The Hungarian Ministry for National Economy (Nemzetgazdasági Minisztérium, NGM) published an IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) call on 13 October 2025. IPCEI aims to enable EU Member States to jointly support strategic, innovative and cross-border projects that address significant scientific, societal or economic challenges at the European level.
Under IPCEI, Member States may provide support on the basis of a funding gap, subject to approval by the European Commission. According to the call, the aid intensity can reach up to the full funding gap or 100% of eligible costs.
Focus on AI and related technologies
This call concentrates on two strategic areas: artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies, with the objective of fostering a next-generation AI ecosystem. The NGM invitation allows companies operating in relevant industries to submit project proposals that exceed the current global technology standard.
Six eligible thematic areas
Proposals must be submitted for one of the following six thematic areas:
- Data processing, organisation and services
- Sovereign foundation models
- Sovereign, industry-specific foundation models
- AI deployment and operation
- Open AI platform
- AI services and sector-specific use cases
Projects must either include innovation that surpasses the global technology level, or enable the development of a novel product or service through an innovative production process. Proposals should also demonstrate cross-border elements and European significance.
Submission details and requirements
Preliminary applications are due by 5 December 2025 at 12:00 and should be sent to ipcei@ngm.gov.hu. Applications must describe the problem the project addresses, the market gap it intends to fill and the proposed solution, and they must detail the project’s cross-border components and European relevance.
Information webinar and contact points
PwC CEE will host an English-language online webinar on 21 October 2025 at 09:30, during which experts will explain the operation of IPCEI in detail. PwC provides registration information for the webinar.
For questions or support, PwC experts are available. PwC contacts named in the announcement are:
- Koncz Barbara, Cégtárs — barbara.koncz@pwc.com
- Lengyel Dávid, Menedzser — david.lengyel@pwc.com
Why this matters
The IPCEI call creates an opportunity for domestic and European actors to form consortia and launch sizeable cross-border AI projects aimed at building a competitive, sovereign and open European AI ecosystem. With Commission approval and the funding gap mechanism, the scheme can deliver strong financial support for strategic investments.
