The SNS 2026 R&I Work Programme published on the SNS web site includes an Appendix 1,  which specifies the call conditions for IAs (Stream B) and RIAs (Stream C) and the award criteria table.

For IAs under Stream B and RIAs under Streams C, the award criteria table is complemented as follows:

“Introduction in the impact section of a sub criterion assessing the proposal contribution to the IKOP objectives;”

The sub criterion is to be found in the table of Appendix 1 that outlines the main award criteria for the various actions.

For projects granted under the CSA the total amount of eligible costs from members of the 6G-IA not reimbursed by the granting authority (SNS JU) should reach 2.4%, under Stream B it should reach 13.9% and under Stream C 3.6%.

Only for-profit companies that are members of the 6G Industry Association (6G-IA) contribute to IKOP generation. The appendix also specifies in a table how the IKOP target at Programme level is converted in minimum values per Stream. All percentages of IKOP levels listed in the appendix are minimum values resulting from the conversion of the total targeted IKOP level for the Call when considering past average participation per type of beneficiary (for-profit & not-for-profit members or non-members- of the 6G-IA). Note that universities, even if they are members of the 6G-IA, do not contribute to IKOP as they receive 100% of their eligible costs in all types of project (RIA, IA and CSA).

At evaluation level, the Work Programme appendix also explains under section F. Procedures how the IKOP level of a proposal may be used to sort out the ties between two or more equally ranked proposals.

IKOP generation is linked to i) 6G-IA membership, and ii) funding rate. Whatever the proposal, IKOP can only be generated by a participant that is member of the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA). If a participant is a for-profit company, its eligible costs are reimbursed at 90% for RIA. Then its IKOP generation is 10% of the eligible costs of this partner that are not reimbursed by the granting authority. But if a 6G-IA participant of the proposal is a non-for-profit member (e.g., university, research center, etc.) it is entitled to 100% reimbursement of its eligible costs and hence does not generate IKOP, even if it is  a member of the 6G-IA. IKOP generation for a given participant is hence computed as the percentage of eligible costs that are not reimbursed by the granting authority and this depends on the type of partner.

NB: For 6G-IA members that participate in the proposals as Associated Partners, all their requested amount is considered as IKOP.

The IKOP information is included at proposal stage and Applicants have to submit an IKOP declaration table (see section E of this FAQ). The relevant sub-criterion is assessed based on the proposal information and 6G-IA information on Membership at the Call closing date.

Switzerland, Republic of Korea, Canada and UK are associated to the entire HE programme and are therefore eligible to participate as beneficiaries in the HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026 Call.  This gives Swiss, South Korean, and UK researchers and organisations the same access as those in EU Member States including leading consortia, receiving direct EU funding, and access all thematic pillars and instruments of the programmes. This has been reflected in the List of participating countries.  In terms of IKOP, the standard rules for eligible entities apply, as mentioned in the relevant FAQ items above.

Please be aware, that the maximum funding rate in the budget table is set to 100% automatically. We kindly ask all for-profit organizations to make a manual calculation and request 90% of the budget in the case of RIA & CSAs and 70% in the case of IAs.

Until association agreements start producing legal effects either through provisional application or their entry into force, transitional arrangements may apply if provided for in the particular Horizon Europe Work Programme. Therefore, the General Annexes apply (see section B, eligibility):

[…] For the purposes of the eligibility conditions, applicants established in Horizon 2020 Associated Countries or in other third countries negotiating association to Horizon Europe will be treated as entities established in an Associated Country, if the Horizon Europe association agreement with the third country concerned applies at the time of signature of the grant agreement.

In practice, applicants from these countries should be treated as entities established in an associated country throughout the process, from admissibility and eligibility to evaluation, up until the preparation of grant agreements. However, if, by the time of the signature of the grant, any of these countries has not signed the association agreement to Horizon Europe, entities from that country in the selected projects will be treated as 3^rd country partners.

