ion zarasol

ion zarasol

(Ion)

WHY

We create the non-profit organization Aragrowth Innovacion to practice and to promote the spirit of innovation

In a restricted sense, we consider innovation in the enterprise as the introduction of organizational disruptive change in the presentation, creation, delivery or monetization of value, to gain competitive advantage. Similarly, we consider the innovation policy of a government or institution as the identification of strategic priorities and, then, the allocation of public resources and mobilization of private investment in specific directions to catalyze development processes in line with those strategic goals

In the context of our activity, innovation refers synecdotically to all the key elements that sustain entrepreneurship, competitiveness and search for excellence. We get inspiration by the driving principles listed by Gwynne Shotwell [2201]:

  1. commit to ambitious goals
  2. ensure rapid innovation
  3. focus relentlessly on progress
  4. promote continuous feedback
  5. build on an exceptional team

When government gives guidelines, consumers are demanding more quality or better products, and companies see market opportunities, there appear new mentalities and opportunities

We endorse these principles in our organization and we offer our knowledge to apply them in companies in our region

We also include in the vision that we want to project principles included in the Tesla Handbook:

  • Communication: you should consider yourself obligated to talk to anyone without anyone else's permission until the right thing happens
  • Responsibilities: If you see opportunities to improve the way we do things , speak up even if these are outside your area of responsibilities
  • Feedback: Do not wait to initiate a conversation to get the feedback you need to perform at a high level

With these principles, we defined our corporate profile:

  1. A start-ups facilitator
  2. Looking at interconnecting people and institutions as a tool and an end
  3. With the expertise and the vocation to conceive and manage innovative projects to make companies more competitive and to help people leave better

[2201] https://youtu.be/X1mp1j0ef8c?t=463

INVESTMENTS

Gwynne Shotwell says [2201] " I think engineers think better when they’re pushed hardest to do great things in a very short period of time, with very few resources". Excellence is incompatible with excess of resources

[2201] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/spacex-shotwell-calls-out-blue-origin-boeing-lockheed-martin-oneweb.html

The purpose of investing is to spread knowledge, to modernize structures, to develop economic sectors, to innovate , to promote strategic orientations, to favor social choices

Investing in an enterprise should not be an occasional, short term activity, but it should be perceived as a process of continuous nature

The investment's objective in an enterprise is to gain a competitive advantage. this advantage can be achieved through economic, technological, organizational and social measures

Investment actions in the economic domain are oriented to initiate new activities and to improve the quality of offered products and services

Investments in the technological dimension aim to improve the productivity and to create new products and production lines

Investments in the organizational domain aim to increase flexibility

Investments in the social domain aim to make evolve the organizational culture, through training, motivation, and to align the enterprise with evolving social and cultural values

Financial support from EU funds are oriented to make affordable the cost and to reduce the risk of such actions.

Investmens can be addressed to the economic, organizational and social dimensions with observable gains:

  • economic dimension : increased sales revenue, reduced operating expenses of an enterprise, improved quality of offered products and services as well as through minimization of risk of the conducted economic activity
  • organizational dimension : an enterprise can achieve gains in respect of improved quality of completed processes, increased flexibility towards changes occurring in its environment, and faster reacting to current and future needs of the enterprise.
  • social dimension : organizational culture created in an enterprise through development and training of staff, building and improving of the motivation system, and increased integration of employees with their employer

FINANCE

We analyzed the sources available for early stage funding for highly innovative companies

EUROPEAN ANGELS

One option that we analyzed was the European Angels Fund (EAF), an initiative of the European Investment Fund (EIB) which engages in co-investment relationships with experienced business angels across Europe [101] [102]

EU FUNDS

EU financial instruments are used as a source of implementation of cohesion policy acting upon the conditions for the creation and development of small and medium sized enterprises and to stimulate entrepreneurial behavior in Europe

Entrepreneurs can apply tor non-returnable EU subsides for operational programs in individual support areas. The financial aid provided to the company in the competition mode is to help in difficult competitive conditions, motivate companies to develop and strength the region in which the company operations.

