Enhancing the NCC Network

This grant supports the operation of National Coordination Centres (NCCs) across EU Member States to accelerate the cybersecurity industry, promote cybersecurity awareness and education, facilitate access to market and finance, and strengthen the cybersecurity community and related capacities. Activities are broad and can include managing cybersecurity incubators and accelerators, running awareness campaigns, supporting skills and educational programs (including those targeting youth and teachers), and developing platforms for best practice sharing and marketplace services. The grant also aims to support the uptake of cybersecurity solutions, strengthen synergies across EU initiatives, and promote the scale-up and market reach of European cybersecurity SMEs and start-ups.

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Agency	DIGITAL (EU)
Region	EU
Country	N/A
Legal form	Government organization
Start date	1 Sep 2026
End date	14 Jan 2027
Max funding	For DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-REGCABH actions: up to 2,500,000 EUR per grant., For DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-DUALUSE, EULEG, CYBERAI, AI4SME actions: 3,000,000–5,000,000 EUR per grant., For DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-COORDPREP actions: 1,500,000 EUR per grant., For DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-NCC actions: 2,000,000–3,000,000 EUR per grant.
Budget	Total indicative budget for all actions in 2026: 85,000,000 EUR.
Coverage	Grant amount covers eligible costs according to the rules set out in the call document and MGA.

Grant application conditions

Admissibility conditions	Proposals must fulfill page limits and layout as described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
Eligible countries	Applicants must be National Coordination Centres recognised by the European Commission in EU Member States.
Legal form	Applicants must be government organizations designated as National Coordination Centres according to Regulation (EU) 2021/887.
Financial and operational capacity	Applicants must have adequate financial and operational capacity as described in section 7 of the call document.
Exclusion criteria	Applicants must not be subject to exclusion as described in section 7 of the call document.
Security restrictions	Due to the sensitive nature of the activities, actions are subject to Article 12(5) of the DEP Regulation (2021/694). Participation of non-EU entities is excluded for security reasons.
Grant agreement setup	Legal and financial set-up of grants is described in section 10 of the call document and follows the Model Grant Agreement.
Application deadline	Applications must be submitted by 14 January 2027.
Documentation	https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-NCC

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements