EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for “Open Topic on Secured and Facilitated Crossing of External Borders”

*(Call ID: HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-BM-02 | Type: HORIZON-RIA – Lump-Sum)*

1. Single Market Access – Turning 27 National Frontiers into One Testbed

Why it matters: Solutions that accelerate lawful travel and trade unlock the full potential of the EU’s 450+ million-person market where goods worth €3.8 trillion and >1 billion passenger crossings occur annually.

Opportunities:

- Deploy pilots in major land, sea and air Border Crossing Points (BCPs) across multiple Member States to validate scalability under real traffic volumes.

- Offer technology providers a fast track to commercial uptake through uniform Schengen-wide regulations (EES, ETIAS, GDPR, AI Act).

- Enable consortium SMEs to reach public-sector buyers in all 27 MS under a single CE-marked, interoperable solution roadmap.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

- Mandatory involvement of ≥2 Border/Coast Guard Authorities fosters a practitioner-driven, multinational consortium from day 1.

- Access Frontex’s standing corps, eu-LISA’s IT architecture and EMSA/Copernicus downstream services for data fusion, creating a pan-European living-lab.

- Harmonise best practices in risk analysis, biometric enrolment and human-rights impact assessments across diverse legal cultures.

- Tap into the EU Civil Security for Society Community of Practice (CSA projects such as BROADWAY, PERCEPTIONS, iBorderCtrl) to shorten learning curves.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Strategies

- Schengen Strategy & 2023 EU Integrated Border Management (IBM) Regulation: Project outputs feed directly into the 4-year EBCG capability planning cycle.

- EU Digital Identity & Digital Europe Programme: Integration with forthcoming EU Digital Wallet and Digital Travel Credentials (DTC Type-1/2).

- European Green Deal & Fit-for-55: Automation reduces idling times of vehicles/aircraft, cutting CO₂ at BCPs; scope explicitly rewards lower environmental footprint.

- EU Cybersecurity Strategy & NIS2: Embedding-by-design cyber-resilience aligns with mandatory security-of-network requirements for critical infrastructure.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation & Standard Setting

- Influence upcoming technical specifications for DTC, biometric quality, age-assessment and interoperability by piloting across jurisdictions.

- Early conformity with the AI Act risk-management framework eases later certification for high-risk border-control AI systems.

- Contribute to CEN/CENELEC and ICAO standardisation, positioning EU tech as the global benchmark.

5. Leveraging the EU Innovation Ecosystem

- Partner with Europe’s 5 000+ security R&I actors, including top TRL-6 demo facilities (e.g., CERTH-KE.ME.A, DLR-Air Security, Dutch Living Lab @Schiphol).

- Access Copernicus, Galileo/EGNOS data free-of-charge for geospatial intelligence and time-stamping.

- Exploit Horizon Europe’s open-science mandates to accelerate diffusion of validated algorithms and ethics-by-design toolkits.

6. Funding Synergies & Blending

- Internal Security Fund (ISF) 2021-2027: Member States can co-fund roll-out of successful prototypes at national BCPs.

- CEF Digital: Upgrade cross-border 5G corridors powering real-time biometric verification.

- ERDF/Just Transition Fund: Green retrofitting of border infrastructure in carbon-intensive regions.

- InvestEU & EIB Security Lending: Scale commercial solutions via equity/debt once Horizon results de-risk technology.

7. Scalability & Impact Pathways

1. Prototype (TRL 4-5) ➜ multi-site pilot (TRL 6-7) during project.

2. Adoption by Frontex Standing Corps & Member-State BCPs (TRL 8).

3. Extension to EU Pre-Entry Screening Regulation (2026) and Maritime Border Surveillance.

4. Export of EU-labelled solutions to Western Balkans, EaP, Mediterranean partners—strengthening EU external dimension.

8. Unique Grant Features That Boost EU-Level Value Creation

- Lump-Sum Model: Reduces administrative burden, enabling SMEs/LEAs with limited EU-project experience to join.

- Practitioner Mid-Term Assessment: Guarantees continuous alignment with operational needs, increasing adoption likelihood.

- Security-by-Design & Fundamental-Rights Mandate: Positions EU as a global leader in ethical border tech—competitive amplifier versus third-country suppliers.

9. Actionable Recommendations for Applicants

- Build a consortium covering north-south & east-west mobility corridors (e.g., FI-EE-PL and PT-ES-FR) to capture heterogeneous threat landscapes.

- Include customs & police authorities to address people + goods duality and maximise ISF uptake later.

- Integrate gender-sensitive UX research to improve traveller acceptance, scoring high on ‘Excellence’ & ‘Impact’.

- Plan an open standards working group and commit results to CEN/ICAO—boosts ‘Exploitation’ score.

- Map follow-up financing (ISF, CEF, InvestEU) in the business plan to demonstrate long-term sustainability.

Bottom Line: By exploiting the EU’s integrated legal framework, world-class research assets and complementary funding streams, this Horizon call offers a uniquely powerful springboard to develop, validate and deploy next-generation border-management solutions at continental scale, while anchoring them firmly in EU values of security, efficiency and fundamental-rights protection.