European Partnerships are initiatives where the EU, national authorities and/or the private sector jointly commit to support the development and implementation of a programme of research and innovation activities.  Partnerships will:

• address complex challenges outlined in «Horizon Europe» Programme, such as accelerating the transitions towards a society and economy that are climate neutral and circular,
• support the achievement of EU priorities, such as the European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, and a stronger Europe in the world,
• be impact-driven by deploying a broad range of R&I activities, from concept to demonstration and validation, to those supporting market, regulatory and societal uptake, and
• contribute to a stronger European Research Area (ERA), by avoiding the duplication of efforts, creating critical scales of investment and enhancing synergies between programmes.

«EUROSTARS-3» Joint Programme, is implemented in the frame of the «Partnership on Innovative SMEs» by the participating countries2 and the EU, through the Horizon Europe Programme, and supports innovative enterprises, through the implementation of transnational projects, to develop new products, methods and services, as well as to commercially exploit new knowledge.

Research and innovation projects driven by innovative enterprises are implemented by transnational consortia which consist organisations from the participating countries in the Programme. Central submission and evaluation procedures are followed, while participating organisations are funded by their respective national funding organisations.

A EUROSTARS-3 project should meet the following conditions:

• The project consortium is composed of at least two entities that are independent from one another.
• The project consortium is composed of entities from at least two participating countries, with a minimum of one organisation from an EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
• The Coordinator of the Transnational Consortium should be an Innovative SME3 from one of the participating countries in EUROSTARS-3 Programme.
• A minimum of 50% of the Transnational Project’s budget (excluding subcontracting Costs), should be allocated to the SMEs from EUROSTARS participating countries.
• The allocation of tasks within the Transnational Consortium must be well balanced, whereby no partner organisation or country is allocated more than 70% of the project work.
• The project duration is 36 months or less.
• The project has an exclusive focus on civil applications.

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