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Public procurement of innovation for security

European Commission · Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)

Posted 6 May 2026 · 35 days left

In plain terms

The European Commission funds consortia developing and piloting innovative civil security solutions such as post-quantum cryptography, with projects ranging from 1.33 to 6 million euros. Applicants must form a consortium of at least three practitioners and three public procurers from at least three different EU or associated countries, with applications due by 5 November 2026.

A generated summary of the donor's text; the original wording is below.

Summary

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes:

Last mile support to previous pre-commercial procurement (PCP) actions;

Development and deployment of innovative security solutions to address emerging threats, including post-quantum cryptography to counter emerging quantum threats, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public security services;

Implementation of pilot projects and real-world testing, ensuring scalability and contributing to innovative security technologies.

Scope:

This Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) initiative aims to advance the adoption of innovative civil security solutions. The focus is on solutions that have been partially demonstrated on a small scale and are nearly or already available in small quantities but have not yet been widely adopted or produced at scale. These solutions should demonstrate a clear market potential and be new to the procurers, their market segment, or the internal EU market, and must be relevant to procurers across EU Member States and/or Associated Countries.

This PPI will specifically target innovative solutions that can address critical…

Excerpt from the donor's page. The full text, annexes and forms are on the original call.

Eligible regions

eu_only

Who can apply

ngo_cso
academia_research
private_company
government
consortium_required

Eligibility and conditions

Show the eligibility text from the source

">General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions

Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.

The following additional eligibility criteria apply:

This topic requires the participation[[See General Annexes page 12 on the Consortium Composition as regards Public procurement of innovative solutions.]], as beneficiaries, of at least 3 practitioners and 3 public procurers. These beneficiaries must be from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. One organisation can have the role of practitioner and public procurer simultaneously, both counting for the overall number of organisations required for eligibility. Among the public procurers[[Under this topic, the participation is required of minimum three procurers as beneficiaries in the buyer’s group for the PPI. The third procurer in the buyer’s group can be a private procurer or an NGO that provides similar services of public interest as the public procurers.]], minimum two must be independent legal entities that are public procurers, each established in a different Member State or Associated Country and with at least one of them established in a Member State.

For participants with practitioner status, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.

PCP/PPI procurement costs are eligible.

The specific conditions for actions with PCP/PPI procurements in section H of the General Annexes apply to grants funded under this topic.

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions

described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in section B Security — EU classified and sensitive information of the General Annexes.

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

Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System

Standard application form (HE PPI)

Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations

Standard evaluation form (HE PCP…