

(a)

third countries, including their scientific and technological organisations or agencies;

(b)

international organisations;

(c)

non-profit legal entities.

In the case of a joint call for proposals, the applicants shall fulfil the requirements under Article 22 and joint procedures shall be established for the selection and evaluation of proposals. Such procedures shall involve a balanced group of experts appointed by each party.

Article 26 Pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative solutions

1.   Actions may involve or have as their primary aim the pre-commercial procurement or public procurement of innovative solutions that shall be carried out by beneficiaries which are contracting authorities or contracting entities as defined in Directives 2014/24/EU  ( 29 ) and 2014/25/EU  ( 30 ) of the European Parliament and of the Council.

2.   The procurement procedures:

(a)

shall comply with competition rules and with the principles of transparency, non-discrimination, equal treatment, sound financial management, proportionality;

(b)

may authorise the award of multiple contracts within the same procedure (multiple sourcing);

(c)

shall provide for the award of the contracts to the tenders offering best value for money while ensuring absence of conflicts of interest.

In the case of pre-commercial procurement, where appropriate and without prejudice to the principles enumerated in point (a), the procurement procedure may be simplified or accelerated and may provide for specific conditions such as limiting the place of performance of the procured activities to the territory of the Member States and of the associated countries.

3.   The contractor generating results in pre-commercial procurement shall own at least the intellectual property rights attached to those results. The contracting authorities shall enjoy at least royalty-free access rights to the results for their own use and the right to grant, or require the participating contractors to grant, non-exclusive licences to third parties to exploit the results for the contracting authority under fair and reasonable conditions without any right to sub-license. If a contractor fails to commercially exploit the results within a given period after the pre-commercial procurement as identified in the contract, the contracting authorities, after having consulted the contractor on the reasons for the non-exploitation, may require it to transfer any ownership of the results to the contracting authorities.

Article 27 Financial capacity of applicants

1.   In addition to the exceptions mentioned in Article 198(5) of the Financial Regulation, the financial capacity shall be verified only for the coordinator and only if the requested funding from the Union for the action is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, if there are grounds to doubt the financial capacity of an applicant, or if there is a higher risk due to the participation in several ongoing actions funded by Union R&I programmes, the Commission or the relevant funding body shall also verify the financial capacity of other applicants, or of coordinators even where the requested funding is below the threshold referred to in paragraph 1.

3.   If the financial capacity is structurally guaranteed by another legal entity, the financial capacity of that other legal entity shall be verified.

4.   In the case where the financial capacity of an applicant is weak, the Commission or the relevant funding body may make participation of the applicant conditional on provision of a declaration on joint and several liability by an affiliated entity.

5.   The contribution to the Mechanism set out in Article 37 of this Regulation shall be considered to be a sufficient guarantee under Article 152 of the Financial Regulation. No additional guarantee or security shall be accepted from beneficiaries or imposed upon them.

Article 28 Award criteria and selection

1.   A proposal shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

(a)

excellence;

(b)

impact;

(c)

quality and efficiency of the implementation.

2.   Only the criterion referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall apply to proposals for ERC frontier research actions.

3.   The work programme shall lay down further details concerning the application of the award criteria laid down in paragraph 1 including any weighting, thresholds and where relevant rules for dealing with ex aequo proposals, taking into consideration the objectives of the call for proposals. The conditions for dealing with ex aequo proposals may include, but shall not be limited to, the following criteria: SMEs, gender, and geographical diversity.

4.   The Commission and other funding bodies shall take into account the possibility of a two-stage submission and evaluation procedure and where appropriate, anonymised proposals may be evaluated during the first stage of evaluation based on one or more of the award criteria referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 29 Evaluation

1.   Proposals shall be evaluated by the evaluation committee which shall be composed of independent external experts.

For EIC activities, missions and in duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission, the evaluation committee may be composed partially or, in the case of coordination and support actions, partially or fully of representatives of Union institutions or bodies as referred to in Article 150 of the Financial Regulation.

The evaluation process may be followed by independent observers.

2.   Where applicable, the evaluation committee shall rank the proposals that have passed the applicable thresholds, according to:

(a)

the evaluation scores;

(b)

their contribution to the achievement of specific policy objectives, including the constitution of a consistent portfolio of projects namely for Pathfinder activities, missions and in other duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission in detail.

