We are delighted to have received interest in our open call for expressions of interest and thank all those who submitted questions. The responses provided address all questions that were submitted by the deadline in accordance with the instructions given in the call announcement.
Eligibility
Question
We intend to join the CEADS consortium and express our Interest to be a part of this project
Please let me know if my country (non-EU) is eligible to participate
Answer
The EC maintains a list of countries that are eligible for Digital Europe funding: list-3rd-country-participation_digital_en.pdf
Question
I noticed that my Member State is not part of the call. Do you have also plans to include my country in CEADS?
Answer
The CEADS consortium consists of 36 partners from 15 EU countries.
In order to engage stakeholders across all 27 EU Member States, we now invite Expressions of Interest to join the consortium, from potential partners from the remaining 12 EU member states that are not already represented. As CEADS already includes partners from the other Member States, they are not one of the 12 target countries for the call.
However, please note the following from the call document:
- “Applicant organisations can apply as……. a small group of organisations (up to a maximum of three), where the organisations propose a clearly complementary and interdependent contribution to CEADS”.
- “Where a small group of organisations applies, at least one of the group must be from a Target Country. All applicant organisations in a group must meet all of the eligibility criteria (Section 6).”
- “For applications submitted by a group of organisations, particular attention will be paid to the complementarity of roles and the extent to which each organisation is essential to the proposed contribution”.
- “Where a group of organisations apply together, including some organisations from outside the 12 Target Countries, at least 70% of the budget for the group will be allocated to organisation(s) from the 12 Target Countries.”
On the basis of the above provisions, organisations from outside of the 12 target countries can be part of an application, as long as they are all eligible for funding under the conditions of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), Call for Proposals, DIGITAL-2024-CLOUD-DATA-AI-06; that the application involves at least one partner from a target country; and that the application meets all of the eligibility criteria outlined in the call document. Applicants should review the call document in full and note, in particular, the justification that is necessary for inclusion of organisations in a group application and the budgetary provisions regarding organisations from the 12 target countries.
Question
Is it possible to be a part of different applications (with different countries) as a partner from a non-target country?
Let’s say, we form a consortium with a partner from one target country and then we form another consortium with a partner from another target country, is this allowed? If the applications are successful can we be granted funding from both proposals?
Answer
Within the rules of the Call, there is no explicit restriction preventing an organisation from a non-target country from participating in more than one Expression of Interest as part of different applicant groups, as long as that organisation meets all of the eligibility criteria.
However, please note the following from the call document:
- “Applicant organisations can apply as……. a small group of organisations (up to a maximum of three), where the organisations propose a clearly complementary and interdependent contribution to CEADS”.
- “For applications submitted by a group of organisations, particular attention will be paid to the complementarity of roles and the extent to which each organisation is essential to the proposed contribution”.
- “For potential partners that are invited to enter negotiations on joining the CEADS consortium, we will work with you on a detailed plan of activities and corresponding budget.”
- “Total budget/partner will vary depending on the tasks undertaken by the new partner.”
- “Where a group of organisations apply together, including some organisations from outside the 12 Target Countries, at least 70% of the budget for the group will be allocated to organisation(s) from the 12 Target Countries.”
In practice, what this means is that in a scenario where your organisation is part of two successful applicant groups, the tasks to be undertaken by your organisation would be defined during the negotiation process, with budget allocations reflecting the agreed plan of activities. Of the budget allocated to a small group, 70% is the minimum that must be allocated to partners in the group from the target countries, but that does not imply an automatic allocation of 30% to eligible partners from non-target countries.
Question
If we submit our innovative project with partners only from a non-target country, will we be disqualified?
Answer
If an application is submitted by a small group of organisations, none of which are from a target country, it would not meet the eligibility criteria of the call and would therefore be ineligible.
Question
If my organization (from a non-target country) joins a consortium that contains a target country will we be disqualified ?
Answer
If an organisation from a non-target country applies as part of a small group of organisations (maximum three), and the group includes at least one organisation from a Target Country, and all other eligibility conditions in the call document are met, the application would not be automatically disqualified on that basis.
Question
My organisation is already a partner in CEADS. Is it possible to include another unit/department of the organisation as the Partner in a proposal?
Answer
This would only be possible if the additional unit is a separate legal entity with a different PIC number from the organisation already participating in the CEADS consortium.
Question
We are a Technology Service Provider Company from a non-EU country and we would like to participate to the CEADS Open Call that you have announced recently. What I have understood from the webinar presented is that the only available option for a Non-EU company to participate is to become part of a consortium led by one of companies founded in one of the listed 12 countries.
Answer
Organisations from outside of the 12 target countries can be part of an application, as long as they are all eligible for funding under the conditions of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), Call for Proposals, DIGITAL-2024-CLOUD-DATA-AI-06; that the application involves at least one partner from a target country; and that the application meets all of the eligibility criteria outlined in the call document. Note that where a group of organisations apply together, including some organisations from outside the 12 Target Countries, at least 70% of the budget for the group will be allocated to organisation(s) from the 12 Target Countries.
Duration
Question
What is the expected duration of the supported projects?
Answer
The expected duration will run from the date of signature of the Grant Agreement until March 2028.
Application
Question
Does the form strictly require text-only content, or is it possible to supplement our introduction with few illustrative charts and infographics that help demonstrate our organization’s operations?
Answer
The application template has been designed for text-based responses. It is not foreseen that applicants will include images in their application.
Question
We’re going to submit our interest in proposing a use case for CEADS. We’re in the process of getting the approval of a partner of ours. Their decision making is quite formal and I am not certain that I will have a decision from their management before submission. Can I submit with their name and (if needs be) swap them out for another organisation?
Answer
For the evaluation process, the applications need to be complete. If a proposal is evaluated and one of the applicants changes during that process, this would require re-evaluation of the proposal considering the new partner. If approval from the partner’s management is not available by the submission deadline, applicants should not include that partner in the proposal.
Funding
Question
The call mentions a maximum budget per applicant group of EUR 260,000. With a funding rate of 50%, does this imply a maximum reimbursement of EUR 130,000? Or does it mean that the total eligible budget per use case can be up to EUR 520,000, with EUR 260,000 reimbursed?
Answer
Budget refers to the total potential spend of an organisation (or group of organisations), reimbursement rate is 50%. Therefore, the maximum potential spend that will be allocated to the successful applicant(s) in a proposal is €260,000. The maximum reimbursement for that spend will be €130,000.
Question
In the case of a consortium application, is each consortium partner required to provide and demonstrate the 50% own contribution individually, or is the 50% co-financing requirement calculated at the consortium level, allowing the distribution of own resources among partners to be uneven?
Answer
Yes, each partner will individually be reimbursed at 50% for their eligible costs.
That means that if you apply alongside Partner A and Partner B, each of you will submit costs and, if accepted by the EC, they will be reimbursed by the EC at a rate of 50%.
Further Information
Question
Would you be able to share a link to the Feb 17 webinar?
Answer
You will find the link for the webinar on the CEADS call page: Call – CEADS Project To go straight to the recording, click here: CEADS Info Webinar February 17th 2026