Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups offering max €30.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description – Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups
What is Financed
* Development, testing and validation of Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) for at least one of the target product groups (textiles, metals, plastics, detergents, lubricants/paints/varnishes, polymers, selected chemicals, ICT).
* Creation of high-quality, FAIR-compliant life-cycle datasets and digital tools enabling PEF-conform assessments, communication and third-party verification.
* Full LCA/PEF studies—including end-of-life modelling—demonstrating potential environmental impact reduction and supporting future Ecodesign requirements.
* Socio-economic analyses (cost–benefit, competitiveness, skills gap, SME uptake, consumer acceptance).
* Capacity-building (guidelines, training modules, open-access learning material) with a focus on SMEs and public procurers.
* Multi-actor engagement actions (living labs, standardisation bodies, NGOs, policy makers) to ensure market and regulatory relevance and alignment with ESPR, CEAP and related labels/standards.
Form of Funding
* Action type: Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action – Lump-sum grant (HORIZON-AG-LS).
* Indicative EU contribution per project: up to €30 million; the lump-sum covers 100 % of eligible direct costs + 25 % flat-rate for indirect costs.
* Number of projects expected to be funded: 1–2 (subject to budget split).
* Project duration: typically 36–48 months.
* Payment schedule: pre-financing (~40 %), interim(s) linked to completed work packages/milestones, balance after final review.
Eligibility Snapshot
* Consortium of ≥3 legal entities from ≥3 different EU Member States/Associated Countries (HE General Annex B).
* Any legal entity (industry, SME, RTO, university, NGO, public body) can participate; SME and stakeholder representation is expected.
* International partners beyond Associated Countries may participate without funding or with own national funding.
* Proposals must be single-stage, submitted by 17 Sep 2025, 17:00 CET via the Funding & Tenders Portal (HE templates, Part A+B).
Key Policy Links
* European Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP)
* Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)
* Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, SME Strategy, Zero-Pollution Ambition
* Standardisation requests and forthcoming delegated acts under ESPR
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📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities under HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-CIRCBIO-03: "Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of Policy- and Market-Relevant Product Groups"
1. Integrated Overview
The call mobilises up to EUR 5–7 m per project (typical Cluster-6 RIA size) to create EU-harmonised PEF rules, datasets and ecodesign levers for high-impact product groups (textiles, metals, plastics, detergents, lubricants, chemicals, ICT). Acting at EU level multiplies impact by exploiting the Single Market, shared regulatory frameworks and pan-European knowledge bases.
2. Single Market Access (450+ million consumers & users)
• One label–one market: Developing PEF Category Rules (PEFCRs) recognised across the 27 Member States means that project outcomes can be adopted once and sold everywhere, avoiding 27 parallel conformity assessments.
• Procurement pull: EU Green Public Procurement (GPP) and forthcoming ESPR delegated acts will reference PEF; suppliers using project outputs can tap into a public procurement market worth >14 % of EU GDP.
• Demand aggregation: Harmonised PEF data lower transaction costs for retailers and online platforms that operate EU-wide, accelerating market uptake for low-footprint products.
3. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange
• Mandatory minimum consortia: Horizon Europe requires ≥3 legal entities from ≥3 Member/Associated states; this automatically creates a multinational innovation cluster.
• Complementary expertise: Scandinavia’s LCA data depth, Germany’s manufacturing scale, Italy’s design SMEs, CEE recycling innovators and Iberian digital twins—all can be integrated, shortening development cycles.
• Living labs across climates & cultures: Testing PEFCRs in diverse contexts (Nordic textiles vs. Mediterranean detergents, etc.) provides robust, transferrable rules.
4. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies
• European Green Deal & CEAP: Direct contribution to resource-efficiency and pollution-zero pillars.
• Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR): Project results will feed ESPR delegated acts 2026-2030, giving partners first-mover regulatory intelligence.
• Digital Europe & Data Spaces: FAIR PEF datasets dovetail with the upcoming "European Green Deal Data Space" enabling interoperability with Product Passports.
• Industrial Strategy & SME Strategy: Facilitates greener value chains and helps SMEs comply with CSRD & taxonomy reporting.
5. Regulatory Harmonisation & Market Confidence
• Single authoritative methodology: Replacing the current patchwork of 100+ eco-labels with one PEF standard reduces compliance costs by up to 30 % (EIB estimate).
• Verification backbone: Consortium-developed open digital tools create audit-ready evidence for customs, market-surveillance and ESG due-diligence, mitigating legal risks.
6. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem
• Top research infrastructures: Free trans-national access vouchers often bundled with Horizon projects (e.g., JRC’s LCA databases, EIT Raw Materials testbeds).
• Synergies with European Partnerships:
- Circular Bio-based Europe JU (CBE) for pilots on bio-based detergents & polymers.
- Made in Europe (Cluster-4) for digital manufacturing twins integrating PEF indicators.
• Talent pool: Secondments via MSCA DN or Erasmus+ allow rapid up-skilling on PEF for SMEs.
7. Funding & Investment Synergies
• Cascade funding: Partners can open FSTP calls (EUR 60–150k) to engage extra SMEs.
• Seal of Excellence leverage: Unfunded but high-scoring spin-offs can access ERDF/Interreg or national RRF envelopes earmarked for circular economy.
• Blending potential: Positive PEF business cases strengthen EIB InvestEU Green Transition windows and national Green Bonds financing.
8. EU-Scale Deployment, Replicability & Impact
• Critical mass of data: Pooling multi-country LCI datasets yields statistically robust factors, enabling automated PEF for >70 % of EU product codes by 2030.
• Pan-European skills uplift: Multi-lingual MOOCs & micro-credentials generated by the project can reach 100,000 learners via EU Academy, closing the SME skills gap.
• Ripple effects beyond EU: Alignment with ISO 14040/44 and WTO TBT rules positions EU industry as global standard-setter, easing export market access.
9. Strategic Differentiators vs. National Funding
• National schemes rarely:
- Provide legal interface to ESPR drafting teams.
- Offer automatic mutual recognition of LCA results across borders.
- Allow lump-sum cost model, reducing admin burden by ~25 % and favouring SME participation.
10. Tactical Recommendations to Maximise EU Value
1. Co-design with policymakers: Secure JRC & DG ENV as advisory partners to fast-track uptake into ESPR.
2. Link to Digital Product Passport pilots: Ensure interoperability through IDs, ontologies and EPCIS/GS1 standards.
3. Engage procurement networks: Collaborate with Big Buyers Working Together & Procure4Climate initiatives for early market pull.
4. Open-source toolchain: Release under EU Public Licence (EUPL) to maximise adoption and to qualify for additional funding under Digital Europe.
5. Plan for standardisation: Allocate resources for CEN/CENELEC workshop agreement, creating a formal path to EN standard.
Bottom line: Operating at EU level transforms a technical LCA exercise into a market-shaping instrument, unlocking regulatory, financial and reputational advantages unreachable through national initiatives alone.
🏷️ Keywords
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) of policy and market-relevant product groups offering max €30.0M funding