Participation in restricted calls

For certain actions under the Digital Europe Programme referring to Cybersecurity, High-Performance Computing and AI, Data & Cloud, the participation of legal entities controlled from non-EU country can be restricted, according to art. 12(5) and 12(6) of the Digital Europe Regulation. This is also the case for legal entities established in the territory of an eligible country but controlled by a third country or by a third country legal entity. The specific requirements for the individual call topics can be found in the respective call documents. If a call is subject to such restrictions, all project participants are required to complete an Ownership Control Declaration which will be submitted as part of the application.

EEA EFTA countries (Ijsland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are fully associated to the Digital Europe Programme and benefit from a status equivalent to that of the Member States.

Cybersecurity

For duly justified security reasons legal entities established in associated countries and legal entities that are established in the Union but controlled from third countries can be excluded to participate in actions on Cybersecurity (Art. 12(5) Digital Europe Regulation). Calls for proposals and calls for tenders are in these cases restricted to legal entities established or deemed to be established in Member States and controlled by Member States or by Member State nationals. There are very few exceptional call topics that would allow legal entities established in associated countries and legal entities that are established in the Union but controlled from a third country to participate provided they comply with specific conditions as laid out in annex 3 of the Cybersecurity work programme.

High-Performance Computing and AI, Data & Cloud

For duly justified security reasons legal entities established in associated countries and legal entities that are established in the Union but are controlled from third countries may be eligible to participate in specific actions on High-Performance Computing and on Artificial Intelligence, Data & Cloud only if they comply with specific requirements (Art. 12(6) Digital Europe Regulation). Requirements include guarantees on the protection of the essential security interests of the Union and the Member States and the protection of classified documents information.

Relevant documents

Guidance: Participation in Digital Europe programme restricted calls

Templates of the ownership control declaration and the Security issues table can be found under the Reference documents on the Funding & Tenders Portal.