The larger, quieter half of European funding
Most of the money you can realistically win is not European.
National agencies and regional authorities run their own programmes, usually with less competition than central EU calls and priorities set closer to home. It is the half of the landscape most often missed, because covering it means learning a separate system per country.
National and regional funds at a glance
- Administered by
- National agencies and regional authorities
- Competition
- Usually lower than central EU calls
- Language
- Frequently the national language only
- Consortium
- Often not required
- Coverage here
- More than ten national sources
What applicants get wrong
Every country is a separate system, and that is the whole barrier
Different agency, different forms, different eligibility definitions, different timing, and often a different language, so knowing one national system well tells you almost nothing about the next. This is why advisers sell national expertise country by country, and why organisations operating across borders systematically under-apply. It is a coverage problem rather than a difficulty problem.
Who it is for
Formal eligibility is set by the call text and changes between rounds. This is the shape of a typical applicant.
- SMEs and startups seeking a first award
- Companies whose project is national in scope
- Organisations that have been unsuccessful in EU calls
- Anyone operating in more than one country
This funds part of the project, not all of it
Work out what you would need to fund yourself, and what typically covers the gap.
Common in these sectors
If you are a
Other programmes
Find out whether you qualify for National and regional funds
Upload a project description and the platform assesses it against this programme's published criteria, and against everything else open to you.