EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities – Uptake Acceleration Services (HORIZON-CL3-2025-01-SSRI-02)

1. Single Market Access

• Immediate reach to a €200 bn+ EU civil-security market serving 450 million citizens.

• One set of public-procurement rules (Directives 2014/24/EU & 2014/25/EU) enables pan-EU commercialisation of validated solutions.

• Grant‐funded advisory services can prepare start-ups/SMEs for cross-border Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) and Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI), dramatically enlarging their addressable customer base beyond national buyers.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory multi-country consortia (≥2 RTOs) institutionalise trans-national teaming.

• Direct links to 25+ H2020 Networks of Practitioners, 70+ security demo sites and Living Labs accelerate real-life piloting in multiple Member States.

• Shared facilities (cyber-ranges, AI testbeds, HPC nodes) lower costs for lab validation and shorten time-to-market.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies

• Digital Decade & Cybersecurity Strategy 2020-2025: supports uptake of secure-by-design digital products, compliance with the forthcoming NIS2 & AI Act.

• EU Green Deal: promotes energy-efficient security technologies (e.g. low-power sensors, green data centres).

• Open Strategic Autonomy: strengthens EU supply chains in critical technologies (quantum, AI, space data) by scaling EU innovators rather than relying on non-EU vendors.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation & Standardisation

• One-stop guidance on CE-marking, Common Criteria, ETSI, CEN/CENELEC standards minimises multi-country certification costs.

• Early engagement with EU bodies (ENISA, Europol Innovation Lab, JRC) de-risks legal/ethical compliance across 27 jurisdictions.

5. Integrated Innovation Ecosystem

• Direct pipelines to 9 EIT Knowledge & Innovation Communities, 110 Digital Innovation Hubs, 300+ European clusters.

• Easy matchmaking with 3 000+ EU Horizon Europe projects through Horizon Results Booster APIs.

• Access to Copernicus, Galileo & European Data Spaces provides high-value datasets for solution training & testing.

6. Funding Synergies

• Blending with other instruments multiplies financing capacity:

• EIC Accelerator (up to €15 m equity) for late-stage scale-ups.

• DIGITAL Europe Test-Before-Invest vouchers for cybersecurity & AI.

• InvestEU & ESCALAR for growth capital.

• National RRF envelopes for deployment, aligned with State-aid exemption GBER 2023.

7. Scale & Impact Potential

• Pilots deployed in ≥3 Member States meet evidence thresholds for EU-wide policy uptake and potential standard setting.

• Re-usable service blueprints and online repositories facilitate replication by regional authorities under the Cohesion Policy programmes (ERDF 2021-27).

8. Pan-European Business Development & Investment

• Visibility on EU Tech M&A platforms & investor networks (EBAN, Business Angels Europe).

• Common Due-Diligence templates increase investor confidence and lower transaction costs for cross-border deals.

9. Sustainability & Long-Term Business Model

• EU branding allows post-grant service monetisation (subscription, pay-per-use) across the whole Single Market.

• Potential integration into the European Security Innovation Hub foreseen in the new EU Security Innovation Strategy (2026+).

10. Concrete Opportunities per Stakeholder Group

• Start-ups/SMEs: TRL2-4 proof-of-concept funding, Europe-wide demo sites, streamlined PCP entry.

• Security Practitioners (LEAs, civil protection, border guards): curated marketplaces, joint cross-border procurement lots, capacity-building on AI/ML safety.

• RTOs & Universities: revenue from lab-as-a-service, IP co-creation, standardisation leadership roles.

• Investors: deal-flow with pre-vetted, compliance-ready ventures, de-risked by EU validation services.

• Public Buyers: harmonised technical specs lowering procurement costs and ensuring interoperability.

11. Recommended Next Steps for Applicants

1. Map complementarities with Horizon Booster, EAFIP & EACTDA to avoid overlaps and maximise synergies.

2. Secure letters of intent from at least 3 Networks of Practitioners for immediate user engagement.

3. Design a sustainability plan aligned with InvestEU Advisory Hub to professionalise service continuation post-2029.

4. Embed gender & diversity KPIs in service-selection criteria where relevant (e.g. target ≥30 % women-led SMEs).

5. Engage early with national PCP/PPI competence centres to prepare joint cross-border calls from year 3.

Strategic Value at EU Scale: Only an EU-wide coordination action can aggregate the fragmented security demand, harmonise certification, and unlock the full potential of Europe’s Single Market—all prerequisites for global competitiveness of EU security innovators.