Application advisory for the Horizon Europe 2026–2027 calls — and preparation for the 2028–2034 programme that follows — in the sectors Europe is rebuilding around: batteries and e-mobility, critical raw materials, energy systems and civil security. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia — in your language, priced for the mid-market.
tolmatch · from tolmács (HU) and tlmočník (SK), one shared ancient root: the interpreter. That’s the job — we interpret between Brussels and the plant floor.
The 2026–2027 work programmes put about €14 billion into calls across all of Horizon Europe. Most of it goes to consortia of at least three countries — and building one is where first-time applicants from Central Europe usually get stuck. Each domain below has its own clusters and deadlines; the work is the same: choose the topic, build the consortium, write it, win it.
Cell production, battery materials, recycling and road transport topics in Cluster 5, largely run through the BATT4EU partnership. Our founding domain — the Debrecen–Göd–Šurany corridor is our home turf, and its suppliers are exactly who consortia need.
Exploration, extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials, plus the advanced materials that reduce dependence on them. Innovation actions here run to roughly €10–12.5 million per project — large enough to change a mid-sized company.
Energy storage, grid flexibility and clean-industry topics sit at the centre of the Cluster 5 programme. We connect CEE utilities, industrials and storage developers to the topics built for exactly these projects.
Critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, border management and disaster response in Cluster 3. Horizon Europe funds civil applications only; we tell you early which side of that line your technology sits on, before you spend months on a proposal.
The current work programme is the last one under today’s rules. The next programme — known as FP10 — is a Commission proposal that Parliament and the Council are still rewriting. Numbers and structure below are proposals, not law. They matter now because the partners and track record you build for the 2027 calls carry straight into it.
The Commission proposes four pillars — Excellent Science, Competitiveness and Society, Innovation, and a standalone European Research Area pillar — and a closer link to the new European Competitiveness Fund. Parliament wants Horizon Europe to stay self-standing, with its own governance.
The Council wants a bigger say in strategic priorities and a guiding role in research partnerships, plus limits on how much of the budget partnerships can take. Partnership-run topics such as batteries could therefore look different after 2027.
Parliament’s lead rapporteur wants all defence research financed through the Competitiveness Fund, not Horizon Europe. That matches the line we draw today: Horizon funds civil applications, and we tell you early which side your technology sits on.
Parliament’s draft earmarks 3.3 % for Widening Participation. Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Poland all count as Widening countries, but those instruments mostly serve universities and research institutes, not companies.
What this means for you now. The 2027 topics are the last under current rules, and a consortium you assemble for them — partners in two or three countries, an organisation registered on the Funding & Tenders Portal, a proposal behind you — is the head start you carry into FP10.
We will not sell you FP10 advisory before there is an FP10 call to advise on. Until then we help you win under today’s rules and tell you when the new ones become clear.
Status as of 1 October 2026, from the Commission proposal, the Council’s 24 June 2026 state-of-play note and Parliament’s draft reports. Budget figures will change in negotiation.
Ten questions about your company, answered online. You find out which Horizon Europe routes you can realistically enter — a cluster topic, the EIC Accelerator, or a place in someone else’s consortium — and what is still missing. Free, and we tell you when the answer is “nothing yet”.
From choosing the right topic to building the consortium, writing the proposal and managing the grant — across Clusters 3, 4 and 5 and the EIC Accelerator. Retainer plus success fee: we’re paid for outcomes, not paperwork.
A monthly briefing across all four domains — which topics opened, which deadlines moved, how the 2028–2034 negotiation is going — translated into decisions you can act on. In English and Hungarian.
Ten questions about your company — fewer if some don’t apply. No documents to look up, no contact details until the end. You get the answer on screen, including when the answer is “nothing yet”.
We work in Hungarian, Slovak, English and German, on site — from the battery corridor to materials and equipment suppliers across the region. Big consultancies serve Berlin and Paris; we serve the plants between Brno and Debrecen.
Work programme drafts, topic changes, info days, partnership working groups — we follow the money while it is being shaped, not after the call is published. All engagement strictly within EU transparency and ethics rules.
You work with the founders on every engagement. No juniors learning on your invoice, no multinational rate card.
If a programme won’t fit you or a rule doesn’t apply, we tell you in the first call — for free. In funding advisory, our reputation is our pipeline; we only take applications we believe can win. Horizon Europe is competitive; honesty about the odds is part of the service.
Tolmatch combines three disciplines under one roof: commercial development across CEE markets ([David]), EU regulatory and public affairs from Brussels to the national level ([Tomáš]), and the product platform behind our monitoring tools ([Ondrej]). Native Hungarian and Slovak, based between Bratislava, Budapest and Brussels.
Batteries · raw materials · energy · civil security · the 2028–2034 negotiation. Monthly, 5-minute read, in English or Hungarian. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
First issue: [Month] 2026 · EN + HU
That’s the most common first question. Book 30 minutes — we’ll tell you honestly, including if the answer is “no.”