Horizon Standardisation Booster (CSA)
Quick Facts
Email me updates on this grant
Get notified about:
- Deadline changes
- New FAQs & guidance
- Call reopened
- Q&A webinars
We'll only email you about this specific grant. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam.
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for Horizon Standardisation Booster (CSA) offering max €45.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description – Horizon Standardisation Booster (CSA)
1. What the Grant Funds
* Creation and full-scale operation of a European Standardisation Booster service that mentors EU and national R&I projects in turning research results into new or revised standards.
* Further development, maintenance and promotion of the HSbooster.eu digital platform, including matchmaking, collaborative tools and analytics dashboards.
* Enlargement and continuous update of the Training Academy for standardisation literacy (e-learning, webinars, on-site workshops, train-the-trainer modules).
* Provision of premium expert services (technical committee set-up, specification drafting, gap analysis, IPR advice, liaison management, etc.) to third-party projects, primarily in the critical technology areas listed in the 2023 Commission Recommendation.
* Targeted outreach and onboarding of nationally funded R&I projects to scale the Booster at Member-State level.
* Design and execution of open calls/grant schemes (financial support to third parties – FSTP) offering up to €60 000 per beneficiary for standardisation activities.
* Monitoring & impact assessment, KPI tracking, policy feedback loops and sustainability roadmap beyond the EU funding period.
2. Type of Action & Funding Model
* HORIZON-CSA – Lump-Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS).
* The lump sum is agreed during Grant Agreement preparation; actual cost reporting is replaced by deliverable-based payments.
* Maximum EU contribution per project: €45 000 000 (indicative; one single large-scale CSA is expected to be funded).
* Project duration: typically 36–48 months (consortium proposes).
* Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP): mandatory component; grant limit €60 000 per third party; only in the form of sub-grants (not prizes, not procurement).
3. Eligible Activities & Cost Categories (covered by the lump sum)
* Personnel, subcontracting, travel, event organisation, platform development, dissemination, communication, open-call management, monitoring & evaluation, and overheads, as specified in the lump-sum work packages.
* Sub-grants to third parties (R&I projects) for specific standardisation deliverables.
4. Who Can Apply
* Consortium (minimum three legal entities from three different EU Member States or Associated Countries) comprising a balanced mix of:
* Standard Development Organisations (SDOs) and their national members.
* Research & Technology Organisations (RTOs), universities, metrology institutes.
* Industrial associations, SMEs, large companies with strong standardisation track record.
* Innovation agencies, clusters, societal stakeholders.
* Countries: All Horizon Europe eligible countries (Annex B). Entities from non-eligible third countries may participate without EU funding.
5. Key Dates
* Call opens: 22 May 2025
* Submission deadline: 23 September 2025 – 17:00 CET (Brussels time)
* Single-stage evaluation; results typically within 5 months; Grant Agreement signature within 8 months of deadline.
6. Evaluation Snapshot (Annex D criteria)
1. Excellence (1/3) – credibility of concept, alignment with Code of Practice on Standardisation, methodology for mentoring scheme, innovation in service delivery.
2. Impact (1/3) – KPIs on number of standards influenced, uptake by critical-tech projects, sustainability & EU policy contribution.
3. Quality & Efficiency of Implementation (1/3) – work plan, consortium competence, lump-sum logic, FSTP management, risk & ethics.
* Threshold: 4/5 per criterion and 70 % overall.
7. Complementary Policy Links
* EU Standardisation Strategy (COM(2022)31)
* Digital Decade, New Industrial Strategy, AI & Data Act implementation
* Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership Communication (2024)
* European Economic Security Strategy (2023)
---
In short: The grant finances a pan-European, one-stop mentoring ecosystem that converts cutting-edge R&I outputs into globally relevant standards, accelerating technology uptake and reinforcing EU industrial leadership. All costs are reimbursed as an agreed lump sum, and the action must redistribute part of the budget to external R&I projects through competitive micro-grants of up to €60 000 each.
📊 At a Glance
Get Grant Updates
Get notified about:
- Deadline changes
- New FAQs & guidance
- Call reopened
- Q&A webinars
We'll only email you about this specific grant. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam.
🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for “Horizon Standardisation Booster (CSA)”
1. Single Market Access
• Standards as passports. By helping R&I projects convert results into CEN-, CENELEC- or ETSI-level standards, the Booster directly removes non-tariff barriers across 27 Member States, giving beneficiaries friction-free entry to a consumer and industrial market of 450 + million people.
• Fast-track commercial uptake. Early alignment with EU standards accelerates CE-marking and conformity assessment, cutting average time-to-market by 6-18 months compared with purely national roll-outs.
• Global leverage. EU-origin standards frequently become ISO/IEC references, allowing exports to scale beyond Europe and reinforcing the EU’s trade negotiating power.
2. Cross-Border Collaboration
• Pan-European mentoring pool. The action funds expert services that can be sourced from any EU/Associated Country, encouraging multinational consortia of SDOs, RTOs, metrology institutes and SMEs.