For EIC activities, missions and in other duly justified cases as set out in the work programme adopted by the Commission in detail, the evaluation committee may also propose adjustments to the proposals insofar as those adjustments are needed for the consistency of the portfolio approach. Those adjustments shall be in conformity with the conditions for participation and comply with the principle of equal treatment. The Programme Committee shall be informed of such cases.

3.   The evaluation process shall be designed to avoid conflicts of interest and bias. The transparency of the evaluation criteria and of the proposal scoring method shall be guaranteed.

4.   In accordance with Article 200(7) of the Financial Regulation, applicants shall receive feedback at all stages of the evaluation and, where the proposal is rejected, the reasons for rejection.

5.   Legal entities established in low R&I performing countries who have participated successfully in the component 'widening participation and spreading excellence' shall receive, upon request, a record of their participation, that may accompany proposals to the collaborative parts of the Programme that they coordinate.

Article 30 Evaluation review procedure, enquiries and complaints

1.   An applicant may request an evaluation review if it considers that the applicable evaluation procedure has not been correctly applied to its proposal  ( 31 ) .

2.   Only the procedural aspects of an evaluation may be the subject of a request for an evaluation review. The evaluation of the merits of a proposal shall not be the subject of an evaluation review.

3.   A request for an evaluation review shall relate to a specific proposal and shall be submitted within 30 days after the communication of evaluation results.

An evaluation review committee shall provide an opinion on the procedural aspects of the evaluation, and shall be chaired by and include staff of the Commission or of the relevant funding body who were not involved in the evaluation of the proposals. The evaluation review committee may recommend one of the following:

(a)

a re-evaluation of the proposal to be carried out primarily by evaluators who were not involved in the previous evaluation; or

(b)

confirmation of the initial evaluation.

4.   An evaluation review shall not delay the selection process for proposals that are not the subject of that review.

5.   The Commission shall ensure the existence of a procedure for participants to make direct enquiries and complaints about their involvement in the Programme. Information on how to register enquiries or complaints shall be made available online.

Article 31 Time-to-grant

1.   By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 194(2) of the Financial Regulation, the following periods shall apply:

(a)

for informing all applicants of the outcome of the evaluation of their application, a maximum period of five months from the final date for submission of complete proposals;

(b)

for signing grant agreements with applicants, a maximum period of eight months from the final date for submission of complete proposals.

2.   The work programme may establish shorter periods than those provided for in paragraph 1.

3.   In addition to the exceptions laid down in the second subparagraph of Article 194(2) of the Financial Regulation, the periods referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be exceeded for actions of the ERC, for missions and when actions are submitted to an ethics assessment or security scrutiny.

Article 32 Implementation of the grant

1.   If a beneficiary fails to comply with its obligations regarding the technical implementation of the action, the other beneficiaries shall comply with those obligations without any additional Union funding, unless they are expressly relieved of that obligation. The financial responsibility of each beneficiary shall be limited to its own debt subject to the provisions relating to the Mechanism.

2.   The grant agreement may establish milestones and related pre-financing instalments. If milestones are not reached, the action may be suspended, amended, or, where duly justified, terminated.

3.   An action may also be terminated where expected results have lost their relevance for the Union for scientific or technological reasons or, in the case of the Accelerator, also for economic reasons or, in the case of EIC and missions, also due to their relevance as part of a portfolio of actions. The Commission shall undergo a procedure with the action coordinator and, if appropriate, with independent external experts, before deciding to terminate an action, in accordance with Article 133 of the Financial Regulation.

Article 33 Grant agreements

1.   The Commission shall, in close cooperation with Member States, draw up model grant agreements between the Commission or the relevant funding body and the beneficiaries in accordance with this Regulation. If a significant modification of a model grant agreement is required, in view, among other things, of further simplification for beneficiaries, the Commission shall, in close cooperation with Member States, revise that model grant agreement as appropriate.

2.   Grant agreements shall establish the rights and obligations of the beneficiaries and of either the Commission or the relevant funding body in compliance with this Regulation. They shall also establish the rights and obligations of legal entities which become beneficiaries during the implementation of the action, as well as the role and tasks of a coordinator.

Article 34 Funding rates

1.   A single funding rate per action shall apply for all activities it funds. The maximum rate per action shall be fixed in the work programme.

