EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for the call “Humanitarian demining / UXO Disposal” (HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-FCT-04)

1. Single Market Access

• Unlocks a procurement market of 27 Member States + 18 Associated Countries (≈ €150 bn/yr total civil-security spending).

• Harmonised CE-marked equipment can be commercialised without re-certification, shortening time-to-market by 6-12 months compared with multiple national approvals.

• Access to 450 + million end-users for spin-off dual-use technologies (e.g. autonomous robotics, ground-penetrating radar, AI-driven earth-observation analytics).

• EU public-procurement directives allow joint cross-border purchasing by civil-protection authorities, creating early demand and reference clients.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Consortium rule (≥ 3 MS/AC + mandatory Ukrainian entity + intl. demining NGO) structurally embeds multinational co-creation.

• Easy mobility of researchers via Freedom of Movement, Euraxess & Marie-Skłodowska Curie actions; lowers transaction costs for shared test-beds in Croatia (former minefields), Cyprus (rocky soils) and Baltic states (peat).

• Standardised data-spaces (Gaia-X, European Open Science Cloud) enable secure exchange of annotated UXO images, soil-penetration data and VR training modules.

• Builds a pan-European “Community of Practice” with operators from TIRAMISU, DBOX, MUNIMAP etc., accelerating replication of good practices.

3. Alignment with Key EU Policies

• Green Deal: Land‐restoration & soil decontamination targets; safe reuse of agricultural land supports Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity Strategies.

• Digital Europe & EU AI Act: Promotes trustworthy, human-centric AI for target recognition and decision support.

• EU Space Programme: mandatory use of Copernicus & Galileo enhances accuracy, resilience and European non-dependency.

• Strategic Compass & EU Mine-Action Policy (2024): Provides direct feed-in of evidence for future CSDP missions and European Peace Facility support packages.

• Eastern Partnership & Ukraine Facility: Demonstrates EU solidarity and supports accession-related acquis alignment in civil security.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• CEN Workshop Agreement on Humanitarian Demining (CWA 17317) and forthcoming EU guidance on UXO disposal create a single conformity path.

• Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications allows fast deployment of trained technicians across borders.

• GDPR & EU Data Act provide a clear legal base for sharing drone imagery and sensor data while protecting victims’ privacy.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• 3 000+ security-research SMEs listed in the EDIDP/EDF repository, 9 EIT Knowledge & Innovation Communities and 30+ Digital Innovation Hubs specialised on robotics, photonics and AI.

• Synergies with European Testing & Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) for AI-Robotics (e.g. TEF-Health, TEF-AGRIFOOD) lower validation costs by up to 40 %.

• ESA’s Φ-Lab and EUSPA’s new R&D facility in Prague offer in-kind access to space-borne sensors and PNT testing.

• Participation improves TRL from 5-6 to 7-8, a prerequisite for large-scale deployment under the European Defence Fund or procurement by DG ECHO.

6. Funding & Programme Synergies

• Combine with:

- European Peace Facility (€12 bn) for field deployment in Ukraine, Balkans, South Caucasus.

- ERDF/Just Transition funds for land-restoration pilots in ex-mining regions.

- Digital Europe “Cybersecurity & Trust” calls for secure C2 networks.

- LIFE programme for biodiversity monitoring on cleared land.

- Connecting Europe Facility (CEF-Digital) for 5G/6G connectivity of unmanned demining fleets.

• Cumulative funding rule allows stacking up to 100 % of eligible costs when sources cover different cost items (HEU Art. 190).

• Seal-of-Excellence eases national top-up funding if proposal scores ≥ 85 % but is not directly funded.

7. Scale & Impact Potential

• EU Civil Protection Mechanism can activate the developed toolkit in rapid-response scenarios worldwide.

• Common Training Curriculum (ECTC) endorsed by CEPOL & EUCPN can be translated to all 24 EU languages, reaching ≈ 40 000 front-line responders.

• Interoperable data standards facilitate integration into EU-wide Situational Awareness systems (ARGUS, ERCC).

• Economies of scale: Shared manufacturing of modular robotic platforms could reduce unit cost by ~30 % compared with purely national orders.

• Supports EU global leadership: positions European technology as de-facto standard in UN Mine Action Service tenders.

8. Strategic EU-Level Value Proposition

1. Delivers tangible security, socioeconomic and environmental benefits to millions of EU citizens and neighbouring populations.

2. Creates a European industrial niche in humanitarian robotics and risk-education EdTech, reducing dependency on non-EU suppliers.

3. Demonstrates the EU’s capacity to act as a geopolitical and humanitarian power, reinforcing credibility of the Global Gateway strategy.

4. Provides policy-makers with an evidence base for future EU Mine-Action regulations, anchoring fundamental rights (privacy, safety, environmental protection) at the core of demining innovation.

Bottom line: Operating at EU scale multiplies the impact and commercial viability of demining solutions, leverages complementary know-how scattered across Member States, and positions consortia for sustained post-project growth through EU procurement and global export opportunities.