CBE JU 2026 Call: Historical Reference for Circular Bioeconomy Grants

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) 2026 call for proposals is closed. CBE JU’s official 2026 call page records the call details, while its open-calls page says there are no open calls and points visitors to the closed-call archive, which lists 2026. The submission deadline was 22 September 2026 at 17:00 CET, as stated on CBE JU’s official call page. CBE JU reported that 272 proposals were submitted by that deadline. This page is therefore a historical reference to the completed cycle, not an invitation to apply to it.

The official pages checked for this update do not announce a subsequent call. Do not treat the annual pattern of previous calls as confirmation of another round or infer a date, amount, topic list, or deadline. Check CBE JU’s open calls page for a future announcement and its closed calls archive for past-cycle material. The 2026 call information below records what that cycle offered and how its application process worked; it cannot establish the conditions of a future call.

2026 call at a glance

The total budget is not an award to a single applicant. Funding was divided among topic-specific calls, each with its own expected contribution and scope. The work programme listed four flagship topics with €20 million per topic and one expected project for each; five other Innovation Action topics with €14 million per topic, an expected contribution of €7 million per project, and two expected projects each; three Research and Innovation Action topics with €6.5 million per topic, an expected contribution of €3.25 million per project, and two expected projects each; and one Coordination and Support Action topic with €1.2 million for one expected project. Those indicative topic budgets sum to approximately €170.7 million. Actual grant amounts and funding rates depended on the topic, action type, proposal budget, and Horizon Europe rules. “Up to €20 million” described the flagship topic contribution, not an unconditional award or general maximum available to every project.

What the closed call covered

The 13 topics targeted distinct points along circular bio-based value chains. Their common purpose was to help develop, validate, or deploy sustainable bio-based products and processes, with the call spanning research through industrial-scale innovation. The CBE JU 2026 programme grouped them as follows:

Innovation Actions – Flagship

Each of these four topics had an indicative contribution of €20 million:

• Boosting biorefinery competitiveness through biotechnology.
• Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) bio-based alternatives for fertilising and/or crop protection products.
• SSbD bio-based solutions for home and/or personal care.
• Diversification of nutritional food ingredient sources for increased EU resilience and strategic autonomy.

Flagship actions were intended for first-of-a-kind industrial deployment. A proposal needed to respond to the actual topic text and show a credible path to scale, market relevance, and the expected outcomes. The size of the topic contribution reflected the intended ambition; it did not mean that every proposal requested or received the full amount.

Innovation Actions

Each of these five topics had a €14 million indicative topic budget. The work programme estimated €7 million per project and two projects per topic:

• Biotech routes for valorisation of residual biomass.
• Bio-based additives as alternatives to unlock and increase recyclability and/or biodegradability.
• Bio-based chemicals and/or materials from woody residues.
• High-performance, circular-by-design, bio-based thermosets.
• Films and coatings for circular packaging.

These topics focused on innovation and validation at a more advanced stage than exploratory research. The exact expected technology readiness, required outcomes, and any topic-specific conditions were set in the topic description and 2026 Annual Work Programme. A general description of CBE JU’s action types cannot replace that topic-level detail.

Research and Innovation Actions

Each of these three topics had a €6.5 million indicative topic budget. The work programme estimated €3.25 million per project and two projects per topic:

• Addressing separation and purification challenges in biorefineries.
• SSbD bio-based polymers from alternative sources.
• Breakthrough and sustainable bio-based textile fibres.

These topics supported research and validation needs that could help advance solutions toward later demonstration or deployment. The funded work still had to match the specific expected outcomes, activities, and eligibility conditions in the official call documents.

Coordination and Support Action

The single €1.2 million CSA topic was Supporting industry in the switch to sustainable and circular bio-based products and processes. It addressed coordination and support rather than a conventional industrial demonstration project. Applicants needed to follow the CSA topic conditions rather than assume the same consortium and project design rules as an IA or RIA.

Who was eligible in the 2026 cycle

The call was governed by Horizon Europe participation rules and the topic-specific conditions in the amended CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2026. For RIA and IA proposals, the standard consortium composition required at least three independent legal entities established in three different countries: at least one independent legal entity in an EU Member State and at least two other independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country. The CBE JU applicant FAQ states that CSA applications could instead be submitted by one or more legal entities established in a Member State or Associated Country.

The 2026 FAQ clarified that entities from anywhere in the world could participate, regardless of their place of establishment or residence. Participation did not automatically mean that an entity could receive EU funding: automatic funding eligibility followed Horizon Europe country rules, including the rules for EU Member States, Associated Countries, and low- and middle-income countries, together with applicable exceptions. The FAQ specifically confirmed that UK entities were automatically funding eligible for the 2026 call. Applicants still needed to check any country-specific provisions relevant to a proposed consortium. These 2026 rules should not be carried forward to a later call without checking its own work programme and topic page.

