Horizon Europe as a Strategic Instrument for Georgia's Internal Security: Leveraging Clusters 3 and 4 through the NOTIONES Experience

Abstract

Introduction: The European Union's research and innovation programme Horizon Europe (2021-2027) is increasingly recognized as a strategic instrument for the security development, extending well beyond its traditional role in scientific cooperation. This paper examines the relevance of two thematically connected clusters, Cluster 3 ("Civil Security for Society") and Cluster 4 ("Digital, Industry and Space"), for Georgia's internal security architecture. Since January 2021, Georgia has been a fully associated member of Horizon Europe, entitled to participate on equal terms with European Union Member States. However, the strategic potential of these two clusters for the country's domestic security institutions remains largely underexplored in the academic and policy literature. Methods: The paper applies a policy analysis approach that combines document analysis of Horizon Europe's programmatic architecture, a case study of the NOTIONES project (funded under Horizon 2020) and its wider network of sister projects, and a comparative assessment of Georgia's current security-research architecture against European standards. NOTIONES, in which Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs participated alongside thirty European partner organizations, serves as the paper's primary empirical illustration. Results: The synergy between Clusters 3 and 4 offers a concrete mechanism for aligning Georgia's internal security system with European Union standards, that Georgia's participation in NOTIONES provided documented opportunities for operational learning, institutional networking, and access to technology foresight, and that the European Commission's interim evaluation provides broader evidence of the societal relevance of Cluster 3. Building on this experience, the paper identifies a replicable institutional model: the creation of a national-level security-research network functioning as a Georgian equivalent of NOTIONES. Conclusion: Participation in Horizon Europe, particularly through the combined leverage of Clusters 3 and 4, constitutes a substantive dimension of Georgia's European integration process, advancing not only institutional alignment with European Union norms but also the concrete development of operational security capabilities.