EU Energy Focus

The EU Energy Focus service is a free UK government-funded service, that aims to ensure that UK organisations are well informed and have every chance of success in applying for and securing European funding for energy-related projects. It provides support for a range of European funding opportunities with a focus on Horizon 2020, but also covering opportunities such as the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. The service includes confidential, one-to-one discussion of proposal ideas, webinars on upcoming and current Calls for Proposals, consortium building support and review of draft proposals.

On 8^th December 2017, the UK government and the negotiators of the European Union  published a Joint Report. The agreement reached on the financial settlement in this report means that, in principle, UK entities’ right to participate in EU programmes, including Horizon 2020, will be unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

UK based individuals and organisations will remain eligible to bid for funding, participate in and coordinate consortia, including for Calls in 2019 and 2020. Projects which have already been approved will be able to continue with an uninterrupted flow of EU funding.

In the event that the commitments in the Joint Report are not met, the Government’s underwrite guarantee is in place. On 24th July 2018 the guarantee was extended until the end of 2020. The funding for all successful applications by UK researchers, businesses and universities which are submitted to Horizon 2020 is guaranteed. This guarantee means that successful bids for EU funding submitted before the end of 2020 will receive their full financial allocation and will continue to receive funding over a project’s lifetime. The UK government will work with the European Commission to ensure payment when funds are awarded.

An overview of the UK government position can be downloaded from here.

A flow chart showing the Horizon 2020 application process can be downloaded from here.