The call for proposals aims to support demonstration projects based on innovative technologies testing/deploying/scaling-up of new industrial or service applications and solutions for the blue economy.
Such support is important to:
i. Help innovative technologies and/or maritime services improve their market readiness and advance towards market entry, allowing economic players, in particular SMEs, to apply new ideas and research results in marketable goods and services;
ii. Facilitate scaling up business models and service concepts;
iii. De-risk the deployment of these demonstration projects and provide the necessary credibility for these projects to enable them to access other financing for the development of their activities.
Going beyond research/applied research, applicants must explain how their proposals will help innovative technologies and/or maritime services improve their market-readiness and advance towards the commercial phase demonstrating the benefit of a new product, service, process, and system to potential clients in a real environment.
In this respect, the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the proposed actions must be between 6 (“technology demonstrated in relevant environment”) and 9 (“actual system proven in operational environment”), as defined in Commission Decision C(2014)499574. Proposals focusing on a lower TRL will be rejected.
Applicants must have a specific interest in the growth and development of the sea basin(s) concerned and/or offer a key contribution to the chosen blue growth related technology, domain or value chain in question.
Applicants from EU Member States and applicants established in third countries bordering the North Sea, Baltic Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean sea basins and participating in the respective cooperation frameworks (e.g. Union for the Mediterranean, EU Atlantic Strategy, EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian region, Black Sea Synergy, etc.), excluding volatile regions, are eligible.
The eligible non-EU countries are the following:
· Participating in the EU Atlantic Sea Strategy: Canada and United States of America
· Participating in the EU Baltic Sea Strategy: Belarus, Iceland, Norway and Russia
· Participating in the Adriatic-Ionian Macro-regional Strategy: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia
· Participating in the Union for the Mediterranean: Algeria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey
· Participating in the Black Sea Synergy: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Applicants must be legal entities, either public or private.
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of minimum 2 legal entities established in a different eligible country, one of which must be an EU Member State. The consortium coordinator must be established in an EU Member State. The consortium must comprise at least one business partner in the sense of a profit-making legal entity.
Applicants must be active in the field of research and innovation, and/or in the blue economy and related sectors, such as marine renewable energies, blue biotechnology, coastal tourism, aquaculture, maritime transport, shipbuilding and ship repair, shipping, offshore oil and gas, fisheries or aquaculture.
Please see the full Call for Proposals for the specific eligibility criteria.
24 months or 36 months depending on the scope of the project.
It is expected that proposals requesting a contribution in the range of €100.000 and €1.500.000 would allow the objectives to be addressed.
The EU grant is limited to the 65% of eligible costs actually incurred. Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the estimated budget must be financed from sources other than the EU grant.
For more information regarding the procedure do not hesitate to read the call for proposal along with its annexes.
All questions related to the call must be sent exclusively by e-mail to: EASME-EMFF-calls@ec.europa.eu no later than 21 February 2018 (Brussels time), indicating as subject title the call reference for STRAND 1: "EASME/EMFF/2017/1.2.1.12-S1 DEMO PROJECTS".