The European Commission adopted on 12 December the European Innovation Council (EIC) 2024 work programme. More information can be found in the European Commission press release and EIC Work Programme 2024 page on the EIC website, including five concise fact sheets with information on the main elements, what’s in it for companies, investors, researchers and an overview of the Pathfinder and Accelerator Challenges. An overview of the main changes compared to last years’ work programme is provided in this article.

• The introduction of lump sum funding in most EIC main calls, except in EIC Pathfinder Open. A more detailed budget table and justification has to be provided at application stage.
• The budget for the three main EIC calls (Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator) has been reduced for two reasons: 1) The withdrawal of Next Generation EU contribution; 2) The need to reserve budget for follow on financing for companies selected under previous EIC Accelerator calls as foreseen in the set-up of the EIC. The high amount of submissions in the 2023 three main calls compared to the available budget showed the EIC to be a very competitive programme.
• Pathfinder: Rebuttal procedure is no longer part of the evaluation process.
• Transition: 
  • Only one cut-off for Open (September 2024). In the previous work programme there were 2 cut-offs, also one in March.
  • The eligibility of the EIC Transition Open has been extended to results stemming from Horizon 2020 Societal challenges and Leadership in Industrial Technologies and from Horizon Europe Pillar II projects fulfilling the eligibility criteria.
  • No Challenges call
• Pathfinder and Transition: The update of specific rules on Intellectual Property to empower Technology Transfer Offices, following the recommendations of the EIC Board.
• Accelerator:
  • There is no longer the “grant first” form of support, but beneficiaries of “blended finance” may start with grant only funding with the investment component provided at a later stage.
  • The criteria to pass the short application stage require 3 out of 4 GOs from the expert evaluators. For the 2023 cut-offs this was 2 out of 4.
  • The introduction of consensus meetings for full applications in case of divergent views among evaluators.
  • The evaluation criteria for excellence, includes an evaluation element to assess excellence of the company.
  • The jury will not be able to change the form of support (e.g., between grant only, blended finance and equity only) or change the amount of equity requested, although they may make recommendations on the amount of equity finance which will be considered by the EIC Fund.
  • Introduction of application resubmission restriction: as of 2024 after three unsuccessful submissions an applicant may not apply again to EIC Accelerator under Horizon Europe.
  • Applicants wishing to submit a short proposal from 3rd January 2024 will be requested to do so via the European Commission Funding and tenders portal. The EIC Platform remains accessible to consult applicants’ previous proposals and drafts, results and to maintain access to the coaching module.
  • Flexibility for the EIC Fund to increase or delay investments in selected companies to better respond to their needs and market developments.
• Introduction of a number of provisions to protect Europe from economic security risks:
  • EIC Accelerator applications in critical areas such as AI and quantum will be screened for foreign ownership.
  • The inclusion of economic security safeguards in investment agreements by the EIC Fund for companies selected to receive an investment component under the EIC Accelerator.
  • A requirement for all EIC beneficiaries to inform the Agency in cases where the Intellectual Property generated by EIC projects is proposed to be transferred to an entity in a non-associated third country.