Effective and evidence-based responses to the increased availability and use of synthetic drugs and stimulants in Europe
Develop evidence-based responses to synthetic drugs and stimulants in Europe, focusing on prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and combating trafficking.
This call seeks projects to improve understanding and strategies against synthetic drugs like cocaine in Europe. It aims to enhance prevention, treatment, and harm reduction methods. Projects should also develop tools to combat drug trafficking and analyze societal and legal factors influencing drug markets.
Likely relevant for
- Police authorities
- Civil society organisations
- Non-governmental organisations
- Researchers in drug policy and public health
- Security practitioners
- Policymakers in drug control and public safety
Project signals
What it funds
- Development of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and harm reduction strategies for synthetic drugs and stimulants
- Strategies to reduce violence and criminal offences linked to synthetic drug use and marketing
- Technological tools and methods to combat drug trafficking across the supply chain
- Analysis of societal, technological, legal, economic, and ethical external drivers influencing drug availability and use
- Collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and security practitioners to enhance response effectiveness
- Engagement with Europol Innovation Lab and EU Drugs Agency for validation and uptake of innovations
Expected outcomes
- Improved evidence base for effective prevention, treatment, and harm reduction of synthetic drugs in Europe
- Equipped European security practitioners with skills, tools, and technology to reduce violence and offences related to synthetic drugs
- Enhanced understanding among security practitioners and policymakers of external drivers affecting drug markets and use
Who can apply / participate
- Police Authorities as legally designated public authorities
- Civil Society Organisations or Non-Governmental Organisations
- Consortium must include at least 3 Police Authorities and 2 Civil Society or Non-Governmental Organisations from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries
- Applicants must provide detailed information about security practitioners involved
- Participants must be from EU Member States or Associated Countries
- Police Authorities must be legally mandated for prevention, detection, or investigation of criminal offences (excluding police academies, forensic institutes, training facilities, border and customs authorities)
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data mandatory if satellite-based earth observation is used
- Specific budget allocation per participant type
- Exact funding rates
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility of Police Authorities and Civil Society Organisations as defined by the call
- Consortium composition meets minimum participant requirements
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data if satellite-based earth observation is involved
Money
Total budget for this topic is approximately 8 million EUR for 2027, funding up to 2 projects with a minimum contribution of 4 million EUR each.
- Total budget for 2027 — 8000000EURFunding for 2 expected grants with minimum 4 million EUR each
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per Horizon Europe General Annexes and Application Form instructions.
- Consortium must meet specific participant composition requirements.
- Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data if applicable.
- Compliance with security provisions for classified or sensitive information.
- Prepare proposal following Horizon Europe guidelines and templates.
- Ensure consortium includes required Police Authorities and Civil Society Organisations from different countries.
- Fill in 'Information about security practitioners' table in application form.
- Submit proposal by deadline via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
- Active involvement of specified security practitioners is mandatory.
- Mid-term deliverable assessment by practitioners is required.
- Engagement with Europol Innovation Lab and EU Drugs Agency expected.
