Horizon Europe Funding Rates: RIA 100%, IA 70% — Complete Guide (2026)

How Much Does the EU Actually Fund?

It is one of the first questions any new applicant asks: if we win a Horizon Europe grant, how much of our budget does the EU actually cover?

The answer is not a single number. It depends on the action type — whether you are applying for a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), an Innovation Action (IA), a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), or one of the ERC or EIC instruments. Each has a defined funding rate that determines what percentage of your eligible costs the EU will reimburse.

This guide explains how funding rates work in practice, how the indirect cost flat rate is calculated, the critical non-profit exception for Innovation Actions, and how to plan your consortium budget accordingly.

Sources used throughout:

Standard Funding Rates by Action Type

The following rates apply to the vast majority of Horizon Europe calls. Unless a specific call topic states otherwise, these are the rates you will work with.

Action Type	Funding Rate	Typical Use
RIA — Research and Innovation Action	100%	Fundamental and applied research activities
IA — Innovation Action (for-profit entities)	70%	Prototyping, piloting, demonstration, closer-to-market
IA — Innovation Action (non-profit entities)	100%	Same scope, but non-profits receive full reimbursement
CSA — Coordination and Support Action	100%	Coordination, networking, policy support, dissemination
MSCA — Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions	100%	Unit costs (not actual costs — see below)
ERC Grants	100%	Frontier research, single PI
EIC Pathfinder	100%	Breakthrough research with long-term vision
EIC Transition	100%	Proof of concept, maturation of Pathfinder results
EIC Accelerator (grant component)	70%	Single company, close-to-market innovation

These rates are defined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide and apply to all standard Horizon Europe work programmes unless a call topic explicitly specifies a different arrangement.

What "Funding Rate" Actually Means

The funding rate is applied to your eligible costs — not to your total organisational budget or the full economic value of the work. This distinction matters.

EU contribution = funding rate x total eligible costs

Eligible costs are costs that:

Are actually incurred during the project period
Are necessary for carrying out the project activities
Are identifiable and verifiable
Are reasonable, justified, and consistent with sound financial management
Are not excluded under the grant agreement

Costs incurred before the project start date, costs already covered by another EU grant, or costs not foreseen in the budget and not properly justified are never reimbursable — regardless of the funding rate.

Direct Costs vs Indirect Costs

Your total eligible costs are the sum of direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct Costs

Direct costs are costs you can attribute specifically to the project:

Personnel costs — salaries, social security contributions, and other statutory costs for staff working on the project
Travel and subsistence — travel to project meetings, conferences, and fieldwork sites
Equipment — purchase or depreciation of equipment needed for the project (only the portion used during the project period is eligible)
Subcontracting — work contracted out to third parties that cannot be performed in-house
Other goods and services — consumables, publications, open access fees, workshop costs, and similar

Indirect Costs (Overheads)

Indirect costs — sometimes called overheads — cover costs that cannot be directly attributed to the project: building maintenance, general IT infrastructure, administrative support, utilities, and similar shared organisational costs.

In Horizon Europe, indirect costs are not calculated from your actual overhead rate. Instead, a 25% flat rate applies to all beneficiaries, calculated as:

Indirect costs = 25% x (total direct costs - subcontracting costs - financial support to third parties - any unit costs that already include indirect costs)

This flat rate is fixed in the Model Grant Agreement (Article 6.2) and is not negotiable. You cannot claim more, even if your actual overhead rate is higher. You cannot claim less.

For most beneficiaries, this simplification is beneficial: it reduces the administrative burden of tracking and justifying actual overhead allocations, and it is applied uniformly across all partners in the consortium.

Example calculation:

A beneficiary with EUR 800,000 in direct costs, of which EUR 100,000 is subcontracting:

Eligible direct costs for flat rate base: EUR 700,000
Indirect costs: 25% x EUR 700,000 = EUR 175,000
Total eligible costs: EUR 800,000 + EUR 175,000 = EUR 975,000

The Non-Profit Exception in Innovation Actions

This is one of the most consequential — and most misunderstood — rules in Horizon Europe funding.

Innovation Actions carry a 70% funding rate for for-profit entities. The rationale is that IAs are closer to market: the EU expects commercial beneficiaries to contribute their own resources because they stand to gain commercially from the results.

However, non-profit legal entities receive 100% funding in IAs. This includes:

Universities and higher education institutions
Public research organisations
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with non-profit status
Public bodies operating on a non-profit basis

This is not something you apply for or negotiate. The Funding & Tenders Portal determines each beneficiary's legal entity type during the registration and validation process. If your organisation is validated as a non-profit, the 100% rate applies automatically in IAs.

Mixed Consortia in Innovation Actions

This creates an important dynamic: in a single IA consortium, different partners can have different funding rates.

For example, a consortium of one university, one research institute, and two SMEs submitting an IA proposal would see:

University: 100% of eligible costs reimbursed
Research institute: 100% of eligible costs reimbursed
SME 1: 70% of eligible costs reimbursed
SME 2: 70% of eligible costs reimbursed

Each partner's EU contribution is calculated independently based on their own costs and their applicable funding rate. The overall EU contribution to the project is the sum of all individual contributions.