More information on the list of participating countries of Horizon Europe can be found here.

It is up to the proponents to decide what best corresponds to their plans and exploitation timeline taking into account 6G developments worldwide and the expected state of the art based on R&I and standardisation roadmaps for core 6G technologies. However, there are specific duration expectations for the projects selected under CSA-01: SNS Operations and Output optimisation (2 years) and CSA-02: 6G Devices (up to 2 years).

“Minimum participation of 6G-IA Members” means that participants in these project proposals must be members of the 6G-IA, or an affiliated entity to a member of the 6G-IA, at the required percentage. In particular, at least half of the budget should be implemented by the SNS JU member (other than the Union) and their constituent or affiliated entities for HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026, STREAM-B-01 and HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-C-01.

For those Streams (Table in Section 3.B of the Appendix of the SNS 2026 R&I Work Programme), applicants will be invited to fill a mandatory table of compliance at proposal stage in the Application Form Technical Description (Part B).

NB: Proposals that do not fulfil the required conditions, including the mandatory table of compliance, at the time of the proposal submission, will be considered ineligible and, therefore, they will not be evaluated.

Yes.

For proposals under Topic CSA-03 on topics identified as “subject to restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation” (in the specific conditions for eligibility), participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Associated Countries, OECD and Mercosur countries and India.

For proposals under Topics CSA-01, CSA-02 and B-01 on topics identified as “subject to restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation (in the specific conditions for eligibility)”, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries.

For proposals under Stream CSA-01, CSA-02 and B-01, in addition, entities established in an eligible country, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, in so far this is a Member State or Associated Country, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic, assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.

(see also call restrictions under FAQ Section F)

For Topic C-01 no restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation apply.

Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks apply to all Call Topics, in accordance with General Annex B of the General Annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027:

Entities that are assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (and any entities they own or control) are not eligible to participate as beneficiaries, affiliated entities and associated partners.

Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments (including the grant agreement itself as well as subcontracts, purchase contracts, financial support to third parties etc.) can be signed with Hungarian public interest trusts established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals. However, in case the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties). In this case, co-applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.

Please also refer to the F&T Portal FAQs on how the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 on measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary affects the participation of the concerned legal entities in Horizon Europe actions published on the Portal. This FAQ list may be updated following further guidance.

An online brokerage service is available to assist everyone to find projects and participants. Potential Applicants can present their profile and interests and/or present their project ideas. In summary, this tool shows information about potential proposals and also show expertise offered by potential applicants. We encourage all potential participants in the current SNS call to avail of this service and to make their proposals strong by finding the best partners and collaborations. An online brokerage Event will took place on 2^nd February (more information, recording and slides can be found on dedicated event web page after the event and SNS communication channels, e.g. LinkedIn)

More information on https://sns-brokerage.eu/

For more information about the “Registration of participants”, you may refer to this presentation from the Central Validation Service:

or check this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNl478WEtU

The target participation of SMEs at programme level (20%) refers to project budget, NOT to the number of SMEs participating in SNS JU projects. This percentage, as a target, represents the minimum indicative value at programme level.

SMEs do not need to be members of 6G-IA to participate in the Call (please pay attention though to the Topics where minimum 6G-IA participation is required). However, if they are not members, this will affect their IKOP calculation since only for-profit 6G-IA members are able to contribute to IKOP (see A1 and A2 for further information). Furthermore, for 6G-IA members that participate in the proposals as Associated Partners (i.e. without EU funding), all their requested amount is considered as IKOP.

There is no lower or upper threshold for SME participation; it is a programmatic target that aims to involve SMEs. Achieving or surpassing the target level of SME involvement may be considered as a positive aspect of a proposal, taking into consideration that there are specific topics where a strong industrial presence is envisioned. The target SME participation level is 20% at the programme level and remains an award criterion for RIAs and IAs. More specifically, for IAs under Streams B and RIAs under Stream C, the award criteria table is complemented as follows:

– Introduction in the impact section of a sub-criterion (“SME Participation and opportunities to leverage project results”) assessing the proposal contribution to the overall SME objective as appropriate.

