NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support offering max €69.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description – NZIA Regulatory Sandbox Exchange Forum Support
What the Grant Funds
* Establishment and operation of a dedicated EU-wide support structure that underpins the Net-Zero Europe Platform’s work on regulatory sandboxes.
* Comparative legal and policy studies on national sandbox frameworks, regulatory barriers and best practices.
* Design, launch and continuous updating of a free public repository of sandbox schemes and projects.
* Organisation of multi-stakeholder exchange formats (workshops, living labs, matchmaking events, study visits, webinars, peer-learning sessions).
* Development of guidelines, training material and outreach campaigns targeted at Member-State contact points, competent authorities, SMEs, start-ups, social partners and civil-society actors.
* Delivery of an evidence-based monitoring & evaluation (M&E) system to capture impacts, regulatory learning and KPIs.
* Preparation of a finance & sustainability plan ensuring continuity of the repository and exchange forum beyond the 3-year EU funding period.
Type of Action & Budget Model
* HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Action)
* Lump-sum grant (HORIZON-AG-LS) – the EU contribution is paid against pre-defined work packages and outputs, not actual incurred costs.
* Indicative EU contribution per project: up to EUR 69 000 000 (single beneficiary or consortium). 1–2 funded projects expected.
* Project duration: 36 months (recommended).
Eligibility Snapshot
1. Consortium composition
* Minimum: 1 legal entity established in an EU Member State or Associated Country (HE General Annexes A & B).
* Strongly advised: multi-actor consortium including national/regional authorities, industry (large & SMEs), academia, NGOs and consumer associations from at least 10 MS/AC to reflect the pan-European mandate.
2. Geographical focus
* Activities must mainly target EU-27 Member States; third-country participation possible if bringing essential expertise (self-funded unless eligible under Annex B).
3. Operational capacity
* Proven experience in energy/net-zero technologies, regulatory experimentation, stakeholder facilitation and large-scale knowledge platforms.
4. Financial capacity
* Not required for public bodies or international organisations; other entities must demonstrate viability for their share of the lump sum.
Key Dates
* Call opens: 06 May 2025
* Submission deadline (single stage): 02 September 2025 – 17:00 CET (Brussels time)
* Expected GA signature: Q1 2026; project start Q2 2026.
Funding Priorities & Non-Eligible Items
* Funds cover personnel, subcontracting, travel, events, IT tools, publication & dissemination, indirect costs – within the lump-sum amount.
* Construction of physical demonstrators, commercial pilots or technology R&D are out of scope (this is a CSA).
📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-wide Advantages & Opportunities of the "NZIA Regulatory Sandbox Exchange Forum Support" CSA (HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D2-12)
1. Pan-European Regulatory Convergence
• Harmonised Sandbox Design: Funding one coordinated CSA prevents 27 divergent national sandbox models. It drives mutual recognition clauses, joint application templates and shared KPIs, saving innovators time and legal costs.
• Accelerated Transposition of NZIA Art. x: A single forum shortens the learning curve for Member States that have not yet operationalised the NZIA sandbox requirement, allowing laggards to adopt frontrunners’ templates within months instead of years.
2. Cross-Border Experimentation & Market Access
• Multi-jurisdictional Trials: The action can broker twin or trilateral sandbox pilots (e.g. hydrogen corridors DE-NL-DK) where technology providers validate compliance once and enter several markets simultaneously.
• First-mover EU Market Size: SMEs gain immediate exposure to a 450-million-consumer market, de-risking business models and attracting private finance more quickly than in a single-country sandbox.
3. Economies of Scale in Knowledge & Data
• EU Repository Effect: A freely accessible database of sandbox projects avoids duplication, reduces scouting costs for investors, and becomes a living evidence base for impact-assessments under Better Regulation Tool #69.
• Benchmarking Power: Comparative analytics across national frameworks reveal regulatory bottlenecks that only become visible at EU scale (e.g. diverging grid-code requirements, certification gaps), informing future EU legislation.
4. Strengthening the EU Net-Zero Industrial Ecosystem
• Supply-Chain Resilience: By connecting sandboxes in batteries, heat-pumps, CCUS, PV and electrolysers, the forum catalyses EU value chains and mitigates single-country supply risks.
• Talent Circulation: Joint trainings for competent authorities foster a specialised EU-wide “regulatory engineering” community, enhancing Europe’s attractiveness vis-à-vis the U.S. and Asia.
5. Leveraging EU Policy Synergies & Financing Instruments
• Green Deal & REPowerEU Alignment: Sandbox insights feed directly into Green Deal delegated acts and REPowerEU investment priorities, ensuring coherence across funding streams (Innovation Fund, CEF, InvestEU).
• Blending Opportunities: Coordinated pipeline of sandbox-graduated projects facilitates follow-on financing from EIB, EIC Accelerator or national recovery & resilience plans (RRF), increasing cumulative public leverage.
6. Inclusive SME & Startup Participation
• Lower Entry Barriers: An EU-level helpdesk centralises guidance, translating legal jargon into plain language and offering template MoUs—critical for resource-constrained SMEs.
• Visibility Boost: Featuring in an EU repository serves as a quality label, easing SMEs’ access to corporates’ open-innovation programmes and cross-border venture capital.
7. Governance & Long-Term Sustainability
• Net-Zero Europe Platform Backbone: The CSA becomes the operational arm of the Platform, institutionalising stakeholder dialogue beyond the 3-year project via a fee-based membership or EIT Community model.
• Policy Feedback Loop: Real-time dashboards generated by the CSA shorten the feedback cycle between experimentation and EU-level rule-making, supporting adaptive regulation.
8. Global Competitive Edge
• Standard-Setting Authority: Early EU coordination on testing protocols (e.g. performance metrics for novel PV materials or SAF blends) positions Europe as the de-facto global standard setter.
• International Partnerships: A credible, united EU sandbox framework becomes an attractive counterpart for cooperation with like-minded countries (e.g. Canada, Japan), enabling mutual data exchange and market access deals.
9. Societal & Environmental Impact at Scale
• Accelerated Net-Zero Deployment: Faster validation and rollout of breakthrough technologies translate into earlier GHG reductions across multiple Member States.
• Citizen Engagement: EU-wide communication campaigns and consumer panels create a trans-European social licence for novel technologies (e.g. CCUS, advanced nuclear technologies), mitigating NIMBY risks.
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Strategic Take-away
Operating this CSA at EU scale multiplies impact by harmonising regulation, pooling knowledge, expanding markets for innovators and anchoring Europe’s leadership in net-zero technologies—advantages that no isolated national action could replicate.
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Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for NZIA regulatory sandbox exchange forum support offering max €69.0M funding