Financial resources from operational programs of European Funds allow supporting investment activities in the SME sector, specially in the form of development investments as well as innovative and modernization investments

Investment of EU Funds is normally in two phases:

  • the access to the funds that includes: finding a Call, finding partners, registering to the program and submitting a proposal
  • the management of the funds, that begins with the signature of the Agreement and the management of the project and reporting

[] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/IT/IT+How+To [] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/IT/How+to+participate [] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/IT/Manage+your+grant

TECHNOLOGY

All areas of {sector} are touched by the technological forces that have led to new entrepreneurship, unbridled innovation, and significant growth in interest by venture capital firms to become involved

ORGANIZATION

we created Aragrowth Innovacion, a non-profit organization creation of legal entities is now part of our offer for innovation

THE FIRST EVENTS

interempresas

We noted that, in February, there had taken place a conference of Fórum Smart Agro about Digitalization of the Food Chain, a subject that we consider of direct interest, with the participation of over 400 professionals. We contacted with the organizers, interempresas, who are dedicated to facilitating communication among enterprises, and they were very kind to help us organize the event with the Region on EU Programmes and funds

Normandie

We noted also that Normandie there had been an event to present the possibilities to participate in EU programmes This event had taken place with participation of

We agreed with our Regional Government to organize a similar event in our region. It was a hybrid event, with direct and remote participation. It covered

  • the mechanisms of the EU programs,
  • their relation to the regional plans It served us and it served other companies in the region to learn about it too. We believe that the participation of our region in EU programs will increase as a result

We learned how to organize events. Organization of events is now part of our offer of innovation services

PARTNERS

We noted that one of the projects realized in CITA is Estimation of a database for Non-Tariff Measures done by Ana Isabel Sanjuán López in 2017-2018 in collaboration with the Universion of Wageningen

We noted also that Irene Sanchez-Andrea had received the University Fund Wageningen Research Award 2021 because of the discovery a method by which microbes take CO2 and produce organic compounds

The Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has developed a five-step approach to help food producing companies create effective sustainability programmes together with supplying farmers

The Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is also leader in research and development in the domain of environment and the agrifood

We decided to have WUR as a reference partner for European Projects

CONTACTS

The representatives of the Regional Government of Aragón in Interreg [4002] are Pablo Pérez Benedí and Miguel-Angel Garcia-Muro [4002] https://www.interregeurope.eu/in-my-country/spain/

The LIFE National contact points for nature and diversity Mr. Santiago Santillán Fraile Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica Subdirector General de la Oficina Presupuestaria Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz s/n 28071 Madrid Tel +34 91 597 60 76 Email: bzn-life@miteco.es

Roser Mestre is responsible of the Agrifood sector of Aragon Exterior, the organism of the Government of Aragon supporting the internationalization of the aragonese economy. Francisco Vigalondo is responsible of the Delegation in Brussels

THE FIRST WEBSITE

Our corporate website

We wanted to publish a website that would project our corporate philosophy, our guiding principles and our projects We wanted also to use our website as index of the news and events that we thought relevant for companies in our region

We registered the domain of our organization: aragrowth.org We chose an open-source framework that could be easily modified to host projects, news and events We also decided to have the site hosted in the cloud on a platform that would permit easy upload of content and free hosting

Now the creation and operation of enterprise web sites is part of our offer of innovation

The regional site on EU Funds

While we were reviewing information about how to access community and regional funds we remarked the [website of the Normandie Region about EU Funds]9https://www.europe-en-normandie.eu/)

We liked the basic structure:

  • I have a project
  • I am beneficiary of EU funds
  • Information on EU funds
  • My region and the EU

More in detail:

We agreed with our Region to provide similar information in our Regional website

rural website

We noted that Nazaret Mateos Alvarez had received the a European award in agriculture [5003]. She has created EntreSetas. The website supports the commercialization of rural products, an element that we consider key for innovation in the agrifood sector

[5003] https://www.agrodigital.com/2021/03/11/una-espanola-gana-el-premio-europeo-a-la-innovacion-de-las-mujeres-agrarias/

DIGITALIZATION OF SMEs

The Spanian Government has committed with the EU to digitalize one million SMEs (PYMEs). The digitalization of a company can be understood as the management through software of its main business processes. This is also the standard definition of and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) [5001]

ERP is supported by Business Management Software. This refers to a suite of integrated modules, increasingly cloud-based, that an organization use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from all relevant business activities.

