Hungary's universities could regain Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ access

28 September 2026 · Strategic Funding Partners

Published 28 September 2026 · SFP Pulse · Weekly Research

> Hungary's trust universities could regain Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ access, while nuclear enters the €1 billion industrial heat auction for the first time.

Hungary's public-interest-trust universities could be back in Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. The Commission has proposed restoring their full access, and the Council now has a month to decide. Meanwhile, the €1 billion IF26 Heat Auction has its final rules, and for the first time nuclear heat can compete.

Much of the conversation right now is about getting ahead: lining up 2027 partners and reading the next programme's direction while this year's proposals are still being written. The confirmed news comes first, followed by two consultations worth your time and a bio-based call that drew almost ten times its budget. The debate about the next Horizon Europe is in Talk of the week.

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Hungary's trust universities could regain Horizon Europe access, if the Council agrees

The Commission has proposed lifting the conditionality measures that have restricted access to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ for Hungary's public-interest-trust universities and the entities they maintain since 2022. If the Council adopts the proposal, those institutions would regain full access to both programmes and €4.2 billion of suspended cohesion commitments would be reinstated.

Nothing changes until the Council decides. It has one month, so watch for a decision by 23 October. If the proposal is approved, that decision would clear the way for access to be restored.

Preparing to welcome Hungary back

If the Council gives its approval, Hungary’s affected universities could soon return to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. For organisations across Europe, now is the time to renew partnerships, reconsider consortium plans and identify where Hungarian expertise could strengthen future proposals.

Whether you are joining a consortium or building one, SFP can help you find the right calls, shape a strong concept and bring together competitive partners.

Explore your Horizon Europe opportunities →

Source: European Commission press release · Commission legal proposal

Nuclear enters the €1 billion industrial heat auction for the first time

The Commission has published the final terms for the IF26 Heat Auction, expected to open in early December. Nuclear heat, including eligible small modular reactor technologies, is included for the first time.

The planned €1 billion budget is divided by output temperature: €100 million for heat from 80 to 100 degrees Celsius, €600 million for 100 to 400 degrees Celsius, and €300 million for heat above 400 degrees Celsius. If you run industrial heat processes, you can now work out which basket you fall into and test your carbon-dioxide abatement method, evidence and bid strategy against the final terms.

National webinars run through October, starting with Ireland on 1 October. The call documents published at opening will still have the final legal say.

The related IF26 SME call is planned with €200 million for decarbonisation projects with capital expenditure from €2.5 million to €20 million. The first round is planned to open in December 2026 and close at the end of March 2027; the second is planned for April to September 2027. A Commission webinar takes place on 13 October, with registration closing at 17:00 CEST on 12 October. Applicants can use these figures and dates to start planning, with the published call text providing the final terms.

> 📋 IF26 planning figures: €1 billion for the Heat Auction across three temperature baskets. €200 million planned for the SME call, with two proposed application rounds. Future call documents remain controlling.

Source: IF26 Heat Auction · Final auction terms · Planned IF26 SME call

Information

> 🛠️ When the Portal fails at a deadline: reports of difficulties around September's Cluster 2 and Cluster 6 deadlines are a useful reminder that even established submission systems can encounter problems during busy periods. For future calls, if a technical fault on the Funding and Tenders Portal prevents submission, file a complaint through the IT Helpdesk within four calendar days after the call closes. Keep the timestamped Part B and annex files you intended to submit, together with screenshots of the error. The complaint route does not automatically reopen a missed deadline, but it gives applicants a formal way to document what happened. Read the Portal Online Manual.

Data-centre performance standards are open for comment until 14 December

The Commission has opened a 12-week consultation on possible minimum energy and environmental performance standards for data centres. Submissions close on 14 December 2026 and will inform a legislative proposal planned for the second quarter of 2027.

If you work on data-centre cooling, waste heat or digital infrastructure, this is your chance to shape the rules before they are written. Responses can cover how performance should be measured and which technical or operational limits the standards need to reflect.

Source: European Commission consultation announcement

Until 16 October: have your say on the next European Partnerships

The consultation on the next European Partnership architecture remains open until 16 October 2026. It covers the future Single Basic Act for Joint Undertakings, Article 185 initiatives and the thematic priorities of the European Partnership portfolio under Horizon Europe 2028-2034.

If your organisation takes part in Joint Undertakings or other partnerships, or hopes to, this is where the next generation gets designed. The consultation is about how partnerships are set up and which priorities they cover after 2027, not about current funding, so focus your response on those choices.

Source: European Commission Have Your Say consultation

Thirteen institutional investors join a new European scale-up pact

The Commission and EIB Group have launched a voluntary pact with 13 institutional investors. It is linked to the planned €15 billion European Tech Champions Initiative 2.0 and €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund.

There is nothing to apply for yet. If you run or support a European tech scale-up, this is one to watch: a voluntary commitment from 13 large investors, sitting alongside two planned scale-up funds.

Source: European Investment Bank announcement

Selected and funded

Almost ten times oversubscribed: CBE JU receives €1.65 billion of requests for €170.7 million

CBE JU received 272 proposals across 13 topics by the 22 September deadline. Applicants requested €1.65 billion against €170.7 million available, close to ten times the call budget.

The largest mismatch was in the nutritional food ingredients topic, where 21 proposals requested €384.5 million against a €20 million topic budget. Expert evaluation is planned for October and November, with results expected in January 2027.

The final success rate will depend on the mix and size of projects selected, but the scale of demand already makes one thing clear: competition for bio-based funding is exceptionally strong.

Source: Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking

Horizon Europe Cluster 2 awards €275 million to 77 projects

Seventy-seven projects will receive €275 million under Horizon Europe Cluster 2, Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society. The selected work covers democracy, cultural heritage, social and economic transformation and inclusive societies.

This announcement covers a completed funding round. If you are planning a Cluster 2 proposal, the funded projects are worth a look once details are published, to see which approaches and partnerships made the cut.

Source: Funding and Tenders Portal announcement

Talk of the week

Much of this week's conversation is about next year rather than this one. Teams are lining up partners for 2027 calls and trying to read the direction of the next Horizon Europe while still finishing 2026 proposals. The workload has become a topic in its own right, with researchers asking how much time is left for research when proposal writing and evaluation run all year.

The bigger argument is about the shape of the programme after 2027. Research associations are pressing for the next Horizon Europe to stay self-standing, linked to the proposed European Competitiveness Fund rather than absorbed by it, with room kept for bottom-up research. Dual-use runs through the discussion too, with some calling for limits on how much of the new programme it can claim. These are positions in a negotiation, not decisions.

Nearer term, two dates belong in pencil rather than ink. An update indicates the amended Horizon Europe 2026-2027 work programmes are due on 5 October, but the Commission page still shows the December 2025 versions. In Parliament, the committee vote on Horizon Europe 2028-2034 is reported for 10 November, with no primary confirmation yet.

Hungary fits the same pattern: a credible route back to full programme access, but only once the Council decides.

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