Applications for the next Eurostars call are already under way

Growing European competition is pushing SMEs to start earlier on their proposal, consortium and funding fit

March 26, 2026
European project funding

At a glance: the essentials of this article

Eurostars, one of Europe’s leading programmes for funding international R&D led by SMEs, is heading into a more demanding call in 2026. Following the closure of the year’s first cut-off, the 10th September deadline means applications need to be prepared well in advance. Competition across Europe is increasing, the evaluation process requires greater robustness in consortium, market and innovation terms, and national funding conditions mean eligibility must be checked from the outset.

Already under way. The September application requires an early start rather than waiting until summer.

More competitive. Eurostars receives around 500 applications per cut-off and funds roughly 100 projects.

Real added value required. Evaluators look for cooperation, a plausible route to market and consistent innovation credentials.

Country matters. Each state applies national conditions that should be validated from the beginning.

Coherence is rewarded. The strongest proposals align innovation, consortium, market, budget and work plan.

Eurostars, one of the main European programmes supporting international R&D led by SMEs, is entering a more competitive and selective phase in 2026. Following the closure of the first cut-off date of the year on 19th March, companies planning to apply to the next call, which closes on 10th September, can no longer afford to wait until summer. “The increase in competitive pressure across Europe and the need to align the different national funding conditions from the outset make early preparation a decisive factor,” warns Sara López, consultant in Zabala Innovation’s Entrepreneurship knowledge area.

The programme retains the features that have made it a benchmark for business innovation in Europe: a bottom-up approach, a market orientation and support for projects developed by small international consortia. Its underlying logic remains that of driving market-oriented innovation led by SMEs. But the context in which it operates has changed. The signals conveyed in recent months by Eureka – the intergovernmental network that coordinates European programmes supporting collaborative R&D, including Eurostars – and by various national information sessions all point in the same direction: European competition continues to intensify, even as some countries are simultaneously strengthening their support budgets. The opportunity remains significant, but the room for submitting underdeveloped proposals is becoming ever smaller.

More applications, the same funding

The latest Eurostars-3 data illustrate this trend. Each cut-off attracts around 500 applications, of which about 100 projects are funded. Although the historical success rate has stood at around 22%, in the most recent calls it has been closer to 17–19%. In other words, competitive pressure is increasing, while the number of funded projects remains broadly stable.

This tougher environment is not due solely to the volume of applications. It is also linked to the structure of the programme itself. Evaluation is centralised at European level and all eligible proposals compete in a single international ranking. There are no thematic quotas during the evaluation process. In this context, technical quality remains essential, but on its own it no longer guarantees a strong position. “What increasingly makes the difference is a project’s ability to present a convincing structure, clear positioning and a solid rationale,” López notes.

Greater demands on every proposal

The increase in competition is also reflected in more intense scrutiny of proposal content. Eurostars continues to assess proposals on the basis of three equally weighted dimensions: implementation, market and commercialisation, and excellence in innovation. Today, the strongest proposals are those that combine a balanced consortium, a credible commercialisation logic and innovation that is clearly differentiated from the state of the art.

“Evaluators are looking for cooperation with real added value, a plausible route to market and innovation claims backed up by consistent evidence,” López explains. As a result, weak market validation, a poorly justified consortium structure or incremental advances presented as though they were disruptive are becoming increasingly difficult to defend. The quality of a proposal no longer depends solely on the idea, but on the coherence of the project’s entire architecture.

The September race has already begun

Against this backdrop, “the 10th September deadline is the end point of a process that needs to start much earlier,” López insists. “A strong proposal takes time to align international partners, build balanced budgets, validate market hypotheses, define a coherent work plan and ensure compliance with national eligibility conditions,” she adds.

Experience from the programme shows that projects that reach this stage too late often suffer from problems of internal coherence, financial robustness or commercial credibility. By contrast, “those who start earlier have more room to refine their value proposition, strengthen their fit with evaluators’ expectations and correct weaknesses before submission,” the expert concludes.