Horizon Europe Cluster 5: €530 million for climate, energy and transport, opening from 17 November

The European Commission has scheduled the opening of four Horizon Europe calls under Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility) for the period 17 November – 15 December 2026. The calls cover 30 topics with an indicative budget of around €530 million. The first submission deadline is 4 March 2027, for the CLIMATE call. Companies in energy, batteries and transport, universities, research institutes and public authorities can take part, in European consortia.

In brief

• Programme: Horizon Europe, Pillar II, Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy and Mobility (2026–2027 work programme)
• Authority: European Commission; applications are submitted on the Funding & Tenders portal
• Beneficiaries: any legal entity (companies, universities, institutes, public authorities), as a rule within a consortium of at least three independent entities from three different countries
• Total budget: €123 million (CLIMATE), €222.98 million (BATTERIES and ENERGY), €131 million (MOBILITY), €53 million (BATTERIES and MOBILITY, in two stages)
• Value per project / intensity: from around €0.4 million to over €40 million, depending on the topic; 100% for research and innovation actions (RIA), 70% for companies in innovation actions (IA)
• Submission period: openings on 17 November, 3 December and 15 December 2026; deadlines on 4 March, 31 March and 14 April 2027 (second stage: 7 October 2027)
• Status: announced in the work programme; the calls are not yet open

Which calls are opening and what are the deadlines?

The work programme sets out the following calendar for the 2027 calls that open this year:

• HORIZON-CL5-2027-01 (CLIMATE): opens on 17 November 2026, deadline 4 March 2027, 7 topics, €123 million. All are research projects on extreme events, palaeoclimate, mitigation policies, adaptation, carbon sources and sinks and transition scenarios, plus an EU–Africa co-funding action.
• HORIZON-CL5-2027-02 (BATTERIES and ENERGY): opens on 3 December 2026, deadline 31 March 2027, 10 topics, €222.98 million. These include battery recycling, lithium-ion and sodium-ion cell production (€37.8 million, around €18.9 million per project), next-generation photovoltaics (€36 million), wave and tidal energy (€43 million), solar thermal for industry, AI tools for the energy system and direct air capture of CO2.
• HORIZON-CL5-2027-03 (MOBILITY): opens on 15 December 2026, deadline 14 April 2027, 11 topics, €131 million. Themes include the circular economy in electric mobility (€5–7 million per project), zero-emission long-distance coaches and buses, megawatt charging systems for trucks, preventing fires in electric vehicles in enclosed spaces, autonomous navigation and the impact of airports on air quality.
• HORIZON-CL5-2027-04-Two-Stage: opens on 15 December 2026. The first stage closes on 14 April 2027 and the second on 7 October 2027. It has €53 million for next-generation batteries and aircraft noise reduction.

The calendar also announces other calls for 2027: BATTERIES and ENERGY (opens 5 May, deadline 15 September 2027), MOBILITY (3 June – 7 October 2027) and ENERGY (4 August – 1 December 2027). Deadlines expire at 17:00 Brussels time (18:00 Romanian time). The Commission may open a call up to one month earlier or later and may postpone deadlines by up to two months. You should therefore check the final date on the topic page.

Who can apply?

The general annexes of the work programme require, in the absence of specific conditions, a consortium of at least three independent legal entities, each from a different country. At least one must be from an EU Member State, and the other two from other Member States or from countries associated with Horizon Europe. Entities from Romania are eligible for funding.

Companies, universities, institutes and public authorities can take part as partners or coordinators. Before submitting, each participant must register in the Participant Register and obtain a PIC code. PIC validation is not required at the time of submission.

How much does the Union fund and which costs are covered?

• Research and innovation actions (RIA): up to 100% of eligible costs.
• Innovation actions (IA): up to 70%. Non-profit entities, such as universities, can receive up to 100%.
• Coordination and support actions (CSA): 100%.
• Indirect costs: a flat rate of 25% of eligible direct costs, with some exceptions, for example subcontracting.

Many Cluster 5 topics use lump-sum grants. For these, the funding rate is already included in the amount, and reporting tracks the completion of activities, not each invoice. The full application has a limit of 40 pages, or 45 pages for lump-sum RIA and IA topics. The first stage of the two-stage calls has a limit of 10 pages.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation: for the March–April 2027 deadlines, the consortium needs to be formed as early as November. Horizon Europe projects are competitive and are assessed on excellence, impact and quality of implementation. Teams that already have European partners, or that join a consortium led by an experienced coordinator, have a real chance.

• Component manufacturers, recycling companies and energy integrators are the best fit for innovation actions (IA). These aim to demonstrate the technology, at the TRL set in each topic (for example, TRL 6–7 for battery cell production), and require 30% own co-financing.
• Universities and institutes are a good fit for the CLIMATE call, where 6 of the 7 topics are RIA and are funded at 100% (the seventh is the EU–Africa co-funding action).
• Town halls and public transport operators can join as demonstrator partners in the mobility topics.
• Common pitfall: projects that do not respond exactly to the wording of the topic. An application is eligible only if it fits the topic description. Read the “Expected outcome” and “Scope” sections in full.

If you do not know which funding suits your company's profile, you can start with the eligibility check.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Romanian company submit a Cluster 5 project on its own?

Generally, no. The standard rule requires a consortium of at least three independent entities from three different countries. The exceptions are coordination and support actions (CSA) and co-funding actions (CoFund), which can also be submitted by a single entity, unless the topic provides otherwise.

When can you actually apply?

Only after the call opens on the Funding & Tenders portal: 17 November 2026 for CLIMATE, 3 December for BATTERIES and ENERGY and 15 December for MOBILITY. Until then, the topics have the status “Forthcoming”.

Do I have to provide co-financing?

It depends on the type of action. For RIA and CSA, EU funding can reach 100%. For innovation actions (IA), companies receive at most 70% and cover the rest from their own resources.

Are the opening dates and deadlines final?

Not entirely. The work programme allows a call to open up to one month earlier or later and deadlines to be postponed by up to two months. The date that counts is the one shown on the topic page at the time of submission.

Official sources

• Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Annex VIII – Climate, Energy and Mobility
• Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026–2027, Annex XV – General Annexes
• Funding & Tenders portal – topic HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-12
• European Commission – Horizon Europe work programmes

Information checked on 2 October 2026. Conditions may be changed by the managing authority — check the guide in force before you submit.