The European Commission has launched a call for proposals under the Digital Europe programme, aiming to strengthen cybersecurity capacities and support the implementation of European legislation in this area.

The objective is to support the European ecosystem in the consistent application of legislation, including the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), the NIS 2 Directive, the GDPR, DORA and the Cybersecurity Act. Expected projects should cover aspects such as the development of guidelines, the creation of conformity assessment tools for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), the establishment of secure communication channels, and the reduction of administrative burdens, for example through a single point of contact for incident notification. Emphasis is also placed on training, with courses based on the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF), exchange programmes, and initiatives to address the skills gap, in connection with the Cybersecurity Skills Academy.

The call also aims to strengthen the capacities of national certification authorities and conformity assessment bodies, notably for market surveillance. It supports the creation of common platforms for reporting incidents or vulnerabilities, as well as pilot projects to test compliance with the CRA. Particular attention is given to integrating security and data protection by design, encouraging cooperation between researchers, providers, and users of technologies. The call for proposals is open from 1 September 2026 to 14 January 2027, with budgets allocated to different components, such as €20,000,000 for supporting SMEs in the field of artificial intelligence.