Article 9 · Regulation (EU) 2026/2387

Contents

Article 9Eligibility#

1.Eligibility criteria shall be set in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 to support the achievement of the objectives laid down in Article 3 of this Regulation and shall apply to all award procedures under the Programme.

2.In award procedures, the following legal entities may be eligible to receive Union funding:

(a)entities established in a Member State;

(b)entities established in an associated third country;

(c)international organisations;

(d)SEAPs.

3.For actions supported by the Programme as referred to in Article 10, with the exception of actions referred to in Article 10(1), point (d), the recipients of Union funding (the ‘recipients’) shall be SMEs.

4.With the exception of actions referred to in Article 10(1), point (c), the recipients shall:

(a)be established in the Union or in an associated third country; and

(b)have their executive management structures located in the Union or in an associated third country.

5.The recipients shall not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or by a non-associated third-country entity.

6.The infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources of the recipients used for the purposes of the action supported by the Programme shall be located on the territory of a Member State or of an associated third country for the entire duration of the action.

7.Where the recipients involved in the action supported by the Programme have no readily available alternatives or relevant infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources in the Union or in an associated third country, they may use their infrastructure, facilities, assets or resources located or held outside the territory of the Member States or of the associated third countries, provided that this use does not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States, including respect for the principle of good neighbourly relations, and is consistent with the objectives set out in Article 3. The costs related to activities using such infrastructure, facilities, assets or resources shall not be eligible for support from the Programme.

8.Legal entities may be considered to have fulfilled the eligibility criteria referred to in this Article where they have fulfilled equivalent conditions under Regulation (EU) 2018/1092^note, (EU) 2021/697, (EU) 2023/1525^note, (EU) 2023/2418^note or (EU) 2025/2643 of the European Parliament and of the Council, or under Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1106^note, provided that no subsequent changes call into question the fulfilment of those conditions.

9.The following actions shall not be eligible for Union funding:

(a)actions or parts of actions that are already fully financed from other public or private sources;

(b)actions for the development of products and technologies the use, development or production of which is prohibited by applicable international law;

(c)actions for the development of lethal autonomous weapons without the possibility for meaningful human control over selection and engagement decisions when carrying out strikes against humans, without prejudice to the possibility of providing Union funding for actions for the development of early warning systems and countermeasures for defensive purposes;

(d)actions related to cluster munitions.