Deadline Date: April 14, 2026
The European Commission is accepting grant applications to focus on supporting projects that develop and demonstrate sustainable and digital strategies to enhance the competitiveness, resilience, and environmental performance of middle- and small-sized ports across Europe.
Ensured applicability and replicability of sustainable and digital strategies at port level for middle and small-size maritime ports and inland ports across all the EU, balancing geography and size, ensured increased adoption of sustainable waterborne transport practices in ports of all sizes, sustainable and digital strategies will prepare middle and small-sized ports to enhance their competitiveness with a focus on cost-effective and scalable adaptation measures, increase their climate resilience and biodiversity friendliness, and improve safety for port workers and crews of ships at berth, sustainable and digital strategies will reduce emissions of GHG, air and water pollutants and other biodiversity impacts from ports, applying innovative solutions for zero-emission and biodiversity friendly port operations and ships at berth, contribute to the objectives of the EU Port Strategy, development of sustainable and digital strategies that not only enhance the competitiveness of middle-sized and small-sized ports but also mitigate health risks for populations in port areas.
Ports are key multimodal hubs in the supply chain, linking maritime transport with the hinterland while evolving into facilitators of sustainable energy, clusters of industry and circular economy, and pillars of geopolitical and geo-economic resilience. Europe requires ports that are competitive and sustainable at local, regional, and global levels, and the Competitiveness Compass highlights the need for a renewed strategy to define the role of European ports in the future EU economy.
The European Green Deal aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and reverse ecosystem degradation by 2030, while the EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy emphasises the need for infrastructure that is climate-adapted, less harmful to biodiversity, and resilient to disasters. In this context, ports are expected to support increasing volumes of clean and decarbonised energy sources, particularly renewable energy, supported by modernised energy grids. Proposals under this opportunity are expected to identify innovative and mature technologies, including results from EU-funded research, innovation, and deployment projects, as well as technological, economic, and social best practices that can be deployed in middle- and small-sized maritime and inland waterway ports across the EU. Strategies should contribute to the expected outcomes while ensuring geographical balance and alignment with the objectives of the EU Ports Strategy.
Projects should design and demonstrate integrated smart energy systems and grids for port and waterborne transport operations, including energy production, storage, and onshore power supply operations, covering electrification and charging needs for port equipment and connections to hinterland transport, nearby industry, and buildings. Climate resilience strategies addressing sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and other climate-related risks should also be developed using cost-effective and scalable solutions, including nature-based approaches. The topic is implemented under HORIZON-CL5-2026-05-D5-11 – HORIZON Innovation Actions, with a total indicative budget of €21,000,000, and expected EU contributions of around €10,500,000 per project.
Proposals are expected to analyse the potential of vessel traffic management information systems and port community systems, support harmonisation of digital functionalities, and consider linkages to eMSW and eFTI. Digital solutions should apply common standards and semantics for harmonised monitoring of greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions and address cybersecurity requirements in line with EU standards.
The opportunity also emphasises the need to explore long-term workforce requirements for zero-emission, climate-resilient, biodiversity-friendly, safe, and competitive port operations, alongside the development of a research and innovation roadmap with milestones for 2035 and 2050. Cooperation between ports, stronger horizontal networking, evaluation of financial implications, and identification of sustainable funding strategies and business models are also integral elements.
At project level, solutions must be demonstrated in at least six medium- and small-sized TEN-T ports, ensuring geographical balance, with five maritime ports and one inland port, while not all solutions need to be demonstrated in every port. Projects are expected to contribute to EU added value, strategic autonomy, competitiveness of the EU waterborne industry, research and innovation capacity, technological know-how, human capital, and industrial resilience, while aligning with the objectives of the European Partnership on Zero Emission Waterborne Transport.
For more information, visit European Commission.
