EU-Wide Advantages and Opportunities

1. Scientific & Technical Leadership

• Pan-European data fusion – The action can interlink Sentinel satellites, EUMETSAT, ACTRIS, ICOS, European in-situ deposition networks and national pollen stations into a single modelling and assimilation pipeline. No Member State alone controls that breadth of assets.

• Critical mass of expertise – Pooling atmospheric chemists, land-surface modellers, AI specialists, HPC centres and Copernicus Entrusted Entities gives access to world-class competence that is only reachable at EU scale.

• Accelerated TRL progression – Horizon lump-sum funding removes administrative fragmentation and speeds up the hand-over from research (TRL 3-5) to CAMS operations (TRL 7-8), shortening the innovation cycle for all 27 MS.

2. Policy & Regulatory Impact

• One evidence base for 27 Member States – Uniform deposition and VOC flux products support coherent implementation of the NEC Directive, CAP, Biodiversity Strategy and Air Quality Directive, avoiding costly duplication of national inventories.

• Stronger negotiation power – Harmonised EU datasets reinforce the Union’s position in UNECE Gothenburg Protocol revisions and in climate diplomacy (UNFCCC, CBD), ensuring European priorities are backed by robust science.

• Monitoring & compliance automation – Near-real-time indicators can be ingested directly by EEA and Eurostat reporting systems, cutting compliance costs for MS and enabling early-warning mechanisms for infractions.

3. Economic & Industrial Opportunities

• EU downstream market growth (€2-3 bn by 2030) – High-resolution pollen/VOC services unlock new business models in agritech, e-health, green insurance and smart-city applications, areas where European SMEs already lead.

• Stimulus for Copernicus & space data start-ups – Results can feed the CASSINI Business Accelerator and InvestEU, de-risking private investment in Earth-observation analytics.

• Supply-chain strengthening – Open-sourcing of software, mandated by the call, cultivates a vibrant European tech ecosystem and mitigates dependency on non-EU proprietary codes.

4. Societal & Health Benefits

• Public-health cost reduction – Better pollen forecasts could lower respiratory-disease expenses (currently ~€50 bn/yr EU-wide) through targeted medical advisories and personalised alerts.

• Climate-smart agriculture – Dynamic VOC and deposition maps guide fertiliser application, reducing ammonia losses and saving farmers an estimated 5–10 % input costs.

• Citizen engagement – Results feed EU-level apps (e.g., European Allergy Portal), raising environmental awareness and supporting the European Health Data Space.

5. Operational Synergies & Sustainability

• Coupling with Destination Earth – The project can supply a dedicated module for the Digital Twin of the Earth, maximising reuse of EuroHPC investments.

• Cross-service alignment – Tight coordination with CLMS, C3S and EUMETSAT ensures consistent land-surface parameters, avoiding service silos and improving Copernicus cost-efficiency.

• Long-term maintainability – An EU-wide code base with open licences guarantees continuity beyond individual national funding cycles, supporting sustainable operations to 2035 and beyond.

6. International Positioning & Strategic Autonomy

• Global standard-setter – By releasing reference open-source models, the EU can define de-facto standards for soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions, increasing Europe’s soft power and export opportunities.

• Reduced foreign dependency – Home-grown modelling capacity lessens reliance on US codes (e.g., WRF-Chem, CMAQ) and aligns with the Open Strategic Autonomy objective highlighted in Destination 5.

• Platform for diplomacy – Shared EU outputs can be offered to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service’s international partners, strengthening trans-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific cooperation on air-quality and health.

7. Funding & Risk Mitigation Advantages

• Single EU envelope (€10–12 m expected) allocates sufficient resources to tackle complex, coupled processes that fragmented national calls cannot support.

• Lump-sum model reduces audit burden (~25 % admin savings) and offers predictability for SMEs and academia alike.

• One-project-only rule eliminates duplication, concentrating excellence and ensuring every euro moves the common operational target forward.

8. Skills, Diversity & Capacity Building

• Pan-EU talent pipeline – Involvement of universities, Copernicus Academies and Marie-Skłodowska-Curie networks fosters a new generation of modellers skilled in EO, AI and atmospheric chemistry.

• Gender-balance opportunity – Although not mandatory, adopting inclusive recruitment can address the <30 % female share in Earth-observation STEM fields, aligning with Horizon Europe gender goals.

9. Summary of Unique EU-Scale Added Value

1. Integrates unmatched observational infrastructure spanning satellites to ground networks.

2. Creates a single authoritative dataset for policy, cutting national duplication.

3. Spurs an EU-wide downstream economy around health-focused EO services.

4. Enhances strategic autonomy by developing open, European-owned models.

5. Leverages existing Copernicus, Destination Earth and EuroHPC investments for maximal return.

By funding this RIA at Union level, Europe gains a cohesive, state-of-the-art modelling framework that accelerates scientific discovery, underpins ambitious environmental policies, drives industrial competitiveness and safeguards citizens’ health—advantages unattainable through isolated national efforts.