SME participation will be also used as a tiebreaker when ranking proposals (see Section F Procedures, of the SNS work programme).

These key strategic orientations are the guiding principles for all parts of Horizon Europe and

will be implemented through the work programmes 2025-2027. They provide strategic orientations for all HE R&I activities including the SNS JU ones. Addressing these 3 pillars is important as they are key design principles of the R&I work programme and are translated into more concrete objectives in the text. Relevant points are included under each Stream specific challenges & objectives, and under Expected Outcome and Scope of each Topic and relevant proposal text will be considered for the evaluation in regard to excellence and Impact criteria.

There is no recommendation for IKOP generation by the third parties that will join the project after the call for additional third-party financing has been successfully completed.

For the purpose of the call, the SME budget should be computed against the budget actually allocated to the beneficiaries without considering the FSTP budget. It may though be indicated in the proposal what will be the FSTP amount that will be targeted towards SMEs. In that case, the percentage of SME participation may be computed against the full proposal budget.

If the beneficiary is a non-profit legal entity, it can be reimbursed up to 100 % of the total eligible costs. If the beneficiary is however a for-profit entity, the funding rate will be up to 90 % for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) in HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM C-01. The consortia are free to choose the beneficiary that will receive and distribute the funding. The call conditions appendix to the work programme though suggests (section 2.G of the Appendix): “It is recommended that the beneficiary providing third party financing is an entity eligible for 100% of reimbursement of the eligible costs.”

The beneficiary chosen to organise the cascading calls are free to define the rules, principles and rates that they will apply for distributing the funding and selecting third party recipients as long as some basic principles, such as transparency, are met.  For these actions, the third party financing contractual clause of Articles 6.2.D.1 and 9.4 of the AGA34 will apply, as well as some complementary conditions detailed in Appendix 1 to the SNS JU R&I Work Programme (Annex 2 – R&I Work Programme 2026 under Financial Support for Third Parties).

See section ‘2.G. Legal and financial set-up of the grant agreements’ of the call conditions appendix to the work programme. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party has been set at € 50k for this call, related to specific activities that are outlined in the appendix under Financial Support to Third Parties section.

When drafting a proposal for the topic where Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) has been planned (Topic HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-C-01), the online submission tool will give you access to a zip file for download. This zip file contains the part B template, and an annex for FSTP declaration. The part B text should explain how FSTP activities contribute to the workplan and objectives, and the FSTP annex should be filled out to provide extra information for the planned FSTP.

The information in the annex will not be counted as pages in excess to the page limitation (70 pages) and will be taken into account for the evaluation process.

FSTP in HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-C-01 applies to SMEs and academia from current running SNS JU projects, as long as they act as technology developers who will integrate their technology into the platform to expand its 6G capabilities.

The platform will be open to any participant interested in running an experiment. However, there is no FSTP budget offered to the experimenters, who will propose to join according to their interest and use the platform to run technological 6G experiments.

SNS projects in Phase 3 are expected to include integration and experimentation resources with the new infrastructure in their Grant Agreements. Therefore, upcoming solutions from SNS JU Call 2027 projects are not eligible for FSTP.

Add that integrating technologies from call 3 projects will not be eligible for FSTP (projects to integrate such activities in their Grant) as for WP2027 projects?

The Topic scope is to leverage existing SNS JU Stream C and D project results, as well as results from European National Initiatives, aggregating testbed sites that can offer combined capabilities across Europe. Platforms outside the above identified categories are not in scope. Furthermore, activities of interconnecting or federation are also not in scope, as these issues have been addressed in previous projects.

It is preferable that the mother group becomes member of the Association, which gives access to affiliate entities, if headquartered in Europe.