Modules in an ERP digital solution are

  • Accounting: fixed assets, budgeting, cost management
  • Human resources: recruiting
  • Manufacturing: bill of materials, quality control
  • Order processing: order to cash, pricing, inventory, shipping
  • Supply chain management: supply change management, inventory
  • Activity and project management: project planning, resource planning
  • Customer relationship management (CRM): sales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact, call center support – CRM systems are not always considered part of ERP systems but rather business support systems (BSS)
  • Data mining: extract patterns form data

We considered the challenge of exploring how a wide number of SMEs in different domains could be digitalized with a coherent approach. To simplify the problem we adopted a few guidelines:

  • the solution should be cloud based
  • it should be open source
  • it should be based on international standards and widely recognized management practices
  • it should be possible to migrate with reasonable effort to a different solution
  • it should be applicable to our organization

We got an initial list of solutions from [5002] and [5010] Then we decided to try: oddo, tryton, erpnext and vienna

Now the digitalization of SMEs through Enterprise Resource Planning is part of our offer of innovation

[5001] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning [5002] https://fosspost.org/open-source-erp/ [5003] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoo [5004] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERPNext [5005] https://www.odoo.com/ [5006] https://demo3.odoo.com/web#cids=1&home= [5007] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryton [5008] VIENNA Advantage ERP/CRM [5009] Tryton https://www.tryton.org/ [5010] https://opensource.com/tools/enterprise-resource-planning

PROJECTS

Our first project

Our first project was in support to a young student of engineering, passionate of nature and farming, who wanted to restore the original varieties of wine and olive in a small rural property in CyL

We contacted with an officer in the CyL regional government We explored the options to obtain EU funds

Circular economy and biodiversity is now for us a major focus on interest

The preparation of EU projects and the access to EU Funds is now part of our offer of innovation

  • supporting the preparation of strategic plans
  • obtaining EU funds to support project ideas
  • supporting EU funded projects coordination and reporting
  • expanding businesses to international markets

SECTORS

The Annual Single Market Report of 2021 describes 10 industrial sectors, or ecosystems

[24001] https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/annual-single-market-report-2021.pdf

AGRIFOOD

The Agrifood ecosystem [2] covers producers and suppliers. It overlaps with the Tourism and the Retail ecosystems

Transformative initiatives include:

  • use technology to decarbonize production
  • generalize access to online marketplaces

Funding and Policy tools include:

  1. the Recovery and Resilient Facility (RRF) ensuring support for a green recovery
  2. CRII+/ERDF/ESF/CEF/EAFRD179 and EAGF1. The Common Agricultural Policy’s EAFRD and the EAGF also provide crucial investment funding to agri-food, with a specific focus on rural development and COVID-19 crisis recovery
  3. Horizon Europe (including European Partnerships), that offers support for research and innovation (R&I) for the transition to sustainable, healthy and inclusive food systems from primary production to consumption
  4. Digital Europe Programme, which allows the ecosystem to test advanced AI-based and robotics technologies for precision farming, food processing, wholesale, retail, hospitality and food services
  5. InvestEU, which provides debt financing to help them digitalise, innovate and become more sustainable
  6. EU Space Programme and European Defense Fund Copernicus,which helps assess agricultural land use and trends, crop conditions and yield forecasts

Supportive regulatory environment include:

  • Digital transformation. It promotes the use of advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, block chain, high performance computing or the Internet of Things to make farming and food processing more efficient and sustainable.
  • Green transformation The Farm To Fork (F2F) strategy foresees the adoption of a Legislative Framework for sustainable food systems by 2023, sets sustainability targets for primary producers and outlines related legislative initiatives.
  • Standardization. As part of F2F review is underway for 2022 to reinforce the role of sustainability criteria and leverage impact on food loss and waste and healthier diets. Standards will also underpin future food sustainability and animal welfare labels

The Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has developed a five-step approach to help food producing companies create effective sustainability programmes together with supplying farmers

[6404] https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/annual-single-market-report-2021.pdf [6414] https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Research-Institutes/Economic-Research/show-wecr/WUR-approach-for-effective-sustainability-programmes-in-the-agri-food-sector.htm

Emerging technologies in the AgriTech, FoodTech and farming sector include:

  • AI: ai.face recognition - cattle (cows and pigs) - insurance of animals - more production of livestock
  • Blockchain: food safety: problem can be traced back - so many intermediaries from farmer to consumer where products come from and steps in between
  • IoT: chickens sensor in legs steps - is healthy ? where it came from - was on free air
  • Vertical farming: eg: Herbal Crops co. cellar lamps
  • Precision Agriculture: Optimize the amount of nutrition, water, energy/temperature

SPAIN

The Cohesion Fund, set up in 1994, provides funding for environmental and trans-European network projects in the Member States whose gross national income per capita is less than 90% of the EU average.

European Cohesion Policy has two major goals:

  • European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), also known as Interreg [2002], which provides a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States

  • European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), European Operational Programmes which aim to promote and support the overall harmonious development of its Member States and Regions. The Structural Funds have two components:

    • the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), providing financial support since 1975 for the development and structural adjustment of regional economies, economic change, enhanced competitiveness as well as territorial cooperation throughout the EU; and
    • the European Social Fund (ESF), set up in 1958 and seeking to contribute to the adaptability of workers and enterprises, access to employment and participation in the labour market, social inclusion of disadvantaged people, combating all forms of discrimination, and creating partnerships to manage reforms in employment. The Structural and Cohesion policy relies also on other three funds: CF, EAFRD and EMFF

In Spain, the implementation of ESIF programmes

  • is split between regional and national operational programmes (OPs)
  • 64 ESIF programmes have been put in place, focussing on specific regional and sectorial circumstances. All ERDF OPs have been adopted
  • for the 2014-2020 period, 45 programmes are covered by the Cohesion Policy
  • 22 programmes in the responsibility of DG REGIO and
  • 23 programmes in the responsibility of DG EMPL
  • within the ESIF family, the Rural Development Programme is administered by DG AGRI and
  • the Fisheries Programme is managed by DG MARE

The total EU allocation of the Programmes in Spain is 40 000 Meurs with a National counterpart of 16 500 for a total of 56 500 Meurs. Out of these, 52 448 Meurs, or 93%, correspond to selected projects

Spain is the second most important beneficiary of REACT EU: EUR 10.9 bn (ERDF+ESF; 2021 tranche), that the Government plans to spend on health (including vaccines), but also support to businesses, education, digitalisation and green investments. The additional funds need to be spent by the beneficiaries by 31/12/2023.

Part of funds are allocated through public procurement. Points to be considered for tasks contracted in this way include:

  • verifications and control of completeness
  • audit trail,
  • quality of reports and
  • quality review
  • compliance with rules and limitations of subcontracting

Some points reported in relation to Spain's execution of the ERDF 2014-2020 operational programmes (OPs) include:

  • programmes had difficulties in reaching the intermediary milestones of funds absorption (selection of projects and expenditure declared) notably in relation to thematic objectives 4 Low carbon Economy and 6 Environment
  • in 2020, following the flexibility measures introduced by the CRII/CRII+ initiatives, all the ERDF OPs with slow execution were amended to re-allocate the funds to strengthen the response capacity after the COVID-19 outbreak. The health system was the main beneficiary but several programmes saw increased also the support to SMEs
  • even so, there is a need to accelerate the implementation of the operational programmes (OPs), specifically the selection and execution of projects, to avoid the risk of decommitment in 2021 and 2022
  • in 2021, Spain received EUR 11bn in Structural funds as part of the REACT-EU initiative (75% in ERDF and 25% in ESF). With the additional funding, ERDF programmes increase support for investments in education, digitalisation, green projects, tourism and culture
  • for Cohesion Policy support, Spain will have allocated 35.4bn eur in 2021-2027.
  • The ERDF part of those funds will be EUR 23.5bn and will focus on investments in research and innovation, digital transformation, clean energy transition, intelligent transport systems, clean mobility and integrated urban development, as well as on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights
  • Spain has delivered the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Spain is the main beneficiary of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The Plan is structured in 30 components, covering all the areas.
  • it is important to guarantee the complementarity between the Recovery Plan and the Cohesion Policy

The 2020 Country Report of the EUROPEAN SEMESTER for Spain was published on 26 February 2020, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis in Europe

In the context of the five post 2020 Cohesion Policy priorities (Smarter Europe, Low carbon and greener Europe, More connected Europe, More social Europe and Europe closer to citizens), the report indicates that Spain must pay attention to the following points:

  • the very high external and internal debt, both private and public,
  • unemployment, which is significantly higher than the EU average
  • low productivity and under-investment from public and private in R&D
  • low innovation performance, below the EU average in all regions
  • exposure to climate change
  • energy efficiency, with additional investments to be dedicated notably in buildings
  • regional disparities, notably in the areas of employment, educational outcomes, early school leaving rates, poverty and inequality
  • the urban-rural divide in digital infrastructure
  • aging and depopulation in rural areas, as well demographic pressures in the major urban areas
  • lack of coordination between the national, regional and local authorities
  • regulatory fragmentation across regions, that makes it more difficult for firms to scale-up

The Report identifies the need for substantial investment under all 5 policy objectives and suggests thematic concentration of the ERDF investments to increase the effectiveness of the interventions by reaching a critical mass with a real impact on the socioeconomic development of the country and its regions

Specifically, the Report indicates that Spain should:

