Equipment for smart European cable systems - Works

No, a third-country entity (associated to CEF or not) cannot submit a proposal alone. The proposal must be submitted by an entity based in and supported by an EU Member State. Although it is not mandatory, it is recommended to have a support letter from respective third-country authorities.

Entities from non-EU countries, including Ukraine, are exceptionally eligible for projects of common interest, if the granting authority considers their participation indispensable for the implementation of the project, and on the condition that those entities provide security guarantees, approved, on the basis of national law, by the country in which they are established.

Both can apply (if necessary to implement the cross-border project), but cross-border dimension is not limited to participation of entities from both sides of the border, it’s more about technical deployment across the borders.

The CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF call does not support investment in connectivity as such. It focuses on adding sensing capabilities to existing infrastructure. While the primary interest is in enhancing telecommunications infrastructure, other types of critical infrastructure may also be considered.

If the project is about deploying a new cable infrastructure system, the proposal should be submitted under theCEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF Call. If it is about retrofitting, upgrading existing systems or other existing critical infrastructures to smart capabilities, then it should be submitted under the CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF Call.

The CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLES WORKSPDFtopic supports the upgrade of existing equipment to make fibre cable systems “smart”. The CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYS WORKSPDF topic support the deployment or significant upgrade of backbone networks – in particular submarine cables but also terrestrial backbone networks and satellite infrastructure.

If you plan to deploy a cable with smart components, only one proposal should be submitted to CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYS WORKS call.

Whether or not such company is considered EU-controlled will be subject to a specific assessment by our Central Validation Service, based on Ownership Control Declaration and additional documents that will be requested by the service to conclude the control status. For further information refer to ‘Guidance on participation in EU restricted calls with ownership and control restrictions’.PDF

Under CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYS-WORKS and CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLES-WORKS, according to the Digital security requirements of the GATEWAYS call textPDF and of the SMART-CABLES call textPDF, the applicants must confirm in the security declaration to be provided at submission the following: “All the proposals submitted to this topic must include security declarations by the participating entities […] that effective measures are in place to address underlying security issues, including, wherever relevant, measures to avoid falling under foreign jurisdiction obligations, or third country influence".

As regards eligibility, please refer to the section 6. Eligibility (Eligible participants) of the call texts. As regards financial capacity, please refer to the section 7. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion of the call text.

Under CEF-DIG-2026 calls each entity in the consortium must submit the form Ownership Control Declaration (the template is provided in the Submission System) as part of the application. The information provided in this declaration as well as other supporting documents the applicants will be requested to submit, will be used to assess the control and ownership of the entity. Further details on the ownership and control assessment can be found in the guidance documentPDF.

Legal entities established in third countries can exceptionally be eligible to receive Union financial support if this is essential for the achievement of the objectives of a given project of common interest, which will be assessed during evaluation of the proposal and if the granting authority considers their participation indispensable for the implementation of the action, and on the condition that those entities provide security guarantees, approved, on the basis of national law, by the country in which they are established. All other call requirements are applicable to the third-country participating legal entities.

Yes, public authorities are eligible for funding. See section 6 Eligibility of the call text.PDF

In principle, subcontractors are not considered as participants at submission phase and hence no related documents are necessary along with the application. However, for selected projects, subcontractors will be subject to the same obligations and restrictions as the participants of the project. In particular the ownership and control of subcontractors (at any level) will be assessed at a later stage during project implementation. Also, refer to section 6 Eligibility of the GATEWAYS call textPDF and of the SMART-CABLES call textPDF for the applicable call restrictions due to security reasons.

Member State letters of support are required from all Member States benefiting from the action, regardless whether their entities participate or not.

The call document specifies that only legal entities established in EU Member States and directly or indirectly controlled by Member States or by nationals of Member States will be eligible to receive funding under this topic. Exceptionally, non-EU controlled entities established in EU Members can participate under the condition that they provide security guarantees approved, on the basis of national law, by the EU Member State in which they are established.

Ownership control declarations for Subcontractors will be processed during project implementation. The Central Validation Service (REA Validation) will manage the validation process. For more information on security conditions, please consult section 6 (Eligibility) of the CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & SMART-CABLESPDF call texts.

There are no specific eligibility conditions concerning consortium composition for these calls. Please see subsection “Consortium composition” of the CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDFand SMART-CABLESPDF call texts. In part B of the application, Applicants are requested to demonstrate their organisational structure for the implementation, which will be assessed under quality criterion.