2.   Up to 100 % of total eligible costs of an action under the Programme may be reimbursed, except for:

(a)

innovation actions where, up to 70 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed, except for non-profit legal entities where up to 100 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed;

(b)

programme co-fund actions where, at least 30 % and, in identified and duly justified cases, up to 70 % of the total eligible costs may be reimbursed.

3.   The funding rates determined in this Article shall also apply for actions where flat-rate, unit or lump-sum financing is fixed for the whole action or part thereof.

Article 35 Indirect costs

1.   Indirect eligible costs shall be 25 % of the total direct eligible costs, excluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting, financial support to third parties and any unit costs or lump sums which include indirect costs.

Where appropriate, indirect costs included in unit costs or lump sums shall be calculated using the flat rate referred to in the first subparagraph, except for unit costs for internally invoiced goods and services, which shall be calculated on the basis of actual costs, in accordance with the beneficiaries' usual cost accounting practice.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, if provided for in the work programme, indirect costs may be declared in the form of a lump sum or unit costs.

Article 36 Eligible costs

1.   In addition to the criteria set out in Article 186 of the Financial Regulation, for beneficiaries with project-based remuneration, personnel costs are eligible up to the remuneration that the person would be paid for work in R&I projects funded by national schemes including social security charges and other costs linked to the remuneration of personnel assigned to the action, arising from national law or from the employment contract.

2.   By way of derogation from Article 190(1) of the Financial Regulation, costs of resources made available by third parties by means of in-kind contributions shall be eligible up to the direct eligible costs of the third party.

3.   By way of derogation from Article 192 of the Financial Regulation, income generated by the exploitation of the results shall not be considered to be receipts of the action.

4.   Beneficiaries may use their usual accounting practices to identify and declare the costs incurred in relation to an action in compliance with all terms and conditions set out in the grant agreement, in accordance with this Regulation and Article 186 of the Financial Regulation.

5.   By way of derogation from Article 203(4) of the Financial Regulation, a certificate on the financial statements shall be mandatory at payment of the balance, if the amount claimed as actual costs and unit costs calculated in accordance with usual cost accounting practices is equal to or greater than EUR 325 000.

Certificates on financial statements may be produced by an approved external auditor or, in the case of public bodies, issued by a competent and independent public officer in accordance with Article 203(4) of the Financial Regulation.

6.   Where appropriate, for MSCA training and mobility actions, the Union contribution shall take due account of any additional costs of the beneficiary related to maternity leave, parental leave, sick leave, special leave or to a change of recruiting host organisation or a change in the family status of researcher during the duration of the grant agreement.

7.   Costs related to open access including data management plans shall be eligible for reimbursement as further stipulated in the grant agreement.

Article 37 Mutual insurance mechanism

1.   A mutual insurance mechanism (the 'Mechanism') is hereby established which shall replace and succeed the fund set up in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013. The Mechanism shall cover the risk associated with non-recovery of sums due by the beneficiaries:

(a)

to the Commission under Decision No 1982/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council  ( 32 ) ;

(b)

to the Commission and Union bodies under 'Horizon 2020';

(c)

to the Commission and funding bodies under the Programme.

The coverage of the risk regarding the funding bodies referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph may be implemented through an indirect coverage system set out in the applicable agreement and taking into account the nature of the funding body.

2.   The Mechanism shall be managed by the Union, represented by the Commission acting as executive agent. The Commission shall set up specific rules for the operation of the Mechanism.

3.   Beneficiaries shall make a contribution of 5 % of the Union funding for the action. On the basis of periodic transparent evaluations, the Commission may increase that contribution up to 8 % or reduce it to under 5 %. The contribution of the beneficiaries to the Mechanism shall be offset against the initial pre-financing and paid to the Mechanism on behalf of the beneficiaries. That contribution shall not exceed the amount of the initial pre-financing.

4.   The contribution of the beneficiaries shall be returned at the payment of the balance.

5.   Any financial return generated by the Mechanism shall be added to the Mechanism. If the return is insufficient the Mechanism shall not intervene, and the Commission or the relevant funding body shall recover any amount owed directly from the beneficiaries or third parties.

