EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for the Call “Implementing co-funded action plans for connected regional innovation valleys in widening countries” (HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-05-ACCESS-01)

1. Single Market Access

• 450+ million consumers & buyers: Interregional projects funded under this COFUND can validate and launch solutions simultaneously in several member states, shortening time-to-market and maximising early revenues.

• Pan-EU public procurement: The topic explicitly supports PCP/PPI schemes; once a solution is procured by a cross-border buyer group, it becomes instantly referenceable across the entire EU public sector.

• Fewer market entry barriers: Harmonised CE-marking, GDPR, REACH and other EU-wide frameworks allow beneficiaries to design once and commercialise everywhere, reducing certification costs by up to 30-40 % vs. multi-country adaptations.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory multi-country consortium (≥3 authorities, ≥2 widening + 1 non-widening) ensures immediate access to complementary R&I assets, testbeds, and user bases.

• Quadruple-helix networking: Linking academia, industry, government and civil society across borders accelerates technology maturity (TRL6-8) and boosts adoption of social & gender-inclusive innovation models.

• Talent circulation: Staff exchanges and joint training foreseen in Annual Work Programmes mitigate brain drain from moderate/emerging regions by creating EU-wide career pathways.

3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies

• Green Deal, Net-Zero & Circular Economy: Proposals that target hydrogen valleys, renewable-energy or circularity tap into massive follow-on instruments (Innovation Fund, LIFE, Just Transition, CEF-Energy).

• Digital Decade & Chips Act: Deep-tech valleys in AI, cybersecurity or semiconductors can dovetail with Digital Europe, IPCEI and Chips Joint Undertaking resources.

• Open Strategic Autonomy: Strengthening critical value chains qualifies projects for EIB Strategic European Security Initiative and Sovereignty Fund windows.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Unified R&I State-Aid rules (Framework for Research, Development & Innovation) simplify blending Horizon, ERDF, Recovery & Resilience Facility and national funds—key to the required 50 % co-funding.

• Standard-setting influence: Participation in EU-level standardisation bodies (CEN/CENELEC, ETSI) becomes easier when multiple member-state authorities back the same technology roadmap.

5. Pan-European Innovation Ecosystem Leverage

• Smart Specialisation (S3) matchmaking: Mapping regional strengths uncovers complementary niches; e.g., a biotech hub in CZ links with an agrifood valley in ES to build an EU bioeconomy chain.

• Access to existing EU hubs: Easy onboarding to EDIHs, Excellence Hubs, Hubs4Circularity gives projects immediate reach to >400 innovation infrastructures.

• Research infrastructure sharing: European Research Infrastructure Consortiums (ERICs) and ESFRI landmarks provide advanced testing facilities without duplicative national investment.

6. Funding Synergies & Financial Engineering

• Leverage factor >4 achievable by blending 50 % Horizon funding with ERDF (Policy Objective 1), InvestEU thematic windows, national recovery plans and private VC.

• Cascading grants up to €600k lower transaction costs for SMEs, start-ups and research groups; portfolio approach derisks investment for regional authorities.

• EIC & EIF pathways: Successful deep-tech pilots qualify for EIC Accelerator follow-up and EIF scale-up facilities, smoothing the continuum from lab to market.

7. Scale, Replicability & Impact

• EU-wide deployment templates: Joint guidelines and KPIs agreed among valleys become blueprints usable by other regions, amplifying impact beyond consortium members.

• Portfolio management across at least 3 interregional projects enables rapid replication into additional EU territories with minimal adaptation.

• Measured SDG & gender impacts: EU-level indicators facilitate benchmarking and showcase societal value to policymakers and investors alike.

8. Additional Strategic Value Propositions

• Risk diversification: Multi-country revenue streams, multi-funding sources and shared IP pools reduce dependency on single national markets.

• Global visibility: Branding as an official “Regional Innovation Valley” positions regions on the European Innovation Scoreboard and attracts foreign direct investment.

• Policy feedback loops: Direct dialogue with DG RTD & REGIO during annual work-plan approvals accelerates regulatory learning and adaptive governance.

---

Bottom line: Operating through this Horizon-Europe COFUND at EU scale transforms isolated regional initiatives into interoperable, investment-ready innovation valleys, unlocking larger markets, deeper talent pools, stronger policy alignment and higher leverage of public & private capital than any purely national programme could deliver.