The call texts (CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF and SMART-CABLESPDF) specify that 'The (…) security guarantees shall certify the legal entity'. It means that we are interested in the fact that the guarantees are signed by the relevant authorities of the member state. The level of details to be provided by the entity to the authorities of their respective country has to be sufficient so that the authorities can confidently approve the guarantees to certify the compliance of the entity with the requirements defined in the call. For further information please see Guidance on participation in EU restricted calls with ownership and control restrictions.PDF

The beneficiary is the legal entity (possibly part of a consortium) that signs the grant agreement, assuming responsibility for project implementation. The European Commission, as the other signatory party, wants to ensure that the sensitive infrastructure resulting from such a project remains under the beneficiary's ownership and control for a minimum period of 10 years.

Under the CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF and CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF calls, as mentioned in section 6. Eligibility, participation of entities (including subcontractor at any level), is limited to entities from eligible countries, i.e. established in one of EU Member States, and EU-controlled. Exceptionally, entities (including subcontractor at any level) that are established in EU Member States, but are not EU controlled, shall also be eligible to participate on the condition that they provide security guarantees, approved, on the basis of national law, by the EU Member State in which they are established.

Yes, entities can participate as Associated Partners in the aforementioned calls. The respective call texts (CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF) provide information on the role and conditions of participation of Associated Partners in CEF Digital projects. All participating entities (including Associated Partners) will be requested to provide an ownership control declaration at the submission stage to verify their status.

Member States may apply, insofar they fulfil the eligibility conditions (section 6) of thecall text GATEWAYSPDF and of thecall text SMART-CABLESPDF. In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• and established in one of the eligible countries, i.e. EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)).

Provided the proposal fulfils the scope of the call (see section 2 of call text GATEWAYSPDFand of the call text SMART-CABLESPDF), there are no restrictions on the composition or size of the consortium, according to the section 6 of the call texts.

The joint venture entity must submit the Ownership Control Declaration, as required by the call document, using the template provided in the Submission System, as part of the application. This declaration, together with other supporting documents that will be requested, will be used for the assessment of foreign control of each partner. In addition, without the full information about the joint venture (notably its governance), it is not possible to confirm whether it would be considered controlled by an EU country, and therefore eligible.

CEF-Digital is a co-funding instrument, meaning that an applicant shall assure that the rest of the funding, for the implementation of the action, becomes available. Under the CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF call, the indicative maximum requested grant amount should not be higher than €4M per project.

The calculation methodology for personnel costs is described within article 6.2 the Model of the Grant AgreemPDFent (see Portal Reference Documents). The calculation method depends on the type of cost and the provisions for each personnel cost category. Costs are in pro rata of the days worked on the project. Some detailed examples are available in the Annotated Grant Agreement (see Portal Reference Documents). Specific conditions for the use of average personnel costs (unit cost according to usual cost accounting practices) are listed in the Commission ‘ Decision authorising the use of unit costs based on usual cost accounting practicesPDF for actions under the Digital specific objective of the Connecting Europe Facility’ (see Portal Reference Documents).

VAT is not an eligible cost under the CEF programme. See Article 6.3 of the Model Grant AgreementPDF referring to “Ineligible costs and contributions”.

Proposals should comply with the strictest cybersecurity requirements, imposed by national law, in accordance with the 5G Cybersecurity toolbox (where applicable) and other relevant EU guidance, of all the eligible countries where the infrastructure is deployed. The EU guidance on the subject, namely the “Communication on implementing the 5G cybersecurity Toolbox C (2023)4049” of 15 June 2023, which applies to EU programmes, explicitly excludes equipment from high risk suppliers. In addition, where the project provides that network technologies and equipment funded under the project could interconnect (or are part of the same network) with other network technologies and equipment not funded under the project, in a way that could undermine the security of the networks, the requirement to comply with the security requirements of the call, in particular the exclusion of high risk suppliers, shall apply also to any network technology and equipment that would represent a risk as regards the security of networks.

No. Indirect cost flat-rate is 0% of the eligible direct costs under the CEF Digital programme.

If the proposal will connect an outermost region, it qualifies for up to 70% co-funding for the works part of the project. The studies part of the project qualifies for up to 50% co-funding. Note however that, irrespective of the type of action and funding rate, the amount of funding requested will be considered in the assessment of the “Catalytic effect” evaluation criterion. The Commission also has the right to propose lower co-funding depending on budget availability and the interest of the programme.