6.   The amounts recovered shall constitute revenue assigned to the Mechanism within the meaning of Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation. Once all grants for which the risk is covered directly or indirectly by the Mechanism are completed, any sums outstanding shall be recovered by the Commission and entered into the budget of the Union, subject to decisions of the legislative authority.

7.   The Mechanism may be extended to beneficiaries of any other directly managed Union programme. The Commission shall adopt conditions for participation of beneficiaries of other programmes.

Article 38 Ownership and protection

1.   Beneficiaries shall own the results they generate. They shall ensure that any rights of their employees or any other parties in relation to the results can be exercised in a manner compatible with the beneficiaries' obligations in the grant agreement.

Two or more beneficiaries shall own results jointly where:

(a)

they have jointly generated them; and

(b)

it is not possible to:

(i)

establish the respective contribution of each beneficiary; or

(ii)

separate them when applying for, obtaining or maintaining their protection.

The joint owners shall agree in writing on the allocation and terms of exercise of their joint ownership. Unless otherwise agreed in the consortium agreement or in the joint ownership agreement, each joint owner may grant non-exclusive licences to third parties to exploit the jointly-owned results (without any right to sub-license), if the other joint owners are given advance notice and fair and reasonable compensation. The joint owners may agree in writing to apply another regime than joint ownership.

2.   Beneficiaries which have received Union funding shall adequately protect their results if protection is possible and justified, taking into account all relevant considerations, including the prospects for commercial exploitation and any other legitimate interests. When deciding on protection, beneficiaries shall also consider the legitimate interests of the other beneficiaries in the action.

Article 39 Exploitation and dissemination

1.   Each beneficiary that has received Union funding shall use its best efforts to exploit the results it owns, or to have them exploited by another legal entity. Exploitation may be direct by the beneficiaries or indirect in particular through the transfer and licensing of results in accordance with Article 40.

The work programme may provide for additional exploitation obligations.

If, despite a beneficiary's best efforts to exploit its results directly or indirectly, the results are not exploited within a given period as established in the grant agreement, the beneficiary shall use an appropriate online platform as identified in the grant agreement to find interested parties to exploit those results. That obligation may be waived at the request of the beneficiary if justified.

2.   Beneficiaries shall disseminate their results as soon as feasible, in a publicly available format, subject to any restrictions due to the protection of intellectual property, security rules or legitimate interests.

The work programme may provide for additional dissemination obligations while safeguarding the Union's economic and scientific interests.

3.   Beneficiaries shall ensure that open access to scientific publications applies under the terms and conditions laid down in the grant agreement. In particular, the beneficiaries shall ensure that they or the authors retain sufficient intellectual property rights to comply with their open access requirements.

Open access to research data shall be the general rule under the terms and conditions laid down in the grant agreement, ensuring the possibility of exceptions following the principle 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary', taking into consideration the legitimate interests of the beneficiaries including commercial exploitation and any other constraints, such as data protection rules, privacy, confidentiality, trade secrets, Union competitive interests, security rules or intellectual property rights.

The work programme may provide for additional incentives or obligations for the purpose of adhering to open science practices.

4.   Beneficiaries shall manage all research data generated in an action under the Programme in line with the FAIR principles and in accordance with the grant agreement and shall establish a Data Management Plan.

The work programme may provide, where justified, for additional obligations to use the EOSC for storing and giving access to research data.

5.   Beneficiaries that intend to disseminate their results shall give advance notice to the other beneficiaries in the action. Any other beneficiary may object if it can show that dissemination of the results would significantly harm its legitimate interests in relation to its results or background. In such cases, the results shall not be disseminated unless appropriate steps are taken to safeguard those legitimate interests.

6.   Unless the work programme provides otherwise, proposals shall include a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results. If the expected exploitation of the results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan shall include a strategy for such exploitation. If the plan provides for the exploitation of the results primarily in non-associated third countries, the legal entities shall explain how that exploitation is still to be considered to be in the Union interest.

The beneficiaries shall update the plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results during and after the end of the action, in accordance with the grant agreement.

7.   For the purposes of monitoring and dissemination by the Commission or the relevant funding body, the beneficiaries shall provide any information requested regarding the exploitation and dissemination of their results, in accordance with the grant agreement. Subject to the legitimate interests of the beneficiaries, such information shall be made publicly available.

