Innovation and Networks Executive Agency

€36 million EU funding available to connect Europe digitally

INEA ceased operations on 31 March 2021. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) was established on 1 April 2021 to take over its legacy portfolio as well as additional EU funding programmes.

Creation date: June 30, 2020

The 2020-2 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom call for proposals has opened today. The call makes €36 million available to stimulate and support the deployment of European Digital Service Infrastructures (DSIs) in the areas of Business Register Interconnection System (BRIS), Cybersecurity, eArchiving, eHealth, eProcurement, European Digital Media Observatory, European Platform for Digital Skills & Jobs and Public Open Data.

CEF Telecom funding supports projects of common interest that improve the daily life of citizens, businesses and public administrations and contribute to the development of a Digital Single Market by deploying European digital infrastructures across the EU.

This call is the second and last one under the 2020 CEF Telecom Work Programme. In 2020, CEF Telecom will provide over €67 million in funding through grants for European Digital Service Infrastructures.

2020-2 CEF Telecom call for proposals

Interested applicants from all EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Norway and the UK, may submit their proposals until 5 November 2020 in the following areas:

  • Business Register Interconnection System (BRIS) – €2 million to facilitate access to information on EU companies and to ensure that all EU business registers can communicate with each other electronically in a safe, secure and rapid manner;
  • Cybersecurity – to increase the cooperation and the capabilities of actors that are fundamental for the EU Cybersecurity Strategy in a variety of domains, for example: coordinated response to cybersecurity incidents coordinated response to cybersecurity incidents in line with the Cyber Blueprint; cybersecurity certification under the Cybersecurity Act; capacity building, public-private sector and institutional cooperation under the NIS Directive. More information here - €10.5 million;
  • eArchiving – to facilitate the storage and preservation of digital information over the long term in a sustainable and interoperable manner - €1 million;
  • eHealth – to facilitate access to highly specialised knowledge and care for patients suffering from rare and complex diseases using information and communication technologies - €5 million;
  • eProcurement – €3 million for services enabling EU businesses across Europe to respond to public procurement procedures from contracting entities in any Member State using minimum harmonised public procurement rules;
  • European Digital Media Observatory - €9 million to support the creation of national and multinational research hubs to detect, analyse, disclose harmful disinformation campaigns and assess their impact on society and democracy;
  • European Platform for Digital Skills and Jobs – €2.5 million to ensure that European citizens are equipped with adequate digital skills;
  • Public Open Data – to achieve better services for citizens, public administrations and companies, in particular SMEs, thanks to the re-use of public-sector information deploying innovative solutions - €3 million.

To receive co-funding under this call, actions must demonstrate sufficient maturity, contribute to EU Digital Single Market policies and have a long-term sustainability strategy. The funding will be allocated to those eligible proposals which best meet the award criteria as specified in the 2020 CEF Telecom Work Programme and call texts in the areas relevant to this call.

A Virtual Info Day on the 2020-2 CEF Telecom call and application process will take place on 16 July 2020.

How to apply?

Applicants must submit their proposal through the dedicated proposal submission system, accessible from the individual  CEF 2020 Telecom Calls web pages. All call documents and additional background information are also available on the individual call webpages. Please remember that the deadline for 2020-2 call is 5 November 2020 at 17:00.00 Brussels time.

When will the grants be awarded?

The evaluation of the proposals is expected to start in November 2020. The results of the evaluation and the decision on the allocation of grants will be announced as of May 2021.

Who is the contact point for this call?

The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) manages the call for proposals and follows up the technical and financial implementation of the projects with the beneficiaries, providing technical expertise and high quality programme implementation.

Follow INEA on Twitter @inea_eu & LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest call developments.

A helpdesk is also available to answer your questions on the call for proposals.

About Digital Service Infrastructures (DSIs)

CEF Telecom funding supports projects of common interest for the deployment of Digital Service Infrastructures (DSIs) across the EU. These are based on mature technical and organisational solutions to support exchanges and collaboration between citizens, businesses and public authorities. The vision is to create European networks of digital services that will make the Digital Single Market work in practice.

CEF supports basic and re-usable digital services, known as building blocks, as well as more complex digital services. The building blocks can be combined with each other and integrated with the more complex services.

The list of digital services supported by CEF is available in the Annex of the Telecom Regulation.

More information

CEF Telecom
2020 CEF Telecom calls
2020 CEF Telecom Work Programme

CEF Telecom supported actions – brochure