  • mobilize public and private investment to foster a smarter, more competitive and sustainable development model in order to move up in the global value chains and avoid the mid-income trap, reducing the existing regional socioeconomic and territorial disparities
  • increase investment in R&D and innovation, entrepreneurship, competitiveness of SMEs, digital skills and advanced services, energy efficiency, as well as education and training

The following table (Launchpad 25/05/2021) shows the allocation of EU funds per Thematic Objective

01 Research & Innovation 6 765 16.9 % 02 Information & Communication Technologies 2 286 5.7 % 03 Competitiveness of SMEs 5 776 14.5 % 04 Low-Carbon Economy 3 438 8.6 % 05 Climate Change Adaptation & Risk Prevention 1 682 4.2 % 06 Environment Protection & Resource Efficiency 4 203 10.5 % 07 Network Infrastructures in Transport and Energy 2 162 5.4 % 08 Sustainable & Quality Employment 5 898 14.8 % 09 Social Inclusion 3 731 9.3 % 10 Educational & Vocational Training 2 739 6.9 % 12 Outermost & Sparsely Populated 472 1.2 %

TA Technical Assistance 776 1.9 % TOTAL 39 927 100.0 %

The Cohesion Policy in Spain in 2014-2020 was delivered through

  • 44 Operational Programs (OPs) of which:

    • 2 national OPs co-financed by the ERDF (SME Initiative; Spain)
    • 19 regional ERDF OPs (one for each region)
    • 4 national OPs co-financed by the ESF (Employment, Training and Education; Youth Employment; Social Inclusion; Technical Assistance)
    • 19 regional ESF OPs (one for each region) plus
    • one national and 17 regional rural development programs (co-financed by the EAFRD), besides a national framework to ensure coherence, and one fisheries program (co-financed by the EMFF)

  • 10 European Territorial Cooperation /Interreg Programs (ETCPs) of which:

    • 3 cross-border cooperation programs
    • 3 transnational cooperation programs
    • 4 interregional cooperation programs

Some of the estimated results achieved through the ERDF include:

  • 155,000 firms received support, of which 10,000 start-ups, for productive investments, digitalisation, improve the business processes, etc.
  • 30,000 new direct jobs were created
  • 4,500,000 new households have access to broadband
  • 5,700 firms cooperate with R&D institutions, to create new and innovative products, services, processes
  • 3,000,000 additional people benefit of waste water treatment services

Some of the estimated results achieved through the Partnership Agreement and the ESI Funds include (to be reassessed in the light of the social and economic consequences the COVID-19 outbreak):

  • The share of R&D expenditure co-financed by the private sector grew from 45.6% (2012) to 60% in 2020, ie. 25% of the Spanish firms with more than 10 employees incorporating technological innovation in 2020 (compared to 13.22% in 2010-2012)
  • Attainment of the target of the Digital Agenda for Europe of 100% of the population covered with 30 Mbps internet (59% in 2013). Out of this, 50% of the Spanish households will have access to 100 Mbps internet in 2020 (only 0.4% in 2012)
  • ESI Funds provided a significant contribution to the objectives of energy efficiency reducing energy consumption in buildings and enterprises and facilitate achieving the target of 20% reduction in primary energy consumption by 2020
  • The Funds contributed to increase the employment rate (from 59.3% in 2012 to 74% in 2020), to reduce early-school leaving (from 24.9% in 2012 to close to the target of 15% in 2020) and to take 1.5 million people out of a risk-of-poverty or exclusion situation

According to thematic evaluations carried out by the Managing Authority on the long-term impact of Cohesion Policy:

  • Investments in R&D and innovation had a positive effect both on the revenues of the firms and on job creation.
  • Investments in water provision reduced the quantity of water supplied by inhabitant.
  • Investments in wastewater treatment significantly increased both the quantity and quality of reused water.
  • Investments in waste treatment had positive spill-over effects on key sectors like tourism and agriculture.
  • Investments in transport improved the accessibility and connectivity of all territories and increased the competitiveness of firms

[2001] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/regiokm/display/GEO/spain [2002] https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/cooperation/european-territorial/

ARAGON

The Regional Government of Aragon offers the Service of European Funds. In May 2021 no results appear in Tramites and Actualidad

The page includes information about the Programa Operativo Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional Aragón 2014-2020. It also includes reference to the Diagnóstico socioeconómico de Aragón

Aragon Exterior, the organism of the Government of Aragon to promote the internationalizaton of the aragonese economy, offers support for the drafting of proposals addressed to obtain European financing through specialized consultants. Roser Mestre is responsible of this organism in the agrifood sector and Francisco Vigalondo is responsible of the Delegation in Brussels

The Regional Government of Aragon publishes a page dedicated to exports

The website of the Regional Government of Aragon links a number of thematic spaces:

ARAID, the Aragonese Foundation for Research & Development, is an Agency created by the Government of Aragon with the aim of promoting research, development and innovation in Aragon.