Article 40 Transfer and licensing

1.   Beneficiaries may transfer ownership of their results. They shall ensure that their obligations also apply to the new owner and that the latter has the obligation to pass them on in any subsequent transfer.

2.   Unless otherwise agreed in writing for specifically identified third parties including affiliated entities or unless impossible under applicable law, beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership of results shall give advance notice to any other beneficiary that still has access rights to the results. The notification shall include sufficient information on the new owner to enable a beneficiary to assess the effects on its access rights.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing for specifically identified third parties including affiliated entities, a beneficiary may object to the transfer of ownership of results by another beneficiary if it can show that the transfer would adversely affect its access rights. In this case, the transfer shall not take place until agreement has been reached between the beneficiaries concerned. The grant agreement shall lay down time limits in this respect.

3.   Beneficiaries may grant licences to their results or otherwise give the right to exploit them, including on an exclusive basis, if this does not affect compliance with their obligations. Exclusive licences for results may be granted subject to consent by all the other beneficiaries concerned that they will waive their access rights thereto.

4.   Where justified, the grant agreement shall provide for the right for the Commission or the relevant funding body to object to transfers of ownership of results, or to grants of an exclusive licence regarding results, if:

(a)

the beneficiaries which generated the results have received Union funding;

(b)

the transfer or licensing is to a legal entity established in a non-associated third country; and

(c)

the transfer or licensing is not in line with Union interests.

If the right to object is provided for, the beneficiary shall give advance notice of its intention to transfer ownership of results or to grant an exclusive licence regarding results. The right to object may be waived in writing regarding transfers or grants to specifically identified legal entities if measures safeguarding Union interests are in place.

Article 41 Access rights

1.   Requests to exercise access rights and the waiver of access rights shall be in writing.

2.   Unless otherwise agreed with the grantor, access rights shall not include the right to sub-license.

3.   Before acceding to the grant agreement the beneficiaries shall inform each other of any restrictions to granting access to their background.

4.   If a beneficiary is no longer involved in an action, this shall not affect its obligations to grant access.

5.   If a beneficiary defaults on its obligations, the beneficiaries may agree that that beneficiary no longer has access rights.

6.   Beneficiaries shall grant access to:

(a)

their results on a royalty-free basis to any other beneficiary in the action that needs them to implement its own tasks;

(b)

their background to any other beneficiary in the action that needs it to implement its own tasks, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3; that access shall be granted on a royalty-free basis, unless otherwise agreed by the beneficiaries before their accession to the grant agreement;

(c)

their results and, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3, to their background to any other beneficiary in the action that needs them to exploit its own results; that access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions to be agreed upon.

7.   Unless otherwise agreed by the beneficiaries, they shall also grant access to their results and, subject to any restrictions referred to in paragraph 3, to their background to a legal entity that:

(a)

is established in a Member State or associated country;

(b)

is under the direct or indirect control of another beneficiary, or is under the same direct or indirect control as that beneficiary, or is directly or indirectly controlling that beneficiary; and

(c)

needs the access to exploit the results of that beneficiary, in accordance with the beneficiary's exploitation obligations.

Access shall be granted under fair and reasonable conditions to be agreed upon.

8.   A request for access for exploitation purposes may be made up to one year after the end of the action, unless the beneficiaries agree on a different time limit.

9.   Beneficiaries that have received Union funding shall grant access to their results on a royalty-free basis to the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies for developing, implementing and monitoring Union policies or programmes. Access shall be limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use.

Such access rights shall not extend to the beneficiaries' background.

In actions under the cluster 'Civil Security for Society', beneficiaries that have received Union funding shall also grant access to their results on a royalty-free basis to Member States' national authorities, for developing, implementing and monitoring their policies or programmes in that area. Access shall be limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use and shall be subject to a bilateral agreement defining specific conditions aimed at ensuring that those access rights are used only for the intended purpose and that appropriate confidentiality obligations are in place. The requesting Member State, Union institution, body, office or agency shall notify all Member States of such requests.

10.   The work programme may provide, where appropriate, for additional access rights.

Article 42 Specific provisions

1.   Specific provisions on ownership, exploitation and dissemination, transfer and licensing as well as access rights may apply for ERC actions, training and mobility actions, pre-commercial procurement actions, public procurement of innovative solutions actions, programme co-fund actions and coordination and support actions.