In principle, the CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF call would not fund infrastructure that has already been installed. However, if the aim is to enhance existing sensing capabilities to cover parts of a cable system not previously monitored, this could be considered under this call. In such cases, the applicant should demonstrate that the action concerns elements that have not been funded to date and that it increases the sensing capabilities of the infrastructure in question.

KPIs are not based on assumptions. Under the CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLES call text,PDF CEF-Digital will support the upgrade of existing equipment to make submarine infrastructures 'smart', such as by attaching sensors or other probing techniques at the edge. This doesn't exclude software enhancements that could support this upgrade.

Validation is typically executed post-submission during application processing. The CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & SMART-CABLESPDF call texts make reference to legal and financial validation under sections 5 "Admissibility and documents", 6 "Eligibility" and 7 "Financial and operational capacity and exclusion".

For works proposals, a security declaration by each participating entity must be submitted, using the template provided in the Submission System. This declaration should confirm and demonstrate that the network technologies and equipment, including software and services, funded by CEF-Digital comply with the call security requirements. It is to be noted that the security requirements also apply to any other digital infrastructure (i.e. network technologies or equipment, including software and services) that are not funded by the grant but which could interconnect with the funded infrastructure (or can be part of the same network) in a way that could undermine the security of the funded infrastructure.

No, security compliance declarations do not need to be approved by Member State authorities.

According to the call texts (see Language in Section 13): Language — You can submit your proposal in any official EU language (project abstract/summary should however always be in English). For reasons of efficiency, we strongly advise you to use English for the entire application.

The CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLES callPDF does not support investment in connectivity as such. Instead, it focuses on adding sensing capabilities—without any particular technology preference—to existing infrastructure, whether telecommunications or other critical infrastructure.

Yes, deliverables are expected to demonstrate project progress and achievement of the technical work and should refer only to major outputs. Do not include minor sub-items, internal working papers, meeting minutes, etc.

As defined in the call texts (CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF and SMART-CABLESPDF), for ownership control restrictions: ‘Control’ means the possibility to exercise decisive influence on the participant, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediate entities, ‘de jure’ or ‘de facto’. This includes not only ownership of more than 50% (shareholding), but also any other elements and/or rights that can amount to control. For further information please see Guidance on participation in EU restricted calls with ownership and control restrictions.PDF

It is an option, but in CEF-Digital, we have not yet accepted any third-party guarantee. If it is the case, it will be discussed case-by-case by our services with the entity concerned. For more information, please see the Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.PDF

In part B of the application form, applicants are requested to demonstrate that such participation is indispensable to achieve the objectives of the project of common interest, meaning in practice that without this entity’s participation, the project cannot be implemented.

Feasibility is contingent on existing cable infrastructure specifications and technological capabilities for integrating wet sensing applications.

In principle yes, however it will be considered in the context of the specific proposal. The need for a market analysis has to be justified in relation to the technical characteristics of the sensing equipment in order to address any possible challenges of the specific proposal.

It means that the best technology is expected, to allow for the best possible performance, in line with the scope of the CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDFcall, which includes the protection of the infrastructures, and other capabilities that would be given to a system such as sensing of the environment. There is no preference to particular sensing technologies.

Online banks for financial transactions are subject to verification procedures and governance standards.

As stated in both call texts, the security declarations should demonstrate that the digital infrastructure (i.e. network technologies and equipment, including software and services) funded by the grant will comply with this call’s security requirements (as defined in the declaration), in accordance with the applicable EU law, national law, and EU guidance in place on cybersecurity.

The toolbox (see the Cybersecurity of 5G networks - EU Toolbox of Risk Mitigating Measures of 29 January 2020; andCOM(2020)50 of 29 January 2020 on Secure 5G deployment in the EU – implementing the toolbox) specifies a number of strategic and technical measures to be considered. Several measures, in particular some the technical measures, have links to software (e.g. TM03 on access controls or TM04 on virtualised network functions) or are specifically related to software (e.g. TM07 on the integrity of software and update/patch management). In addition, a number of strategic measures related to suppliers are also applicable to software suppliers, in particular SM03 (Assessing the risk profile of suppliers and applying restrictions for suppliers considered to be high risk including necessary exclusions to effectively mitigate risks - for key assets), and SM04 (Controlling the use of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and equipment suppliers’ third line support). Furthermore, some Member States have imposed other relevant restrictions that should also be followed, as stated in the call text (see above).

