EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for "Strengthening Taxonomic Approaches for Biodiversity" (HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-BIODIV-03)

1. Single Market Access: 450+ Million Consumers & End-Users

• Pan-EU demand for biodiversity data services – environmental agencies, conservation NGOs, agri-food multinationals, insurance and finance sectors seeking taxonomy-based risk metrics for ESG reporting.

• Uniform procurement rules (Public Procurement Directives) lower the transaction cost of selling interoperable taxonomic tools (e.g. eDNA kits, AI classifiers) to 27 Member States at once.

• First-mover advantage in EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities – project outputs (standards, databases) can embed themselves as compliance reference points for all companies reporting under CSRD.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory consortium structure promotes critical mass of expertise across North–South/East–West gradient, filling skills gaps flagged in the call (Central, Eastern, Mediterranean & outermost regions).

• Access to EU research infrastructures (DiSSCo, LifeWatch ERIC, EMBRC, eLTER, MIRRI-ERIC) under a single legal & technical framework accelerates joint experiments and reduces duplication.

• Alignment with CETAF, GBIF, iBOL, Earth BioGenome Project facilitates seamless data pipelines and joint training academies.

3. Alignment with Core EU Strategies

| EU Strategy | Direct Contribution of the Call |

|-------------|----------------------------------|

| European Green Deal | Provides knowledge base for Nature Restoration Law & Climate Law (nature-based solutions). |

| EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 | Supplies taxonomic evidence for protected-area expansion & restoration targets. |

| Digital Europe / European Data Strategy | Creates FAIR, EOSC-compatible biodiversity datasets – high-value data asset under the Open Data Directive. |

| EU Soil, Forest & Marine Action Plans | Genomics layer supports new EU soil & forest monitoring legislation and Marine Action Plan metrics. |

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Standardised EU nomenclatural catalogue avoids country-by-country discrepancies, easing cross-border habitat assessments & IAS enforcement.

• Harmonised ECTS-accredited taxonomy curricula enable free movement of taxonomists under the Professional Qualifications Directive.

• Shared GDPR-compliant data governance models within EOSC lower legal barriers for exchanging sensitive locality/genomic data.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Synergy with European Innovation Council (EIC) – mature prototypes (e.g., AI image recognition apps) can transition to EIC Transition or Accelerator funding.

• Living Labs & Mission Arenas – interfaces with Soil Mission & Ocean Mission living labs provide real-world test-beds for novel taxonomic tools across ecosystems.

• High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC) & AI Factories – privileged access for Horizon projects to run large phylogenomic pipelines.

6. Funding Synergies & Leveraging Other Instruments

• Biodiversa+ Partnership can co-fund additional observation campaigns, extending project reach.

• LIFE Programme can adopt validated methods for policy implementation & scale-up after RIA phase.

• CAP Strategic Plans & ERDF can finance regional uptake of tools (e.g., farmer biodiversity monitoring), ensuring post-project sustainability.

• 33% of budget eligible for third-party mini-grants – agile way to plug urgent knowledge gaps and engage SMEs & citizen-science groups EU-wide.

7. EU-Level Scale & Impact Potential

• Continental baseline: harmonised taxonomic backbone enables Europe to produce the first integrated "Biodiversity Digital Twin", feeding into EuropaBON and EBOCC.

• Climate adaptation services: genomic indicators feed EU-wide early-warning systems for pests, pathogens and ecosystem tipping points.

• Global leadership: Positions the EU as the reference region for implementing the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework monitoring framework, strengthening soft power in CBD negotiations.

8. Strategic Value Over National Actions

• Economies of scope – pooling millions of specimens, sequences and expert hours that no single country possesses.

• Talent circulation – Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility rules embedded in Horizon foster a next generation of taxonomists versed in pan-European standards.

• Integrated policy feedback loops – direct channels to DG ENV, DG CLIMA and the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity accelerate science-policy translation at Union level.

9. Actionable Opportunities for Applicants

1. Build a trilateral core (North–Central/East–South) to maximise evaluation marks on widening participation.

2. Pre-align data architecture with EOSC & GBIF APIs to speed FAIR compliance.

3. Allocate the 30 % cascading funding pot to mini-grants targeting outermost regions’ endemic taxa, creating political visibility and filling data deserts.

4. Embed a Citizen-Science Work Package using common EU survey tools (EU-CITSCI, EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme) to meet call expectations and broaden impact.

5. Plan an EIC follow-on route for any AI/ML classifiers reaching TRL 5–6 by project end.

Bottom Line: Operating at EU scale transforms a taxonomy RIA from a scattered set of national initiatives into a cohesive continental knowledge engine, unlocking single market demand, harmonised regulations, world-class infrastructures and multi-level funding pathways that are impossible to marshal within a single Member State.