EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities under the Horizon Europe Topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-05

1. Single Market Access (450+ million citizens)

• Pilot analytical sensors, monitoring platforms or nature-based remediation solutions simultaneously in multiple coastal Member States, accelerating product validation under diverse climatic and regulatory conditions.

• Fast-track commercial roll-out via the EU public procurement market (e.g., Port Authorities, Marine Protected Area managers, Coast Guard Services) with one CE-conformity procedure instead of 27 national ones.

• Exploit the forthcoming revision of the Single-Use Plastics Directive and Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to create first-mover advantages for safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) alternatives.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory inclusion of Indian entities unlocks direct access to the Indian Ocean “hot-spot” for plastic litter, creating a living laboratory that no single EU country can reproduce.

• Build trans-European sampling transects (Baltic–North Sea–Atlantic–Mediterranean–Black Sea) to generate harmonised, large‐scale datasets on pollutant “cocktail effects”, boosting statistical power and credibility in international fora (UN Decade of Ocean Science, G20, UNEA).

• Share costly marine infrastructure (e.g., Eurofleets+ research vessels, EMBRC marine stations, EMSO deep-sea observatories) through the ESFRI network, decreasing CAPEX/OPEX per partner and enlarging scientific scope.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies

• Directly serves the European Green Deal’s Zero-Pollution Action Plan, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and the Nature Restoration Regulation – positioning the consortium as an evidence provider during upcoming implementation and enforcement phases.

• Supports EU-India Trade & Technology Council (TTC) objectives, strengthening EU geopolitical influence in standard-setting on marine litter and chemicals (PFAS, POPs).

• Contributes to Mission “Restore our Ocean & Waters” and its Mediterranean Lighthouse, opening doors to the Mission’s Basin Authorities and associated investment pipeline (>€500 m by 2027).

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• One set of harmonised Good Environmental Status criteria (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) allows unified experimental protocols and data comparability across basins.

• REACH and Water Framework Directive priority-substance lists provide a shared compliance target, simplifying indicator selection and facilitating eventual standardisation/ISO certification of new sensors.

• Lump-Sum Grant Model eliminates national cost-eligibility divergences, reducing administrative burden for multi-country consortia and SMEs.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Tap into 3,500+ marine scientists within EMBRC-ERIC, 500+ climate data experts in Copernicus Marine Service, and AI communities funded by Digital Europe to co-develop digital twins for pollutant dispersion.

• Engage BlueInvest, EIT Manufacturing, and EIT Climate-KIC for post-grant acceleration, equity finance, and market matchmaking, turning research outputs into market-ready blue-tech solutions.

• Synergise with the Partnership “Sustainable Blue Economy” to access its €400 m co-funded calls for demonstration of low-impact aquaculture and circular port logistics.

6. Funding Synergies & Leveraging

• Combine Horizon lump-sum with:

• LIFE Programme for large-scale replication of successful remediation pilots in Natura 2000 coastal sites.

• Interreg NEXT MED & Atlantic Area for cross-border governance pilots and stakeholder engagement.

• EMFAF (European Maritime, Fisheries & Aquaculture Fund) for SME uptake of monitoring technologies on fishing fleets.

• Mobilise Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF) national plans that earmark funds for water-quality digitalisation and smart buoy networks.

7. Scale & Impact Potential at EU Level

• Europe-wide data lake of pollutant interactions enables AI-driven risk forecasting tools that can be adopted by all 22 coastal Member States, standardising early-warning systems.

• Harmonised protocols pave the way for EU-level certification schemes for “pollution-traced seafood”, boosting consumer confidence and cross-border trade.

• Scientific evidence feeds directly into EU positions in global negotiations on the legally binding Plastics Treaty, magnifying the project’s policy footprint.

8. Strategic Value of Operating at EU Scale

• Critical mass: only an EU-wide consortium can integrate temperate, subtropical and semi-enclosed sea basins necessary to unravel climate-pollution-biodiversity interactions.

• Visibility & credibility: EU-funded results are automatically disseminated through CORDIS, EMODnet, and the Open Research Europe platform, amplifying societal reach.

• Long-term sustainability: project outcomes can be embedded into the EU Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity and the Marine Pollution Sub-Group of the MSFD Technical Group, guaranteeing post-grant policy use.

Bottom Line: Leveraging the EU’s single market, harmonised regulatory environment, world-class research infrastructure and a web of complementary funding instruments allows consortia to deliver science, technology and policy impacts that no national initiative could reach—while simultaneously strengthening Europe’s strategic partnership with India and reinforcing the Union’s global leadership on zero pollution for seas and oceans.