The CBE JU ecosystem includes private and public organisations, companies of different sizes, research and technology organisations, universities, associations, farmers, consumer brands, and local authorities. The type of organisation alone did not make a proposal eligible: the project had to fit a published topic, meet the required consortium composition for its action type, satisfy country and other Horizon conditions, and demonstrate the operational capacity to do the proposed work. Affiliated entities did not count toward minimum consortium composition where that minimum applied.

How applications were submitted in 2026

The deadline has passed and the submission service for this call is closed. The following describes the route applicants used during the cycle and is retained for reference; it is not a way to submit now.

1. Select a topic and action type. Applicants matched their project to one of the 13 topic descriptions in the 2026 Annual Work Programme. The topic text set the expected outcomes, scope, action type, and any additional conditions. A general CBE JU mission statement was not enough to show relevance.
2. Build the eligible consortium. RIA and IA applicants assembled the required independent entities across countries. CSA applicants followed the distinct CSA composition rule. CBE JU offered a networking platform for partner search and proposal collaboration.
3. Register organisations and prepare access. The proposal coordinator used an EU Login account on the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal. Organisations applying for funding needed a Participant Identification Code (PIC); organisations without one had to register through the portal.
4. Prepare the proposal in the portal. Applicants drafted the proposal in the submission service for the selected topic, completed the required online information, and used the relevant application form. The 2026 programme specified a Part B page limit of 70 pages for IA proposals, including Flagships, and 50 pages for RIAs. Every proposal needed the Part B narrative and its first version of the dissemination and exploitation plan, including communication activities. The applicant FAQ identified additional attachments for cases where they applied: RIAs, IAs, and Flagships included one annex containing the consortium’s BIC membership certificates; Flagships included a business plan; and IAs, including Flagships, could provide an optional, indicative IKAA annex. The FAQ states that the IKAA annex was not considered during proposal evaluation. Topic-specific call documents supplied the applicable templates and instructions.
5. Submit before the call deadline. The portal accepted proposals until 22 September 2026 at 17:00 CET, as stated on CBE JU’s official call page. CBE JU’s subsequent announcement confirms that the call closed and 272 proposals were received. Late submissions were not a route to apply after closure.

Proposal planning in that cycle called for a topic-matched work plan, a clear account of excellence and expected impact, credible implementation, appropriate partner responsibilities, and a budget aligned with activities. The 2026 call also had CBE JU-specific in-kind contributions to operational activities (IKOP): the evaluation assessed the consortium’s ability to provide IKOP equal to 5% of total eligible costs for RIAs, 15% for IAs, and 20% for Flagships. Only IKOP from Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) members counted toward those thresholds. The FAQ treated the in-kind contributions to additional activities (IKAA) annex for IAs as optional and indicative; it was not considered during proposal evaluation. Applicants needed to identify the requirements relevant to their action type and topic in the work programme and FAQ. They had to consult the official 2026 work programme and portal documents for the applicable templates and attachments; a checklist copied from one action type or topic could omit a condition from another.

What happened after submission

CBE JU reported that the 272 submitted proposals requested a combined €1.65 billion against the €170.7 million call budget. The programme office first checks admissibility and eligibility, then proposals go through evaluation with independent external experts. The official announcement published on 23 September 2026 said evaluations would take place in October–November 2026, with applicants expected to receive evaluation results in January 2027. For proposals retained for funding, CBE JU expected grant agreements to be signed in May 2027 after grant agreement preparation.

Those are post-submission milestones for the 2026 cycle. They are not future application deadlines. An applicant who submitted should use the official portal and CBE JU communications for their proposal’s own status. The aggregate number of submissions and requested funding does not establish any proposal’s result or the eventual number of funded projects.

Using this page as an archive

For historical review, use CBE JU’s closed-calls archive to reach the 2026 call material, and consult the European Commission Funding & Tenders Portal record for topic-level details. The amended 2026 work programme contains the final call conditions and topic budgets; the applicant FAQ records clarifications and practical requirements for that round. The programme’s official how to apply for funding page describes general application mechanics, but future applicants must use the instructions for the specific call that is open at that time.

Before planning around a new CBE JU opportunity, verify that CBE JU has actually published it. Check the call identifier, opening and closing dates, action type, budget, topic scope, eligible countries, consortium composition, contribution limits, documents, and submission service directly in official materials. Previous calls can help organisations prepare partnerships and project ideas, but they do not guarantee that a similar topic or budget will recur.

The 2026 call supported proposals in biorefineries, residual biomass, circular materials and packaging, sustainable textiles, food ingredients, and other bio-based applications. Its historical value is in documenting those priorities and the closed cycle’s rules. Since the open-calls page currently reports no open calls and the official archive identifies 2026 among past calls, readers should treat this entry as an archive record and wait for an official announcement before acting on any prospective date or funding detail.