According to the statutes of the 6G-IA: Affiliate of a legal entity means a legal entity directly or indirectly Controlled by, or under common Control with or Controlling such legal entity, for so long as such Control lasts.  For the above purposes, “Control” of any entity shall exist through the direct or indirect:

– ownership of more than 50% of the nominal value of the issued share capital of the entity or of more than 50% of the issued share capital entitling the holders to vote for the election of directors or persons performing similar functions

– right by any other means to elect or appoint managing board members of the entity (or persons performing similar functions) who have a majority vote.

Yes, Observers can be considered as members for meeting the eligibility criterion related to the required minimum 6G-IA Members’ participation. However, this benefit is only granted to the Observer organisation itself and does not extend to any affiliates of the Observer organisation. This is according to the 6G-IA Statutes (article 11bis) where it states “the benefits of membership of the Association as regards to the participation in Activities are not extended to the Affiliates belonging to the Group of an Observer”.

An Affiliate of an Observer wishing to participate in SNS JU calls and be considered as a 6G-IA member for the eligibility criterion related to the required minimum 6G-IA Members’ participation, may only do so if they become a 6G-IA Member in their own right and commit to the long-term goals of the 6G IA.

No, it is not.

Membership in the Association is open to and limited to entities with legal personality, that

• have a registered seat in the Member States, Candidate States and Associated Countries of the European Union; and
• support the mission and vision of the Association and Horizon Europe (SNS JU) Contractual Arrangement; and
• have research and development (herein “R&D”) activities in the Member States, Candidate States and Associated Countries of the European Union.

Yes, the deadline to apply for 6G-IA membership is the 31^st March 2026. After that time, it cannot be guaranteed that membership applications will be processed in time.

Yes, 6G-IA Members that have not done it yet must provide/confirm their PIC numbers by 15^th April 2026 using a dedicated online form in the Members Area of the 6G-IA website, following the instructions given by the 6G-IA office.

The PIC numbers of:

–             6G-IA Full Members and their Affiliates participating in the call, and

–             Observers of the 6G-IA participating in the call

must be provided.

Please note: Affiliates of Observers are not considered 6G-IA Members (cf. FAQ D3).

Yes, Observers can be considered as members for the accounting of the contribution to the target IKOP

However, this benefit is only granted to the Observer organisation itself and does not extend to any affiliates of the Observer organisation.   This is according to the 6G-IA Statutes (article 11bis) where it states “the benefits of membership of the Association as regards to the participation in Activities are not extended to the Affiliates belonging to the Group of an Observer”.

An Affiliate of an Observer wishing to participate in SNS JU calls and be considered as a 6G-IA member for the accounting of the contribution to the target IKOP, may only do so if they become a 6G-IA Member in their own right and commit to the long-term goals of the 6G IA.

For certain SNS JU topics, the applicable Work Programme specifies that a minimum share of the project budget should be implemented by SNS JU member other than the Union (i.e.by 6G-IA and their constituent or affiliated entities. For projects selected under such topics, this requirement is understood as relating to the implementation of the action, and not only to the eligibility and evaluation stage. Consequently, changes affecting the status of 6G-IA members during the lifetime of a project from those specific Topics must be duly notified to the SNS JU and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account their impact on the implementation of the action. Such changes do not automatically lead to termination of participation, but may require appropriate mitigation measures or adjustments, where necessary.”

Annexes to Part B are only meant for extra information and will not be counted in the page limit (70 pages for RIAs and IAs, 50 pages for CSAs). If the uploaded document for part B does contain more than the specified page limit, information contained in these extra pages will not be evaluated. Information that is important and to be evaluated to support the proposal must be, for the part B of the proposal, within the page limit as appropriate for the selected topic.

The additional Annexes will be used in the context of Restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation and for FSTP, where applicable. These will not be counted as pages in excess to the page limitation and will be taken into account as extra information.

