Accepting bidsgrantEuropean Union

Support for the functioning of SEAPs, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools

Issued by European Commission · via EU Funding & Tenders Portal

Published: 4 Oct 2026
Closes: 12 Nov 2026
Reference: EDF-EDIP-P-2026-2027-FNLC-SA-SEAP
Location: European Union
Sector: Defence & Security

At a glance

European Commission in European Union has published a funding call in defence & security: “Support for the functioning of SEAPs, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools”. Submissions close on 12 November 2026, 39 days from today. Quote reference EDF-EDIP-P-2026-2027-FNLC-SA-SEAP in any correspondence with the buyer. FreeTender has recorded 353 notices from this buyer since 2026, 350 of them currently open. There are 18 open defence & security notices in European Union on FreeTender. Bids are submitted to the buyer through EU Funding & Tenders Portal, not through FreeTender.

Details

Expected Impact:

Supported SEAPs are expected to rent office space, recruit personnel and start and uphold operations for a duration of at least one year.

Objective

This call aims to provide support for functioning of established SEAPs, including for the purpose of establishing, managing and maintaining defence industrial readiness pools.

Scope:

Proposals shall aim to support established SEAPs in their initial operations for a duration of at least one year. Budget The Commission is considering a total budget of EUR 10 000 000 for the call for proposals. The maximum EU contribution per funded project will not exceed EUR 2 000 00 0 allowing several proposals to be funded. Depending on the number and quality of received proposals and the requested Union financial contributions, the Commission may decide to reallocate budget between calls

Submissions open on 13 October 2026.

Part of call EDF-EDIP-P-2026-2027-FNLC-SA

Type of action: EDF Lump Sum Grants

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

"> Conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in section 5 of the call document (available shortly)

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible countries

described in section 6 of the call document .

3. Other eligibility conditions

described in section 6 of the call document .

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in section 7 of the call document .

5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual .

5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

described in section 9 of the call document .

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in section 4 of the call document .

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

described in section 10 of the call document .

Call document and annexes:

Call document (available shortly) Application form templates Available shortly

Model Grant Agreements (MGA)

Additional documents:

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Context for bidders

We hold 353 notices from European Commission, going back to August 2026 — 350 of them still open. They buy mostly in Water & Environment, Forestry & Wildlife and IT & Telecom. There are 18 open Defence & Security tenders in European Union. This one closes in 39 days.

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Before you bid on this tender

A quick checklist to help you decide whether to bid and prepare a compliant submission for this defence & security opportunity. Always verify the details on the official source.

Confirm the exact closing date and time (and time zone) on the official portal — deadlines are strict and can be revised by a corrigendum.
Read the full notice and every attached document, including the scope, specifications and any bill of quantities or terms of reference.
Check the eligibility criteria — prior similar experience, annual turnover, certifications and registrations — and make sure you qualify before investing effort.
Prepare any earnest-money deposit (EMD) or bid security and the required formats early; missing or wrongly-formatted documents are a common cause of rejection.
Note how bids must be submitted (online or physical), in what format, and whether a digital signature or portal registration is required.
Watch for corrigenda and clarifications right up to the deadline — requirements and dates can change.

Common bidding mistakes to avoid →Writing a winning proposal