Finally, although no specific mention is done to management software in the Cable Toolbox, this is relevant for risk scenarios R2.1 on Cyberintrusion into a cable landing station and R2.3 on Physical intrusion into a cable landing station.

The CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLES call textPDF does not require the participation of specific research institutions within the consortium. However, during the evaluation, the consortium’s overall quality and capacity will be carefully assessed including its ability to credibly deliver the proposed objectives and KPIs.

According to CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYS and CEF-DIG-2026-SMART-CABLESPDF call documents, all proposals must include security declarations by the participating entities, by which they confirm that the results of the CEF-funded action shall remain with the beneficiary/beneficiaries during the action and for 10 years after its completion. The template of the security declaration specifically requires applicants to demonstrate/explain how they will comply with this requirement regarding their part of the project. According to the Work Programme, the content of the declarations and commitments in the project proposal, notably regarding arrangements related to IRUs/leases and SPV ownership structure, will be assessed during the evaluation phase, in particular as regards the implications related to the security requirements of the Call. Transfer of the control over part of the infrastructure related to IRUs/leases implies also transfer of the security requirements. This does not preclude any further assessment at implementation and post-action stages.

Ownership control declarations and ownership control assessments for Subcontractors can be processed during project implementation.

"No prefinancing" can indeed be proposed by the granting authority as a mitigating measure. For more information, please see the Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR appointment and Financial Capacity AssessmentPDFand consult the subsection "Pre-financing guarantees" of the call texts (CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & SMART-CABLESPDF)

The Commission’s Central Validation Service (CVS) will carry out Financial Capacity Assessment (FCA) for each participating entity. If the result of the FCA of the coordinator is WEAK or INSUFFICIENT, the granting authority will propose some mitigation measures, which may include a financial guarantee from the coordinator. For more information, see: Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.PDF

The Central Validation Service (REA Validation) will carry out the financial capacity check on the basis of the documents you will be requested to upload in the Participant Register during grant preparation. Please consult section 7 of the CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & SMART-CABLESPDF call texts (Financial and operational capacity and exclusion) and subsection “Financial capacity”.

All entities participating in the project will be subject to ownership control assessment (OCA). If ownership changes during implementation, the granting authority must be notified by the beneficiary and it may require a new OCA. It should be noted that eligibility conditions apply throughout the whole project implementation. For further information please see Guidance on participation in EU restricted calls with ownership and control restrictions.PDF

The Central Validation Service (REA Validation) will assess the financial capacity on the basis of the documents you will be requested to upload in the Participant Register during grant preparation. Please consult section 7 of the CEF-DIG-2026-GATEWAYSPDF & SMART-CABLESPDF call texts (Financial and operational capacity and exclusion) and subsection “Financial capacity”.

Since the beginning of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027, some basic acts (including Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility) specifically allow EU granting authorities to impose ownership control restrictions for participating entities in calls for proposals where this is necessary to protect EU interests.

Thus, in such calls, entities that would normally be eligible to participate will be ineligible, unless they comply with additional conditions regarding their ownership control situation. For these calls, the EU services will therefore verify the ownership control status of the participants (and, in some cases, also if the conditions for an exception apply, e.g. guarantee, etc).

‘Control’ means the possibility to exercise decisive influence on the participant, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediate entities, ‘de jure’ or ‘de facto’. This includes not only ownership of more than 50% (shareholding), but also any other elements and/or rights that can amount to control.

The ownership control status is defined through the assessment conducted by the Central Validation Service of the European CommissionPDF, based on the documents and information provided by the applicant during and following the submission of the proposal. However, the requirement to comply with the eligibility condition must in principle be fulfilled already at proposal submission stage (call deadline) and changes that occur later or during evaluation or grant preparation will NOT be taken into account – unless agreed by the granting authority.

The project can start before, with some conditions (see “Starting date and project duration” in section 10 of the GATEWAYS call textPDFand the SMART-CABLES call textPDF): The project starting date and duration will be fixed in the Grant Agreement (Data Sheet, point 1). Normally the starting date will be after grant signature. Retroactive application can be granted exceptionally for duly justified reasons — but never earlier than the proposal submission date.