EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for “Lighthouse Codes for HPC Applications” (HORIZON-JU-EUROHPC-2026-COE-LH-01-03)

1. Immediate Strategic Benefits at EU Level

1.1 Gateway to the EU Single Market

• Direct reach to 450 + million potential end-users and tens of thousands of HPC-powered companies.

• Opportunity to integrate Lighthouse Codes into cross-sector value chains (automotive, pharma, energy, aerospace) that already operate seamlessly across the Customs Union.

• Single set of public-procurement and IPR rules simplifies commercial exploitation in 27 Member States versus negotiating 27 national frameworks separately.

1.2 Cross-Border Collaboration Catalysed by EuroHPC JU

• Mandatory multi-country consortia unlock complementary excellence (e.g. French exascale chip expertise + German automotive simulations + Finnish climate modelling).

• Access to the EuroHPC machine portfolio (LUMI, LEONARDO, JUPITER, MareNostrum 5) under a common allocation process—no bilateral MoUs needed.

• Built-in links to existing Centres of Excellence (CoEs) foster rapid uptake of best practices in code optimisation, AI coupling and data-centric workflows.

1.3 Pan-European Risk-Sharing & Co-Investment

• Grant rate up to 50 % of eligible costs lowers financial barrier, while remaining 50 % can be co-financed through national R&D tax credits, Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF) funds or private equity—maximising leverage.

• EU-level security requirements (cyber-resilience, data sovereignty) reduce reputational and compliance risk for industrial partners that must meet the upcoming NIS-2 and AI Act obligations.

2. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies & Missions

• Digital Europe Programme & Chips Act: Lighthouse Codes ready for heterogeneous, accelerator-rich architectures complement EU investment in sovereign micro-electronics.

• Green Deal & “Fit-for-55”: Efficient exascale codes enable large-scale climate and energy-system modelling critical to decarbonisation roadmaps.

• EU Mission on Cancer & Pharmaceutical Strategy: AI-driven genomics and molecular-dynamics Lighthouse Codes accelerate personalised medicine pipelines compliant with the EU Health Data Space.

• Secure & Trusted AI: Alignment with the forthcoming AI Act through explainable, auditable, reproducible HPC/AI workflows.

3. Regulatory & Standards Harmonisation

• One GDPR-compliant data-handling framework valid across the EEA simplifies multi-site simulation studies involving sensitive health or defence data.

• Leverage CEN/CENELEC and ETSI standardisation bodies to push de-facto European standards for exascale code portability (e.g. SYCL, OpenMP, EPI/RISE SDKs).

• Open Science mandates under Horizon Europe encourage FAIR software artefacts, easing certification and uptake by public authorities.

4. Access to the European Innovation Ecosystem

• Research Infrastructure Network: Seamless testing on EuroHPC Tier-0/1 systems, PRACE Testbeds, EGI Cloud & GEANT network.

• EuroHPC Academy & National Competence Centres (NCCs): Ready-made training, dissemination and SME onboarding channels in every Member State.

• Industry-Academia Interface: EIT Digital, Catapult centres (UK associated), and KICs offer living-labs to co-design industrial pilots.

• Talent Pool Mobility: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and Erasmus Mundus allow cross-border secondments of HPC engineers without visa hurdles inside Schengen.

5. Funding Synergies & Leveraged Instruments

| Instrument | Added Value for Lighthouse Codes |

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

| Digital Europe (DEP-DIGITAL-2025-CLOUD-DATA-AI) | Deploy production services built from the code as EU-wide Digital Service Infrastructures. |

| European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder/Transition | Scale disruptive algorithmic kernels into market-ready deep-tech ventures. |

| ERDF / Smart Specialisation | Regional co-financing of test-beds, allowing less-developed regions to join pilots. |

| Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2-Digital) | High-bandwidth interconnects for federated HPC-edge workflows. |

| InvestEU & IPCEI-CIS | Large-scale industrial deployment (e.g. battery gigafactory design). |

| ESA & EDF Calls | Dual-use space/defence applications compliant with strategic autonomy goals. |

6. Scale & Impact Potential

• Pan-EU Pilots → Standard → Mass Adoption: Once validated on at least two EuroHPC pre-exascale systems, codes can be mandated in EU public-sector modelling (e.g. Copernicus, EFAS).

• Economies of Scale: Joint EU demand for maintenance contracts creates a market attractive enough for European ISVs, reducing dependence on US tools.

• Multiplier Effect: Each 1 € of EuroHPC software investment has historically attracted 3-5 € in in-kind contributions (benchmark: CoE 2018-2021 portfolio).

7. Actionable Opportunities for Applicants

1. Build a triangular consortium: at least 3 Member/Associated States, mixing domain science champions, HPC architects and an industrial steward willing to sign the long-term maintenance LoC.

2. Position your code as the reference implementation for an EU grand-challenge (fusion, new materials, pandemic preparedness). Demonstrate traceability to EU missions/KICs.

3. Exploit EuroHPC fast-track access schemes (Benchmark, Development, Extreme Scale) *before

• proposal submission to provide baseline KPI data.

4. Plan co-funding packages: map national RRF/Horizon Widening instruments that can cover the 50 % co-investment requirement.

5. Integrate with the NCC network for training & SME engagement work packages—counts positively in Impact score.

6. Commit to open-source core + dual-licence plugins model to satisfy both commercial partners and open-science requirements.

7. Reserve ≥ 12 PM for Portfolio Activities and allocate ≤ 2 % PMs to management to stay within eligibility guidance.

8. Key Take-Home Messages

• EU scale multiplies scientific impact, market reach and funding leverage that no single Member State can achieve alone.

• Regulatory harmonisation and shared HPC infrastructure remove administrative friction, accelerating time-to-innovation.

• The call is not only about faster code; it is a geopolitical instrument to secure European digital sovereignty in the exascale & AI era.