Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas and Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Crețu have launched the “Seal of Excellence”, a certificate that will attest to the excellence of project proposals submitted in response to Horizon 2020 calls for proposals but which were not funded due to a lack of EU resources. In its pilot phase, this initiative will apply to projects submitted under the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument.

This "Seal of Excellence" will allow regions to recognise the quality label awarded to excellent project proposals submitted under Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme, and to promote their access to various funding sources, such as Structural Funds and other national or regional investment programmes.

The Seal of Excellence will therefore help national and regional managing authorities to identify the most innovative businesses, benefiting from the evaluation system carried out at the European level within the framework of Horizon 2020 and offering a second chance to SME Instrument projects.

Access to alternative funding sources is not automatic: it will be up to the managing authorities to decide whether to accept the validity of the evaluation results carried out under Horizon 2020, thereby avoiding a new evaluation process and considering the possibility of drawing up special rankings for projects positively evaluated by the Commission. The issuance of the certificate of excellence by the Commission to companies that have achieved scores above the threshold (13 for Phase I and 12 for Phase II) will, however, be automatic.

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Attachments

• seal_of_excellence_flyer_2015.pdf