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Coordinator university
Beneficiary · Coordinator
EU Member State
Horizon Europe Consortium Eligibility Checker
Test whether your proposed consortium clears the basic Horizon Europe participation rules: partner countries, beneficiary roles, coordinator status, Associated Countries, and call-type exceptions.
Free · No login · Runs in your browser
General Annex B screen
Build the consortium
Add the organisations that will sign the grant agreement as beneficiaries. Affiliated entities and associated partners can be recorded, but they do not count toward the minimum.
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Technology partner
Beneficiary
EU Member State
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Research institute
Beneficiary
Associated Country
Reference · for the curious
Horizon Europe Consortium Eligibility: Rules, Warnings, and Sources
The Horizon Europe Consortium Eligibility Checker is a planning tool for researchers, proposal managers, National Contact Point advisers, and university research offices building collaborative EU grant proposals. It screens a proposed consortium against the general Horizon Europe participation rules before the team commits time to work packages, budgets, and Part B drafting.
What the standard Horizon Europe consortium rule requires
For most collaborative Research and Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions, PCP actions, and PPI actions, the basic consortium rule is the one stated in the Horizon Europe General Annexes: three independent legal entities must participate as beneficiaries, each established in a different country. At least one must be established in an EU Member State, and at least two others must be established in different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
The distinction between a beneficiary and another participant role matters. Beneficiaries sign the grant agreement and can count toward the minimum composition rule. Affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors, and non-independent entities may be important for the project, but they do not satisfy the minimum three-country consortium composition requirement.
How the checker handles Associated Countries
Horizon Europe association lets non-EU countries participate on terms close to those of EU Member States. The checker includes the European Commission's current Associated Country list, including Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. It also treats Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea as Pillar II-associated countries, because their association scope is limited to Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.
The tool also flags transitional arrangements for Japan and Morocco. These may be relevant for particular award procedures, but they should not be treated as automatic proof of eligibility without checking the call topic, the current Commission participating countries list, and the status at grant-signature stage.
Call types covered by this calculator
The checker covers standard Research and Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions, Coordination and Support Actions, Training and Mobility or Programme Co-fund actions, and PCP/PPI procurement actions. Coordination and Support Actions and Training or Co-fund actions can often be submitted by one or more legal entities, provided at least one beneficiary is established in a Member State or Associated Country. PCP and PPI actions must also satisfy the standard three-country rule and include at least two independent public procurer beneficiaries in different eligible countries, with at least one in a Member State.
Always check the topic page before submission
Horizon Europe topic pages can add or override conditions, especially for security-sensitive topics, strategic autonomy, country restrictions, associated-country scope, multi-actor requirements, EIC calls, ERC calls, institutional partnerships, and other special work programmes. This checker is deliberately a basic screen, not a legal eligibility opinion.
How to use the eligibility summary
Use the result as a first pass before drafting the proposal. A green result means the consortium appears to clear the general composition rules covered by this tool. A yellow result usually means the plan depends on partial association, transitional arrangements, topic exceptions, or a strategically fragile structure. A red result means the consortium is missing a basic element such as a coordinator, an EU Member State beneficiary, enough independent beneficiary legal entities, or the required public procurers for procurement actions.
Related Proposia materials
Consortium eligibility is only one part of Horizon Europe proposal readiness. Pair this checker with the Budget Calculator to test partner-level costs, the Gantt Chart Creator to align work packages and milestones, the Risk Assessment Matrix to prepare mitigation language, and the DMP Wizard for data management planning.
Official sources used for the rules
- European Commission, Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 General Annexes, especially Annex B on eligibility and consortium composition.
- European Research Executive Agency, Horizon Europe - Who should apply, for the plain-language summary of the three-partner rule and coordinator expectation.
- European Commission, Association to Horizon Europe, for the official list and explanation of Associated Countries.
- European Commission Funding & Tenders Portal, List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe, for current association scopes, transitional arrangements, and third-country funding notes.