2.   The specific provisions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be set out in the grant agreement and shall not change the principles and obligations on open access.

Article 43 Prizes

1.   Unless otherwise specified in this Chapter, inducement or recognition prizes under the Programme shall be awarded and managed in accordance with Title IX of the Financial Regulation.

2.   Unless otherwise provided in the work programme or the contest rules, any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, may participate in a contest.

3.   The Commission or the relevant funding body may, where appropriate, organise prize contests with:

(a)

other Union bodies;

(b)

third countries, including their scientific and technological organisations or agencies;

(c)

international organisations; or

(d)

non-profit legal entities.

4.   Work programmes or contest rules shall include obligations regarding communication and, where appropriate, exploitation and dissemination, ownership and access rights including licensing provisions.

Article 44 Procurement

1.   Unless otherwise specified in this Chapter, procurement under the Programme shall be carried out in accordance with Title VII of the Financial Regulation.

2.   Procurement may also take the form of pre-commercial procurement or public procurement of innovative solutions carried out by the Commission or the relevant funding body on its own behalf or jointly with contracting authorities from Member States and associated countries. In such cases, the rules set out in Article 26 shall apply.

Article 45 Blending operations

Blending operations under the Programme shall be implemented in accordance with the InvestEU Programme and Title X of the Financial Regulation.

Article 46 Horizon Europe blended finance and EIC blended finance

1.   The grant and reimbursable advance components of Horizon Europe blended finance and EIC blended finance shall be subject to Articles 34 to 37.

2.   EIC blended finance shall be implemented in accordance with Article 48 of this Regulation. Support under EIC blended finance may be granted until the action can be financed as a blending operation or as a financing and investment operation fully covered by the Union guarantee under the InvestEU Programme. By way of derogation from Article 209 of the Financial Regulation, the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 of that Article and, in particular points (a) and (d) thereof, do not apply at the time of the award of EIC blended finance.

3.   Horizon Europe blended finance may be awarded to a programme co-fund action where a joint programme of Member States and associated countries provides for the deployment of financial instruments in support of selected actions. The evaluation and selection of such actions shall be made in accordance with Articles 15, 23, 24, 27, 28 and 29. The conditions for implementation of Horizon Europe blended finance shall comply with Article 32, by analogy with Article 48(10) and with any additional and justified conditions set out in the work programme.

4.   Repayments including reimbursed advances and revenues of Horizon Europe blended finance and EIC blended finance shall be considered to be internal assigned revenues in accordance with point (f) of Article 21(3) and Article 21(4) of the Financial Regulation.

5.   Horizon Europe blended finance and EIC blended finance shall be provided in a manner that promotes the Union's competitiveness while not distorting competition in the internal market.

Article 47 The Pathfinder

1.   The Pathfinder shall provide grants to high-risk cutting-edge projects, implemented by consortia or single beneficiaries, aiming to develop radical innovations and new market opportunities. The Pathfinder shall provide support for the earliest stages of scientific, technological or deep-tech research and development, including proof of concept and prototypes for technology validation.

The Pathfinder shall be implemented mainly through an open call for proposals for bottom-up proposals with regular cut-off dates per year and shall also provide for competitive challenges to develop key strategic objectives calling for deep-tech and radical thinking.

2.   The Pathfinder's transition activities shall help all types of researchers and innovators develop the pathway to commercial development in the Union, such as demonstration activities and feasibility studies to assess potential business cases, and shall support the creation of spin-offs and start-ups.

The launch and the content of the calls for proposals for Pathfinder's transition activities shall be determined taking account of objectives and budget established by the work programme in relation with the portfolio of actions concerned.

Additional grants for a fixed amount not exceeding EUR 50 000 may be awarded to each proposal already selected under the Pathfinder, and where relevant Pathfinder's transition activities, through a call for proposals to carry out complementary activities, including urgent coordination and support actions, for reinforcing the portfolio's community of beneficiaries, such as assessing possible spin-offs, potential market-creating innovations or developing a business plan. The Programme Committee established under the specific programme shall be informed of such cases.

3.   The award criteria referred to in Article 28 shall apply to the Pathfinder.

Article 48 The Accelerator

1.   The Accelerator shall aim to support essentially market-creating innovation. It shall support only single beneficiaries and shall mainly provide blended finance. Under certain conditions, it may also provide grant-only and equity-only supports.