Budget Planning Example

Example 1: A 3-Year RIA — EUR 3 Million Total Eligible Costs

Cost Category	Amount
Personnel	EUR 1,600,000
Travel	EUR 120,000
Equipment (depreciation)	EUR 180,000
Subcontracting	EUR 200,000
Other goods and services	EUR 300,000
Total direct costs	EUR 2,400,000
Indirect costs (25% of EUR 2,200,000*)	EUR 550,000
Total eligible costs	EUR 2,950,000
EU contribution at 100%	EUR 2,950,000

*Subcontracting (EUR 200,000) excluded from the indirect cost base.

In a RIA, the EU covers the full amount. The consortium has no mandatory co-financing requirement.

Example 2: The Same Project as an IA for a For-Profit SME

Using identical cost figures:

	Amount
Total eligible costs	EUR 2,950,000
Funding rate	70%
EU contribution	EUR 2,065,000
Own contribution required	EUR 885,000

The SME must contribute approximately EUR 885,000 from its own resources or third-party non-EU sources. This is a significant cash and in-kind commitment that must be planned well before submission.

Co-Financing in Innovation Actions: Key Rules

The 30% co-financing requirement for for-profit entities in IAs comes with strict rules:

It must come from the beneficiary's own resources — cash, in-kind contributions, or other non-EU funding.
It cannot come from other EU programmes — combining Horizon Europe IA funding with other EU structural or cohesion funds to cover the same costs is prohibited (the "no double funding" rule, HE MGA Article 10).
It does not need to be cash — in-kind contributions (staff time already paid, use of own infrastructure) can count toward the co-financing, as long as they are eligible costs under the grant agreement.
It must be declared in your budget — the co-financing share appears in the budget table as "own resources" and is subject to audit.

For SMEs in particular, this 30% requirement is a meaningful financial barrier. It is one reason why SMEs frequently participate in IAs as smaller consortium members rather than as coordinators — keeping their absolute cost share (and therefore their co-financing obligation) manageable.

Special Cases: Unit Costs and Lump Sums

Not all Horizon Europe funding follows the actual-cost model described above.

MSCA Actions use unit costs rather than actual costs. Researchers receive a fixed amount per researcher-month that already incorporates living allowance, mobility allowance, and a contribution to the organisation. There is no separate indirect cost calculation — the unit costs are all-inclusive.

EIC Accelerator combines a grant component (70% funding rate, up to EUR 2.5 million) with an optional equity component (up to EUR 15 million), providing a unique blended finance instrument for high-growth innovators. The equity component is not a grant and has separate conditions.

Some specific calls and pilot actions use lump sums — a fixed amount agreed at project level, with no actual cost reporting required. The Horizon Europe lump sum pilot has been expanding; always check the call text to see whether standard actual costs or a lump sum model applies.

Practical Tips for Budget Planning

Check the call text first. The funding rate stated in the Programme Guide is the default, but individual call topics can specify different arrangements (though this is uncommon in standard Horizon Europe calls).

Use the official budget template. The Funding & Tenders Portal provides the standard budget table in the grant application system. Do not build parallel spreadsheets — work in the official tool to avoid transcription errors.

Account for equipment depreciation correctly. Only the depreciation for the period during which the equipment is used on the project is eligible. If you purchase a EUR 120,000 instrument with a 5-year useful life and use it for 3 years of the project, only EUR 72,000 is eligible — not the full purchase price.

Subcontracting is subject to justification. While there is no hard cap defined in the MGA, evaluators and reviewers expect subcontracting to be the exception rather than the rule. Tasks subcontracted to third parties should be clearly justified as work the consortium cannot perform in-house.

Personnel costs must reflect actual employment conditions. You cannot claim higher daily rates than what staff actually earn. All personnel costs are subject to audit and must be supported by timesheets and payroll records.

Plan for the indirect cost flat rate early. Because indirect costs are a fixed 25% of the direct cost base (minus subcontracting), you can calculate them precisely once your direct cost budget is settled. There is no need to gather overhead rate documentation.

Choosing Between RIA and IA

The funding rate difference between RIA (100%) and IA (70% for for-profit entities) is one factor in choosing the right action type — but it should not be the only one. The choice must be driven by the maturity of your research and innovation activity and what the call topic requires.

Submitting an IA-structured proposal to a RIA call — or vice versa — is a fatal error that reviewers will immediately identify. Read the call topic carefully. The action type is specified in the call fiche, not left to the applicant to choose.

For a detailed breakdown of what each action type requires and how to match your project to the right instrument, see our guide: RIA vs IA vs CSA vs EIC: Choosing the Right Horizon Europe Funding Scheme.

Summary

RIA, CSA, ERC, EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition: 100% of eligible costs
IA (for-profit): 70% of eligible costs — a mandatory 30% co-financing requirement applies
IA (non-profit): 100% of eligible costs — automatic, based on validated legal entity status
Indirect costs: Fixed 25% flat rate on direct costs minus subcontracting — not negotiable, not based on actual overhead
Mixed IA consortia: Each partner's rate is calculated independently based on their own legal status and costs

Understanding funding rates before you build your budget saves significant rework and prevents the common mistake of overstating the EU contribution in your financial projections. When in doubt, refer to the Annotated Model Grant Agreement — it is the definitive reference for all cost eligibility and reimbursement rules.

Horizon Europe Funding Rates Explained: RIA 100%, IA 70%, and What It Means for Your Budget