Each partner in the proposal (contributing AND not contributing to IKOP generation) should fill up one line in the table that is provided in the Part B submission form, including the participant number in the proposal, the Membership status, the IKOP value (€), and the name & PIC of the 6G-IA member it is linked to (in the case of affiliate 6G-IA Members). In the “IKOP” column, the absolute value of the € value of the generated IKOP for this partner is indicated. This is summed at the bottom and divided by the overall eligible costs, to compute the percentage of IKOP generated by the proposal.

The final table will be provided in the submission forms as of Call Opening. An indicative table would look like the one below:

The 2026 Work Programme outlines that applicants will be invited to fill a mandatory table of compliance at proposal stage in the Application Form Technical Description (Part B).

Proposals that do not fulfil the above conditions, including the mandatory table of compliance, at the time of the proposal submission, will be considered ineligible and, therefore, will not be evaluated.

The final table (combined with IKOP) will be provided in the submission forms as of Call Opening. The indicative table would look like the one provided in the above FAQ point.

The same mechanism applies for all topics where it is requested that part of the consortium budget is implemented by 6G-IA members.

The full members as well as the observer 6G-IA members are listed at the 6G-IA web site (https://6g-ia.eu/). As 6G-IA is frequently receiving and approving new membership applications, it may take a few days for newly accepted members to appear on the web site. Note also that the definition of affiliated entity to a 6G-IA member can be found in the section “6G INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (6G-IA) ISSUES”. In case of any question, you can contact directly the 6G-IA Office at: Office@6g-ia.eu.

There are no strong recommendations on the number of WPs, deliverables or milestones since this depends on a variety of aspects of the proposal. It will be assessed under criterion 3 and depends on the proposal objectives and projected work as well as the number of members of the consortium. However, there are specific expectations for the duration of the projects selected under CSA-01: SNS Operations and Output optimisation (2 years) and CSA-02: 6G Devices (up to 2 years).

There is no recommendation on the number of partners within a consortium. This depends on many factors, including the proposal objectives.

For proposals under Topic B-01 and Topics CSA-01 and CSA-02, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries.

For proposals under Topic CSA-03 (EU-India International Collaboration), participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Associated Countries, OECD and Mercosur countries, and India.

Only for Topic B-01 and Stream Topics CSA-01 and CSA-02, entities established in an eligible country, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in these actions unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, in so far this is a Member State or Associated Country, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic, assets, interests, autonomy, or security.

For Topic CSA-03, guarantees cannot be submitted.

For Topic C-01, no restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation apply.

Restrictions for the protection of European communication networks apply to all Call Topics, in accordance with General Annex B of the General Annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027:

Entities that are assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities they fully or partially own or control) are not eligible to participate as beneficiaries, affiliated entities and associated partners.

Regarding HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-CSA-03 (EU-India International Collaboration), as it is mentioned in the SNS R&I WP2026, “for proposals under topics identified as “subject to restrictions on participation in accordance with Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation” (in the specific conditions for eligibility), participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Associated Countries, OECD and Mercosur countries, and India” (Appendix 1, Section 2.b). Nevertheless, since India is not considered a country eligible for funding in Horizon Europe  (i.e. countries that are EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon Europe, or countries listed as third countries eligible for funding here) and it is not explicitly identified in the SNS work programme and call for proposals as being eligible for funding, Indian entities that will participate in proposals under topic HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-CSA-03 are not eligible for funding.

SNS JU has not made any funding arrangements with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for Indian entities that will participate in projects to be funded under the HORIZON-JU-SNS-2026-STREAM-CSA-03.

‘Control’ will be defined as the possibility to exercise decisive influence on the participant, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediate entities, ‘de jure’ or ‘de facto’. The fact that no influence is actually exercised is not relevant, as long as the possibility exists. A participant will be considered to be ‘controlled’ when an (ineligible) third country, third country entity or third country national has the possibility to exercise decisive influence on the entity concerned, notably in relation to its strategic business decisions (such as appointment and removal of senior management, budget, investment business plans, market-specific decisions, etc).