CITA, the Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon, performs research on Agrifood with George Philippidis as reference researcher in the unit of Agrifood and Natural Resource Economics

One of the projects realized in CITA is Estimation of a database for Non-Tariff Measures done by Ana Isabel Sanjuán López in 2017-2018 in collaboration with the University of Wageningen

The website Pon Aragón en tu Mesa, a project financed by the Government of Aragon, the European Union, and redr, cooperates with organizations for the development of the aragones rural environment together with rural agrifood producers and distributors to valorize the quality of rural agrifood products produced in the region supporting their diffusion, making known the quality of their food products, supporting agrifood entrepreneurship and facilitating their commercialization; as a result, supporting rural development and energizing the agrifood sector in the villages of Aragon.

The page shows magazines and online shops

On 17 December 2020, the Government of Aragon, held the second stakeholder meeting of the LINDANET project

FRANCE

See French position on Fair Trade Food from news

UK

UK Research and Innovation UKRI is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK. Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £6 billion, UKRI brings together the 7 Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England

UKRI explains how to apply for funding for business innovation, including finding a suitable competition, the application process and loan agreement. It also lists the main Innovation competitions)

The guidance describes how to apply to grant funding, loans or procurements. Each opportunity has its own eligibility criteria and scope, available through the Innovation Funding Service

  • Funding opportunities
  • Before you start an application
  • The application process
  • What happens after you have submitted your application
  • What happens if you are successful
  • Subsidy Control (and State aid where relevant)
  • Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and EU de minimis awards
  • De minimis aid
  • Funding rules
  • Categories of research and development
  • Other funding opportunities

To get innovation loans

  • Understanding if your project is eligible for an innovation loan
  • Understanding if your business is eligible for an innovation loan
  • Understanding what you can borrow
  • Understanding the project and loan periods
  • Finding an innovation loan competition
  • Applying for an innovation loan
  • Your application on the Innovation Funding Service
  • Submitting an application for an innovation loan
  • How your application is assessed
  • How you are notified
  • Setting up your project
  • Carrying out your project
  • Paying interest on your loan
  • Paying back your innovation loan
  • If you encounter problems with paying back your innovation loan
  • If you default on your loan
  • If you still have questions about innovation loans

EU FINANCING

The EU long-term budget will continue to be financed through the well-known revenue sources of the EU budget:

  • customs duties
  • contributions from the Member States based on value added tax (VAT)
  • contributions based on gross national income (GNI) In addition, as of 1 January 2021, a new national contribution based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste was introduced as a source of revenue of the EU budget To finance the recovery, the EU will borrow on the markets at more favorable rates than many Member States and redistribute the amounts. For the Commission to start borrowing, all Member States have ratified the new Own Resources Decision in line with their constitutional requirements.

Revenue ceilings

The increase of the own resources ceiling for payment appropriation to 2.00% of GNI is limited in time and will only be used in the context of the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The enlargement of the headroom does not entail an imminent additional contribution to the EU budget by Member States, as it only functions as a joint guarantee for the issuance of bonds by the Commission on behalf of the EU. The own resources ceiling for payment will be decreased back to 1.40% of GNI when all funds have been repaid and all liabilities have ceased to exist.

Recovery plan for Europe

[6004] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/recovery-plan-europe_en To help repair the economic and social damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU leaders have agreed on a recovery plan that will lead the way out of the crisis and lay the foundations for a modern and more sustainable Europe.

NextGenerationEU

[6005] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/recovery-plan-europe_en#nextgenerationeu NextGenerationEU is a €750 billion temporary recovery instrument to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Post-COVID-19 Europe will be greener, more digital, more resilient and better fit for the current and forthcoming challenges.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (the Facility) will make €672.5 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by Member States. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.