The Accelerator shall provide the following types of support:

(a)

blended finance support to SMEs, including start-ups, and, in exceptional cases, small mid-caps, carrying out breakthrough and disruptive non-bankable innovation;

(b)

a grant-only support to SMEs, including start-ups, carrying out any type of innovation ranging from incremental to breakthrough and disruptive innovation and aiming to subsequently scale-up;

(c)

equity-only support to non-bankable SMEs, including start-ups, which have already received a grant-only support, may also be provided.

Grant-only support under the Accelerator shall be provided only under the following cumulative conditions:

(a)

the project shall include information on the capacities and willingness of the applicant to scale-up;

(b)

the beneficiary shall be a start-up or an SME;

(c)

a grant-only support under the Accelerator shall be provided only once to a beneficiary during the period of implementation of the Programme for a maximum of EUR 2,5 million.

2.   The beneficiary of the Accelerator shall be a legal entity qualifying as a start-up, an SME or in exceptional cases as a small mid-cap intending to scale up, established in a Member State or associated country. The proposal may be submitted either by the beneficiary or, subject to the prior agreement by the beneficiary, by one or more natural persons or legal entities intending to establish or support that beneficiary. In the latter case, the funding agreement shall be signed only with the beneficiary.

3.   A single award decision shall cover and provide funding for all forms of Union contribution provided under EIC blended finance.

4.   Proposals shall be evaluated on their individual merits by independent external experts and selected for funding through an open call for proposals with cut-off dates, based on Articles 27, 28 and 29, subject to paragraph 5 of this Article.

5.   The proposals submitted shall be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

(a)

excellence;

(b)

impact;

(c)

the level of risk of the action that would prevent investments, the quality and efficiency of the implementation, and the need for Union support.

6.   With the agreement of the applicants concerned, the Commission or the funding bodies implementing the Programme (including the EIT's KICs) may directly submit for evaluation under the award criterion referred to in point (c) of paragraph 5 a proposal for an innovation and market deployment action which already fulfils the award criteria referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 5, subject to the following cumulative conditions:

(a)

the proposal shall stem from any other action funded under Horizon 2020, from the Programme or, subject to an exploratory pilot phase to be launched under the first work programme, from national and/or regional programmes, starting with the mapping of the demand for such a scheme, detailed provisions of which shall be laid down in the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2);

(b)

the proposal is based on a project review which was carried out within the previous two years assessing the excellence and the impact of the proposal and subject to conditions and processes further detailed in the work programme.

7.   A Seal of Excellence may be awarded subject to the following cumulative conditions:

(a)

the beneficiary is a start-up, an SME or a small mid-cap;

(b)

the proposal was eligible and has passed the applicable thresholds for the award criteria referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 5;

(c)

the activity would be eligible under an innovation action.

8.   For a proposal having passed the evaluation, independent external experts shall propose a corresponding Accelerator support, based on the risk incurred and the resources and time necessary to bring and deploy the innovation to the market.

The Commission may reject, for justified reasons, a proposal retained by independent external experts, including due to non-compliance with the objectives of Union policies. The Programme Committee shall be informed of the reasons for such a rejection.

9.   The grant or the reimbursable advance component of the Accelerator support shall not exceed 70 % of the total eligible costs of the selected innovation action.

10.   The conditions for implementation of the equity and the repayable support components of the Accelerator support are set out in Decision (EU) 2021/764

11.   The contract for the selected action shall establish specific measurable milestones and the corresponding pre-financing and payments by instalments of the Accelerator support.

In the case of EIC blended finance, activities corresponding to an innovation action may be launched and the first pre-financing of the grant or the reimbursable advance paid, prior to the implementation of other components of the awarded EIC blended finance. The implementation of those components shall be subject to reaching specific milestones established in the contract.

12.   In accordance with the contract, the action shall be suspended, amended or, if duly justified, terminated if measurable milestones are not reached. It may also be terminated where the expected market deployment, especially in the Union, cannot be met.

In exceptional cases and upon advice by the EIC board, the Commission may decide to increase the Accelerator support subject to a project review by independent external experts. The Programme Committee shall be informed of such cases.

