Horizon Europe Bridging 2027: €55 million for applied AI, submission by 16 February

The European Commission has published the Horizon Europe call HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01 ("Apply AI") on the Funding & Tenders portal. The call has €55 million for four large applied artificial intelligence projects: an AI platform for the press and audiovisual sector, pilot cities with autonomous vehicles, AI platforms for the energy system and methods for scaling advanced models. The call has "forthcoming" status (it is due to open). Submission starts on 20 October 2026 and the deadline is 16 February 2027. Only one European consortium is funded per topic, with €10 million or €15 million.

In brief

• Programme: Horizon Europe, horizontal activities – Bridging actions 2027, call HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01
• Authority: European Commission
• Beneficiaries: consortia of entities from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and associated countries (including Romania), with restrictions on entities controlled from outside these countries
• Total budget: €55 million (€10 + 15 + 15 + 15 million)
• Value per project: €10 million for the media topic, €15 million for each of the other three topics; one project funded per topic
• Submission period: 20 October 2026 – 16 February 2027, in a single stage
• Status: announced on the portal, submission not yet open

Which topics does the call fund?

The call has four topics. Each funds a single project:

• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-09 – EU AI Media Platform (innovation action, €10 million): modular, multilingual AI infrastructure for public-interest press and audiovisual media. It includes translation, content processing and verification of content provenance. The project starts at TRL 6 and must reach TRL 8.
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-10 – Autonomous Drive Ambition Cities (innovation action, €15 million): 5–7 pilot cities from at least 5 Member States or associated countries. The pilots use SAE level 4 autonomous electric vehicles (shuttles, ride-hailing, car-sharing). At least one cross-border pilot between neighbouring cities is mandatory, and the target is TRL 8.
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-12 – AI-based digital platforms for the energy system (innovation action, €15 million): a large-scale cross-border pilot in at least 6 Member States or associated countries. The consortium must include at least 6 energy actors (transmission and distribution operators, suppliers, aggregators), 8 digital technology providers, 4 mobility actors and 20 energy communities. The project lasts about 36 months, with a target of TRL 7–8.
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-13 – EU Frontier AI Initiative (research and innovation action, €15 million): methods and tools for scaling high-performance AI models. The work topics are scaling laws, architecture search, optimisation of data mixtures and hyperparameter tuning. The target is TRL 4–5.

Who can apply?

Legal entities from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and countries associated to Horizon Europe can take part. Companies, universities, research institutes, cities and energy operators from Romania are eligible.

Each topic has special conditions:

• under topics 10 (autonomous mobility) and 12 (energy), entities controlled directly or indirectly by an ineligible country or by an entity from such a country cannot take part;
• under topic 13 (Frontier AI), in addition to the EU/EEA, entities from Canada, Israel, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Japan can also take part; entities controlled from outside these countries can take part only if they provide the required guarantees;
• under topic 09 (media), restrictions apply to protect European communication networks.

What has changed compared with the draft work programme?

In the draft version of the work programme, circulated in June 2026, the four topics had a deadline of 18 March 2027. On the official portal, the deadline is now 16 February 2027 and the opening date is 20 October 2026. You therefore have about one month less than the draft announced. We recommend that you work with the dates on the portal, not with those in older presentation materials.

How and by when do you apply?

The application is submitted electronically, in a single stage, through the Funding & Tenders portal submission system, between 20 October 2026 and 16 February 2027. The exact time of the deadline appears on each topic's page. The rules on page limits and format are those in the general annexes of the Horizon Europe work programme and in part B of the application form.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation: this is not a call for individual projects. Each topic funds a single large consortium, and the minimum requirements (for example 38 actors and 20 energy communities under topic 12) show that proposals are built around European coordinators that are already established. For organisations in Romania, the realistic route is to join as a partner:

• IT and AI companies can join energy or media consortia as technology providers;
• municipalities can host one of the autonomous mobility pilot cities; proximity to a border helps, because a cross-border pilot is mandatory;
• distribution operators, suppliers, aggregators and energy communities can be pilot sites for topic 12;
• universities and institutes with expertise in large AI models can target topic 13.

About four months remain until the deadline, and consortia are being formed now. Look for partners through the portal's partner search function and through the Horizon Europe National Contact Point. Prepare a one-page description of your contribution and a list of similar completed projects. A common pitfall is the control check: if your company has shareholders from outside the EU, analyse the restrictions of topics 10, 12 and 13 early. If you want to know what other funding suits you, use the eligibility check.

Frequently asked questions

Can a company from Romania submit a project on its own under this call?

In practice, no. The topics require pilots in at least 5 or 6 countries and a minimum number of actors of different types, so the project is submitted by a European consortium. A company from Romania can be a coordinator or a partner, but it must build or join such a consortium.

How much does a project receive?

On the portal, the EU contribution is €10 million for the media topic (09) and €15 million for each of topics 10, 12 and 13. One project is funded per topic, and the amount is shared among the consortium partners according to the proposed budget.

Is the call open now?

Not yet. On 12 October 2026, the topics have "forthcoming" status. Submission opens on 20 October 2026 and closes on 16 February 2027. You can, however, already prepare the consortium and the project concept.

Can town halls in Romania take part?

Yes. Entities from Member States are eligible, and topic 10 explicitly requires pilots in 5–7 European cities, at least one of which is cross-border. A town hall can join the consortium as a pilot city, alongside transport operators and technology providers.

Official sources

• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-12 – AI-based digital platforms for the European energy system (Funding & Tenders)
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-10 – Autonomous Drive Ambition Cities (Funding & Tenders)
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-09 – EU AI Media Platform (Funding & Tenders)
• HORIZON-BRIDGING-2027-01-13 – EU Frontier AI Initiative (Funding & Tenders)

Information checked on 12 October 2026. Conditions may be changed by the managing authority — check the guide in force before you submit.