- Projects should aim for TRL 6-8 by project end.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 15:05 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Related calls
These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Evidence base is improved for effective prevention, treatment and harm reduction of synthetic drugs and stimulants in Europe; Relevant European security practitioners, notably Police Authorities, Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations, are equipped with skills, tools and technology aimed at reducing the violence and offences associated with use and marketing of these substances, as well as at combatting drug trafficking from its origin to destination (i.e., through the entire supply chain); Increased understanding of relevant European security practitioners and policymakers regarding the influence of external drivers of change of societal, technological, legal, economic and ethical nature to the availability and use of different types of synthetic drugs and drug markets. Scope: This topic asks for proposals that seek to develop effective and evidence-based responses to the growing prevalence of synthetic drugs and stimulants, such as cocaine and crack cocaine, within the EU. As these substances increasingly influence the drug landscape, the urgent need for enhanced understanding and strategies in their prevention, treatment, and harm reduction has never been clearer. Amongst other, there is also a lack of pharmacological data for the emerging drugs, needed to do proper risk assessments and interventions of these drugs in Europe. Key focus areas include: Evidence-based approaches, strengthening the evidence base to inform effective prevention strategies, treatment modalities, and harm reduction practices targeted at synthetic drugs and stimulants. This includes identifying best practices in current interventions and evaluating their efficacy. Reducing violence and offending exploring strategies to mitigate the violence and criminal behaviour associated with the use and marketing of synthetic drugs. This involves understanding the socio-economic and cultural factors, including the gender, age, or other social factors, that contribute to these phenomena and proposing targeted interventions. Improving technologies and tools to combat drug trafficking from its origin to destination (i.e., through the entire supply chain). External drivers of change, analysing the impact of geopolitical situations, legal frameworks, and societal factors on the availability and consumption of various drugs, and addressing how international crises affect organised crime and drug markets in the EU. This includes investigating the repercussions of global developments on local drug dynamics and identifying adaptive response strategies. In light of the underdeveloped evidence base surrounding synthetic drugs, proposals should aim to foster collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and security practitioners to create a comprehensive and effective response to this pressing issue in Europe, previous research, including but not limited to research by other Framework Programmes’ projects. Coordination among the successful proposals from this topic should be envisaged to avoid duplication and to exploit complementarities as well as opportunities for increased impact. To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project. Activities proposed within this topic should address, in a balanced way, both technological and societal dimensions of the issue under consideration. The proposals funded under this topic are expected to engage with the Europol Innovation Lab during the lifetime of the project, including validating the outcomes, with the aim of facilitating future uptake of innovations for the law enforcement community. Similarly, the proposals funded under this topic are expected to engage with the EU Drugs Agency during the lifetime of the project, including validating the outcomes. Finally, proposals are expected to address all applicable considerations expressed in the Introduction of the Fighting Crime and Terrorism Destination. null Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Conditions and documents
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
DELETE ME Please add hyperlinks as embedded links where needed (underscored text). Send the call document through the document publication form to receive the hyperlink within 2 business days max. DELETE ME
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
The following additional eligibility criteria apply:
This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 3 Police Authorities[[In the context of this Destination, ‘Police Authorities’ means public authorities explicitly designated by national law, or other entities legally mandated by the competent national authority, for the prevention, detection and/or investigation of terrorist offences or other criminal offences, specifically excluding police academies, forensic institutes, training facilities as well as border and customs authorities.]] and at least 2 Civil Society Organisations (or Non-Governmental Organisations) from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5.
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in section B Security — EU classified and sensitive information of the General Annexes.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1)
Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1 BLIND)
Standard application form (HE CSA)
Standard application form (HE CSA Stage 1)
Standard application form (HE CSA Stage 1 BLIND)
Standard application form (HE RI)
Standard application form (HE PCP)
Standard application form (HE PPI)
Standard application form (HE COFUND)
Standard application form (HE FPA)
Standard application form (HE MSCA PF)
Standard application form (HE MSCA DN)
Standard application form (HE MSCA SE)
Standard application form (HE MSCA COFUND)
Standard application form (HE MSCA COFUND CE)
Standard application form (HE ERC STG)
Standard application form (HE ERC COG)
Standard application form (HE ERC ADG)
Standard application form (HE ERC POC)
Standard application form (HE ERC SYG)
Standard application form (HE EIC PATHFINDER CHALLENGES)
Standard application form (HE EIC PATHFINDER OPEN)
Standard application form (HE EIC TRANSITION)
Standard application form (HE EIC STEP)
Standard application form (HE EIC Accelerator stage 2 - full proposal)
Standard application form (HE EIC Accelerator stage 1 - short proposal)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1)
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1 BLIND)
Standard evaluation form (HE PCP PPI)
Standard evaluation form (HE COFUND)
Standard evaluation form (HE FPA)
Standard evaluation form (HE MSCA)
Standard evaluation form (HE EIC PATHFINDER CHALLENGES)
Standard evaluation form (HE EIC PATHFINDER OPEN)
Standard evaluation form (HE EIC TRANSITION)
Standard evaluation form (HE EIC Accelerator stage 1 - short proposal)
Standard evaluation form (HE EIC Accelerator stage 2 - full proposal)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Framework Partnership Agreement FPA
Call-specific instructions
Information on financial support to third parties (HE)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 3. Research Infrastructures
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 4. Health
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 6. Civil Security for Society
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 10. European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE)
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 12. Missions
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 13. New European Bauhaus Facility (NEB)
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support information
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.
Raw budget overview
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