No guidance can anticipate upon all possible constellations of control of an entity, hence, any assessment has to be done on a case-by-case basis, looking at the legal and factual position in each individual case.  Control will be assessed at the level of the ultimate ownership and control line and all intermediate layers (in case of indirect control).

The following elements will, in particular, be taken into account:

– ownership structure and specific rights;

– corporate governance;

– commercial links conferring control;

– financial links conferring control;

– other sources of control.

Participants  must fill in the ownership control declaration, annexed to the application form. This declaration must be signed by a person empowered to represent the legal entity. The coordinator must combine all declarations into one single document and submit it with the proposal (signed originals should be kept on file by the participants). Proposals missing this annex for any of their participants may be declared inadmissible. The participants will then undergo an ownership control assessment to determine whether they are controlled from an eligible country or not. Public bodies (validated as such in the Funding & Tenders Portal Participant Register) will automatically be considered as controlled by their country.

In Topics B-01, CSA-01 and CSA-02 , entities established in an eligible country, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by   their eligible country of establishment, in so far this is a Member State or Associated Country, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic, assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.

In Topic CSA-03, guarantees cannot be submitted.

Participants must guarantee compliance (via a guarantee declaration form – last page) with the specific conditions set out in the SNS 2026 Work Programme and in the call conditions, namely:

1. control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action;
2. access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate;
3. ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.

More information on restricted calls can be found here

At submission stage, it is for the participants to collect the necessary information as to their ownership control structure and duly fill in the ownership control declaration:

• Self-declaration: entity subject to control by an ineligible country or ineligible country entity:

If ineligible country control is already known at proposal submission, proposers are strongly advised to already prepare the guarantees as part of their proposal if established in an EU/AC country (the approval, if needed, may be provided later during grant preparation). The guarantees must cover all conditions and explain the concrete measures put in place to ensure compliance.

• Self-declaration: entity NOT subject to control by an ineligible country or ineligible country entity:

Ownership control assessment will be conducted at the GAP stage. If control from an ineligible country is established by the granting authority in the context of the ownership control assessment check, the entity, if established in an EU/ AC country will be requested to provide the guarantees during grant preparation, within 15 working days from receiving notification. The EU assessment process is launched only at the GAP stage i.e. for entities that participate in the proposals included on the main list.

Under both scenarios, the guarantees will be first assessed by the SNS JU/EU services, and later on the granting authority (i.e. SNS JU) will contact the national authorities of the country of establishment (eligible country) on the assessment of the guarantees and seek their confirmation, which will have to be provided within 30 working days. Information on the respective national authorities cannot be provided to the Proponents.

According to the AGA and HE Guidance, public bodies do not need to submit the ownership control declaration, but they must be formally validated as public bodies in the Participant Register prior to proposal submission. Therefore, public bodies do not need to submit the declaration form in situations where their public body status is confirmed and validated in the Participants register.

Employees and other persons involved in the action would normally need national security clearance only if they need to have access to classified information up to the level of CONFIDENTIEL UE/EU CONFIDENTIAL or above. EU CLASSIFIED INFORMATION (EUCI) means any information (documents/deliverables/materials) that will be generated as result of the project and that has been designated by an EU security classification. This classification indicates that unauthorized disclosure of the information could harm the interests of the European Union or one or more of the Member States.

More information on the matter can be found here: Classification of information in Horizon Europe projects and How to handle security-sensitive projects.

No. Since the ownership control declaration is part of the eligibility conditions for submitting a proposal, an entity needs to submit an OCD for each proposal it would submit.

Furthermore, as long as legal entities based in an eligible country have different PIC numbers, the ownership control declaration must be distinct and signed by a person empowered to represent the legal entity with this specific PIC.