• Knowledge circulation. HSBooster.eu matchmaking tools facilitate peer-learning between older Horizon 2020 projects and new Horizon Europe/national projects, transferring know-how across languages and sectors.
• Joint standardisation committees. Drafting activities in CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, ISO/IEC or ITU are inherently cross-border, embedding beneficiaries in permanent European networks long after the grant ends.
3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies
| EU Strategy | Booster Contribution |
|-------------|----------------------|
| EU Standardisation Strategy | Scales the pilot into a permanent, high-impact service, operationalising the “Code of Practice on Standardisation”. |
| Digital Decade / Digital Europe | Supports standards for AI Act, Data Act, cyber-security, virtual worlds and GenAI4EU. |
| Green Deal & Circular Economy | Facilitates standards for advanced materials, resource-efficient manufacturing, energy storage and recycling. |
| Industrial Strategy / Open Strategic Autonomy | Prioritises the 10 critical technology areas (advanced semiconductors, quantum, AI, etc.) ensuring EU value-chains remain globally competitive. |
4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits
• One-stop compliance. A harmonised EN or ETSI standard grants presumption of conformity with multiple EU directives (e.g. Machinery, Low Voltage, AI Act), lowering legal costs.
• Foresight on upcoming rules. Booster experts brief projects on future regulatory files (Data Act Delegated Acts, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Chips Act) so that prototypes are designed “compliant-by-design”.
5. Access to the EU Innovation Ecosystem
• Link to 40+ European Partnerships & EIT KICs. Standardisation mentoring plugs projects into communities such as Made-in-Europe (manufacturing) or SNS JU (6G).
• Testing & certification infrastructure. Participants can leverage EU-level technology infrastructures (TEFs, EDIHs, open testing labs) to validate standards.
• Talent pipeline. The upgraded Training Academy offers micro-credentials recognised by EURAS and national metrology institutes, boosting career mobility.
6. Funding Synergies & Leverage
• Cascade grants (≤ €60 k). The CSA may redistribute up to €60 k per third party, ideal for SMEs needing travel & drafting budgets to attend SDO meetings.
• Stacking with other instruments.
- DEP & CEF-Digital: finance deployment once standards are fixed.
- Innovation Fund / LIFE: adopt green standards in demonstration plants.
- EIC Transition / Accelerator: transform standard-ready prototypes into investable ventures.
• National co-funding. Opening the Booster to nationally funded R&I maximises ERDF/Recovery and Resilience Facility complementarities and lowers duplication.
7. Scale & Impact Potential
• Critical-mass effect. Moving from pilot (≈400 projects served) to full Booster (target ≥1,500 projects over 4 years) creates economies of scale in guidance materials and platform maintenance.
• EU-wide replication model. The service blueprint can be franchised to Member State innovation agencies, embedding standardisation mentors in local ecosystems.
• Quantifiable KPIs (suggested for proposals):
- ≥250 new or revised EN/ISO standards initiated.
- ≥3,000 R&I staff trained (40 % female participation).
- Average TRL jump of +2 for supported results entering standardisation.
8. Strategic Value vs. National-Level Approaches
1. Critical technologies are trans-national by nature. De-risking AI, quantum, or semiconductor supply chains requires pan-EU interoperability not achievable via fragmented national standards.
2. Bargaining power. A united EU voice in ISO/IEC increases voting weight from ~3 % (single MS) to 33 %, shaping global norms.
3. Cost-efficiency. Shared digital platforms, trainers and legal templates reduce per-project standardisation costs by up to 50 % compared with standalone national programmes.
9. Actionable Opportunities for Applicants
• Assemble consortia combining:
- RTO/university (technical depth)
- National SDO(s) & CEN/CENELEC/ETSI liaisons (procedural access)
- SME specialised in dissemination/IT (platform maintenance)
- Metrology institute (testing & certification insight)
• Target high-profile pilot use-cases in at least four critical tech areas (e.g., trusted AI, biotech, advanced materials, 6G) to maximise policy relevance.
• Offer modular “premium” services: gap analysis → roadmap → drafting & liaison → voting support → exploitation coaching.
• Embed KPI dashboards and feedback loops into HSBooster.eu to continuously refine service quality and prove impact.
• Partner with national innovation agencies early to co-fund cascade grants and ensure uptake by regional projects.
---
Bottom Line: The Horizon Standardisation Booster CSA is a uniquely European instrument that transforms fragmented R&I outputs into harmonised, market-shaping standards, unlocking the full economic, regulatory and societal value of the Single Market while projecting EU influence globally. Operating at EU scale multiplies impact, reduces costs, and aligns innovation with the Union’s strategic autonomy ambitions—benefits no purely national programme can replicate.
🏷️ Keywords
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for Horizon Standardisation Booster (CSA) offering max €45.0M funding