European Partnership Help Center

Welcome to the ERA-LEARN Help Center for European Partnerships. Here you will find a collection of frequently asked questions and answers from our webinars and events. More questions and answers will be added over time. If you have any partnership related questions, please send them to office@era-learn.eu and we will add them to the Help Center.

Can other sources of EU funding (than Horizon Europe funding) be used as source for the phasing-out scenarios?

Yes, the Horizon Europe legislation clearly states the phasing out refers to FP funding, “without prejudice to possible continued transnational funding by national or other Union programmes” (Annex III, 4(b)). Therefore, the strategy must include at least one credible scenario without FP funding, but this does not exclude the possibility of drawing on other EU programmes or instruments, where relevant and feasible.
How does the relationship with the European Commission evolve once EU Framework Programme funding ends?

In principle, without EU funding, there is no longer a formal governance or contractual link with the Commission. The partnership or its successor structure would continue independently. However, if other forms of EU funding or cooperation are maintained, some level of interaction may continue, although the nature of the relationship would likely evolve.
Are European Partnerships expected to describe alternative strategies in which they get funding elsewhere in order to carry on the network activity, for instance at other European calls?

Yes. Exploring other potential European, national, or private funding sources can form part of a credible scenario, provided it is realistic and consistent. The key is to show how the partnership’s core value proposition could remain relevant and viable through different funding models. Alternative models without FP funding may include, non-exhaustively, transition to a membership-based technology platform, discontinuation with preserved building blocks, or hybrid models with diversified funding sources.
Apart from FP funding, what other EU funding sources are available?

There is no official list of all possible EU funding sources. For the current MFF, alternative or additional funding opportunities can be found on the Funding and Tenders portal: EU portal: https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-fundingprogrammes_en The legal proposals for the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and related funding programmes are currently under negotiation and may change. Partnerships who are designing scenarios relying on other EU funding sources are encouraged to follow major developments and reflect them in their scenarios. Phasing-out strategies may include reasonable policy assumptions and should be treated as living documents, to be adapted as negotiations evolve and as clarity emerges on which future programmes may best support their activities. Partnerships are expected to identify relevant funding sources themselves, depending on the activities envisaged.
One of the options that the guidelines on phasing-out strategies identify is to use EU funding programmes other than Horizon Europe. Some of these depend on other DGs. Are other DGs open to this option?

Exploring feasibility is part of the scenario development. Partnerships may indeed identify opportunities in other EU programmes, if relevant and realistic. The exercise does not imply prior commitment from those programmes but aims to identify promising pathways to be further explored.
What is meant by policy assumptions? How can Partnerships anticipate the policy by 2033, when the partnership ends?

“Policy assumptions” refer to the underlying policy conditions or trends your scenarios are built on: for example, the continuing relevance of a thematic area, emerging EU priorities, or evolving regulatory contexts. These assumptions help make scenarios realistic and coherent with likely policy developments, without requiring you to predict them. They should be transparent and updated as the policy landscape evolves.