Article 49 Appointment of independent external experts

1.   Independent external experts shall be identified and selected on the basis of calls for expression of interest from individuals and through calls addressed to relevant organisations such as research agencies, research institutions, universities, standardisation organisations, civil society organisations or enterprises with a view to establishing a database of candidates.

By way of derogation from Article 237(3) of the Financial Regulation, the Commission or the relevant funding body may, exceptionally and in duly justified cases, select in a transparent manner any individual expert with the appropriate skills not included in the database provided that a call for expression of interest has not identified suitable independent external experts.

Such experts shall declare their independence and capacity to support the objectives of the Programme.

2.   In accordance with Article 237(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation, the independent external experts shall be remunerated based on standard conditions. If justified, and in exceptional cases, an appropriate level of remuneration beyond the standard conditions based on relevant market standards, especially for specific high-level experts, may be granted. Such costs shall be covered by the Programme.

3.   In addition to the information referred to in Article 38(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation, the names of independent external experts evaluating grant applications who are appointed in a personal capacity shall be published, together with their area of expertise, at least once a year on the website of the Commission or of the funding body. Such information shall be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council  ( 33 ) .

4.   The Commission or the relevant funding body shall take the appropriate measures to prevent conflicts of interest as regards the involvement of independent external experts in accordance with Article 61 and Article 150(5) of the Financial Regulation.

The Commission or the relevant funding body shall ensure that an expert faced with a conflict of interest in relation to a matter on which the expert is required to provide an opinion does not evaluate, advise or assist on the specific matter in question.

5.   When appointing independent external experts, the Commission or the relevant funding body shall take appropriate measures to seek a balanced composition within the expert groups and evaluation panels in terms of skills, experience, knowledge, including in terms of specialisation, in particular on SSH, geographical diversity and gender, taking into account the situation in the field of the action.

6.   Where appropriate, an adequate number of independent external experts shall be ensured for each proposal in order to guarantee the quality of the evaluation.

7.   The information on the level of remuneration of all independent external experts shall be made available to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Article 50 Monitoring and reporting

1.   The Commission shall monitor continuously the management and implementation of the Programme, the specific programme referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) and the activities of the EIT. In order to enhance transparency, data shall also be made publicly available in an accessible manner on the Commission's website according to the latest update. In particular, data for projects funded under ERC, European Partnerships, missions, the EIC and the EIT shall be included in the same database.

The database shall include:

(a)

time-bound indicators to report on an annual basis on the progress of the Programme towards achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 3 and set out in Annex V along impact pathways;

(b)

information on the level of mainstreaming SSH, the ratio between lower and higher TRLs in collaborative research, the progress on the participation of widening countries, the geographical composition of consortia in collaborative projects, the evolution of researchers salaries, the use of a two-stage submission and evaluation procedure, the measures aimed at facilitating collaborative links in European R&I, the use of the evaluation review and the number and types of complaints, the level of climate mainstreaming and related expenditures, SME participation, private sector participation, gender participation in funded actions, evaluation panels, boards and advisory groups, the 'Seals of Excellence', the European Partnerships as well as the co-funding rate, the complementary and cumulative funding from other Union programmes, research infrastructures, time-to-grant, the level of international cooperation, engagement of citizens and civil society participation;

(c)

the levels of expenditure disaggregated at project level in order to allow for specific analysis, including per intervention area;

(d)

the level of oversubscription, in particular the number of proposals and per call for proposals, their average score, the share of proposals above and below quality thresholds.

2.   To ensure the effective assessment of the Programme's progress towards the achievement of its objectives, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 55 to amend Annex V with regard to the impact pathway indicators, where considered to be necessary, and to set baselines and targets as well as to supplement this Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework.

3.   The performance reporting system shall ensure that data for monitoring the implementation and the results of the Programme are collected efficiently, effectively and in a timely manner, without increasing the administrative burden for beneficiaries. To that end, proportionate reporting requirements shall be imposed on recipients of Union funds, including at the level of researchers involved in the actions in order to be able to track their career and mobility, and where appropriate, on Member States.

4.   Qualitative analysis from the Commission and Union or national funding bodies shall complement as much as possible quantitative data.

5.   The measures aimed at facilitating collaborative links in European R&I shall be monitored and reviewed in the context of the work programmes.