[3301] https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/recovery-coronavirus/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en

Interreg

Interreg Europe is a platform, created by the European Regional Development Fund, for regional and local governments across Europe to share government investment, innovation and implementation solutions

Interreg publishes calls for project proposals and facilitates finding partners and sharing results

Interreg is addressed to three types of beneficiaries:

  • Public authorities – local, regional and national
  • Managing authorities/intermediate bodies - in charge of the Investment for Growth and Jobs programmes or European Territorial Cooperation
  • Agencies, research institutes, thematic and non-profit organizations

and supports financial support actions with under the following four categories:

  • Research and innovation
  • SME competitiveness
  • Low-carbon economy
  • Environment and resource efficiency

See Funding

GREEN DEAL

The European Green Deal defines the roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable

The Deal aims to address climate change:

  • Europe will produce no more greenhouse gases than our ecosystems can naturally absorb:
  • cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030
  • be first climate-neutral continent by 2050

Specific objectives related to Climate include:

  • invest in environmentally-friendly technologies,
  • roll out greener vehicles and public transport, and
  • make our buildings and public spaces more energy efficient.

The Deal aims also to protect our natural environment with objectives:

  • improve water quality in our rivers and seas, reduce waste and plastic litter, plant billions of trees and bring back the bees
  • create green spaces in our cities and increase the use of renewable energy
  • make farming more environmentally-friendly so our food is healthier.

The Plan aims to turn climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas making the transition just and inclusive for all

  • climate, energy and transport

    • cut greenhouse gas emissions
    • improve energy efficiency
    • increase the renewables in energy mix
  • biodiversity
  • zeropollution and environmental action
  • circular economy
  • sustainable food (farm to fork)

The Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy is part of the EU Green Deal. It aims to

  • connect and shape the European food system-related sectors
  • enable the necessary transitions for sustainable food systems

The European Green Deal legislative proposals in the second half of 2021 include on CBAM, deforestation, Farm to Fork Strategy

The Circular Economy is a central concept of the European Green Deal The Action Plan looks at how to make production more circular by mainstreaming the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle principles into all policy areas and across all sectors.

CINEA

CINEA is the agency responsible for the entire grant management cycle of its delegated programs Its goal is to generate sustainable networks and investments in its thematic areas: climate action, environment, biodiversity, clean energy, research and innovation

The purpose is to mobilize resources and contribute to natural resource management, protect and restore biodiversity , prevent deforestation, address climate change (including green energy transitions, production methods and their CO2/environmental footprint), support circular economy, optimize the management of energy, water and waste

  • The Nature initiative is aimed at protection and restoration of Europe’s nature The legal basis is Natura 2000: network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species
  • The Biodiversity initiative is aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss The legal basis is the IAS Regulation: This Regulation sets out rules to prevent, minimize and mitigate the adverse impact on biodiversity of the introduction and spread within the Union, both intentional and unintentional, of invasive alien species. [8003] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/nature-and-biodiversity_en
  • The Circular Economy initiative in aimed to facilitate the transition toward a sustainable, circular, toxic-free, energy-efficient and climate-resilient economy
  • The Quality of Life initiative is aimed protect, restore and improve the quality of the environment, either through direct interventions or by supporting the integration of those objectives in other policies [8004] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/circular-economy-and-quality-life_en

The LIFE program [8010] is addressed to SMEs, start-ups or entities looking for support to develop your cleantech solution and bring it to the market LIFE calls for proposals are published on CINEA's website [8011] They are also referenced in the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders portal [8012] Information on how to create proposals is described in [8013]

[8010] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life_en [8011] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/life-calls-proposals_en [8012] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home [8013] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/IT/Create+a+draft+proposal

2021 CALLS operating GRANTS for non-profit-making entities (NPEs) Non-profit entities may receive operating grants for framework partnership agreements (FPAs) and specific grant agreements (SGAs) These grants are oriented to non-profit-making legal persons with an environmental/climate objective that supports sustainable development

The next call for proposals for operating grants to support non-profit-making entities in view of concluding framework partnership agreements (FPAs) and specific grant agreements (SGAs) will be launched in Early summer 2021. The Deadline for applications will be Late summer 2021. the evaluation Autumn 2021 and the Signature of grants First half of 2022

The types of grants include Standard Action Projects, Strategic nature Projects, Strategic Integrated Projects, Technical Assistance Projects and Operating Grants

Information is available in [8121], [8122] and [8123] [8120] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life_en [8121] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/life-calls-proposals_en [8122] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/life-support-applicants_en [8123] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/life-frequently-asked-questions-faqs_en

This means that solutions could be implemented in close-to-market conditions (at industrial or commercial scale), during the course of the project or shortly after its completion , in waste management, the circular economy, resource efficiency, water, air or climate change mitigation high level of technical and business readiness [8130] https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/life/life-close-market-projects_en

DIGITAL TRANSITION

EU views related to the Digital Transition include:

  • our cities will become smarter and more efficient
  • online shopping will be more secure
  • artificial intelligence will help us to fight climate change and improve healthcare, transport and education

EU objectives related to the Digital Transition include:

  • connect everywhere with 5G and EU-wide ultra-fast broadband
  • provide a digital identity (eID), making it easier to access online public services and giving you more control over your personal data

The EU intends to superate the digital divide supporting training: https://digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu/en/opportunities/training

SOCIAL NETWORKS

https://twitter.com/InterregCE https://twitter.com/MEDProgramme

ORGANIZATIONS

CREAN

CREAN (Carrefour Rural Européen des Acteurs Normands) is a regional association created in 1997 with the objective :

" porter l’information européenne au sein même des communautés rurales et, ce faisant, de susciter des actions favorisant le développement de la région et la participation de la société rurale à la construction européenne "

" Bring European information to rural communities and, in doing so, create actions that promote the development of the region and the participation of the rural society in European construction "

Its co-founders, the Eplefpa of Vire (agricultural high school, CFA and CFPPA) and the Rural Economy Center of Calvados (now Normandy West), obtained from the European Commission the label of information center on the European Union.

This label reflects the willingness to share their knowledge from the EU, its financial opportunities and the possibilities that it offers for professional, personal and cultural enrichment.

In 2005 CREAN passed from being a regional center of rural information on the European Union to a "Center of information Europe Direct" and be a member of the French network of Europe Direct centers

In addition to its mission as member of Europe Direct, Crean is at the service of territorial developers (public and private structures) to develop and strengthen their European opening. Its board of directors reflects the diversity of actors in the territories (elected, associations, education-training, economy, ..).

TIKO

tiko-pro is a Slovenian SME that provides services in the following areas:

  • business & project development

    • assessing the innovation, commercialization or societal potential of project ideas
    • providing support to increase product maturity, from product development stage or prototype (TRL 6) - to the highest technical maturity for market entry (TRL 9)
    • transforming basic project ideas or advanced project concepts into real-life success stories

  • eu funding mechanisms

    • obtaining financial injections to support project ideas
    • expanding to international markets and boost company growth
    • screening and managing EU funded projects in the following areas: Research & Innovation Education Development & Cooperation

  • project coordination & reporting

    • supporting project coordination and reporting requirements
    • securing financing with smooth and timely project implementation

  • training

    • providing information on project development and implementation methods
    • providing training in all aspects of project management cycle, i.e. project initiation, planning, implementing, controlling and closing

The Funds listed in the web site include: regional development cohesion funds

REFERENCES

[101] https://www.eif.org/news_centre/publications/eif_working_paper_2020_62.pdf [102] https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/finance-funding/getting-funding/access-finance/search/en/content/european-angels-fund-6

[201] Revenue ceilings https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/2021-2027/revenue/revenue-ceilings_en

[301] Spain - Stability Programme 2020 https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-policy-coordination/eu-economic-governance-monitoring-prevention-correction/european-semester/european-semester-timeline/national-reform-programmes-and-stability-or-convergence-programmes/2020-european_en#spain

[302] Recommendation for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on the economic policy of the euro area https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14356-2020-INIT/en/pdf

[303] Explainer: The Recovery and Resilience Facility https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/02/16/explainer-the-recovery-and-resilience-facility/

[304] REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:1813ea3d-a0be-11ea-9d2d-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF

[4404] https://elpais.com/economia/2021-06-08/el-gobierno-se-compromete-con-la-ue-a-digitalizar-un-millon-de-pymes.html [4404] https://elpais.com/economia/estar-donde-estes/2021-06-09/gestoria-digital-por-que-se-ha-convertido-en-imprescindible-para-autonomos-y-pymes.html [4404] https://www.capitalmadrid.com/news_links/3600

LEGISLATION

COM(2020)0381 A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=COM(2020)0381&l=en 3.10.01.02 Rural development, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) 3.70.01 Protection of natural resources: fauna, flora, nature, wildlife, countryside; biodiversity 3.70.20 Sustainable development 4.20 Public health 4.60.04.04 Food safety

2019/2956(RSP)
Resolution on the European Green Deal https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2019/2956(RSP)&l=en 3.70 Environmental policy 3.70.03 Climate policy, climate change, ozone layer

2018/0218(COD)
Common agricultural policy (CAP) 2021–2027 https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2018/0218(COD)&l=en 3.10 Agricultural policy and economies 3.10.03 Marketing and trade of agricultural products and livestock

Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027111 https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2064000&l=en