The Next Generation EU fund, created as a result of the pandemic and with a total budget of 750,000 M€, is added to the multiannual financial framework (2021-2027), the European Union's long-term budget for the next 7 years.
The Recovery Fund ensures a coordinated European response with member States to address the economic and social consequences of the pandemic.
The 750 billion euros of the fund will be implemented through existing programs and mechanisms, which will be provided with greater funding. The distribution of funds is complemented by the creation of new instruments that allow the remaining budget to be channeled. Thus, the different instruments and their corresponding allocations are defined as follows:
- RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE MECHANISM (MRR): 672,500 M€
- REACT-EU: 47,500 M€
- MECHANISM FOR THE JUST TRANSITION: 10,000 M€
- RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: 7,500 M€
- INVEST EU PROGRAM: 5,600 M€
- HORIZON EUROPE: 5,000 M€
- I PICKED UP: 1,900 M€
Likewise, the main objectives of the funds, in line with the priorities of the European Union in terms of achieving ecological transition and digital transformation, are: to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure a just recovery of the economies of the member States and the preservation and creation of employment in those territories. For its part, Spain, one of the economies most affected by Covid-19, which in April 2021 presented its National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, approved in June 2021; will receive 140,000 M€ from Next Generation EU funds, of which 53% (72,700 M€) will be channeled through grants between 2021 and 2023 and the remaining 47% (67,300 M€) in the form of loans.
For the time being, Spain has only activated the grant part, with the idea that the loans serve to finance the same beneficiaries of the grants in a complementary way.
In the Plan España Puede, the Government has defined 4 cross-cutting axes: ecological transition, digital transformation, territorial and social cohesion and gender equality, articulated through 10 lever policies, which in turn integrate 30 different lines of action. Overall, the most funded sectors are the energy transition (26% of total funds), followed by transport, mobility and the urban agenda (19%) and digital transformation (14%). While in the case of companies, the sectors with the highest allocation of the total budget are digital transformation (46%), transport, mobility and the urban agenda (20%) and R+D+I (15%).
From the public sector, the national entities through which the awarded funds will be sent are the following:
- CDTI: (in terms of venture capital, co-investment and investment) calls aimed at projects for the development of strategic technologies and R+D+i for SMEs, midcaps and technology centers.
- RED.ES: calls aimed at Artificial Intelligence Development, Smart Cities, Digital Education, Data Economy and support for SMEs.
- IT AFFECTS: calls aimed at boosting the business ecosystem of the cybersecurity sector as well as its SMEs.
- ENISA: calls aimed at supporting entrepreneurship in all its aspects (with a special focus on driving projects for SMEs and projects led by women or in the agricultural sector).
- AND I: for calls aimed at promoting a national entrepreneurship strategy (including digital training, SME growth, technology purchase...).
- IDEA: for calls aimed at actions and projects in renewable energy, sustainable mobility and energy efficiency. To be beneficiaries of the grants, companies must request them through the different calls, open since July 1, 2021.
At a more regional and regional level, part of the European funds from Next Gen EU will also be channeled. In this case, the regional public innovation entities as is the case of ACCIÓ and ICF in Catalonia, IVACE and IVF in Valencia, the IDEA of the Junta de Andalucía in Andalusia, etc. Currently, the deadlines for applying for calls such as Direct aid to self-employed workers and companies to support solvency and reduce private sector indebtedness (Covid-19) of the different autonomous communities and of Research and development projects in artificial intelligence and other digital technologies and their integration into value chains from Red.es. The main calls for which Spanish companies can continue to apply are:
Digital Entrepreneur Line
Organism: ENISA
Total budget: 51 M€ to be awarded over the next 3 years.
Objective: Reduce the gender gap by promoting digital entrepreneurship projects led by women.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31/12/2023.
Agro-pulse line
Organism: ENISA
Total budget: 13 M€.
Objective: Stimulate the digital transformation of SMEs in the agri-food sector and promote entrepreneurship projects in rural areas.
Deadline for submitting applications: 29/12/2023.
MOVES III: Grants for the implementation of incentive programs related to electric mobility
Organism: Each Autonomous Community will manage the granting of aid through the corresponding body.
Total budget: 400 M€.
Objective: Promote electric mobility through grants for the purchase of electric vehicles and for the corresponding deployment of the infrastructure necessary for their recharging, both to self-employed individuals and legal entities and to communities of owners.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31/12/2023.
Internationalization
Organism: COFIDES
Total budget: 4,500 M€.
Objective: Support the internationalization of Spanish SMEs for their subsequent growth.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31/12/2023.
TWO 5000. Investments in unique local clean energy projects in demographically challenging municipalities
Organism: IDAE
Total budget: 75 M€.
Objective: Promote Sustainable Urban Development, in municipalities with a demographic challenge.
Deadline for submitting applications: November 2022.
Incentive programs for the execution of installations linked to self-consumption and storage, with renewable energy sources (EERR), as well as the implementation of renewable thermal systems in the residential sector
Organism: IDAE
Total budget: 660 M€ expandable to 1,320 M€.
Objective: Promote the deployment of renewable energies and promote greater control of consumption.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Modernization plan for machine tools for small and medium-sized businesses
Organism: Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism
Total budget: 50 M€.
Objective: Encourage the modernization of SMEs through the introduction of new machine tools in their production processes.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
State program to promote scientific-technical research and its transfer
Knowledge generation projects
Total budget: 412 M€.
Objective: Solving concrete problems and generating knowledge, for oriented and non-oriented research projects, respectively.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Green and Digital Transition
Total budget: 296 M€.
Objective: Accelerate the green and digital transition.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call. Scheduled to open in November 2021.
Public-private collaboration (Former Collaboration Challenges)
Total budget: 150 M€ in grants and up to 250 M€ in loans for companies.
Objective: Encourage research projects close to business interests and with business leadership.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
“Severo Ochoa” Centers of Excellence and “María De Maeztu” Units of Excellence
Objective: Fund the strategic plans or frontier research programs of excellent scientific research centers and units, respectively. Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
State program to develop, attract and retain talent
Predoctoral contracts
Objective: For predoctoral training and the completion of the doctoral thesis in the context of funded research projects.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Juan De La Cierva Training-Recovery
Objective: Support the hiring of talent for two- and three-year projects
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Ramón y Cajal
Objective: Complement the first two phases of the new scientific career, for five-year projects.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Digital Toolkit Program
Organism: Red.es
Total budget: 3,000 M€.
Objective: Promote the digitalization process through the adoption of basic digital tools.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Technological Development Data Economics and Content
Organism: Red.es
Total budget: 28 M€.
Objective: Promote development projects that promote business leadership in R+D+i in Spanish digital companies.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Accelerate SMEs
Organism: Red.es
Objective: Promote digital transformation through the adoption of a culture, use and permanent use of ICTs in business strategies.
Deadline for submitting applications: Pending call.
Grants for projects to promote the selective collection of municipal waste (Catalonia)
Organism: Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda
Total budget: 22,098,095.28€.
Objective: Encourage efficient selective collection projects for different fractions of municipal waste.
Deadline for submitting applications: 15/11/2021.
Grants for strengthening communication systems and telematic services to associations and federations of exporters
Organism: Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism
Total budget: 900,000€.
Objective: Improve the competitiveness of Spanish companies abroad, through modernization and digital transformation projects of associations and federations of exporters.
Deadline for submitting applications: 11/10/2021.
Grants to support rescue centers, repositories of confiscated living specimens that contribute to the conservation of threatened species of wild fauna and flora for illegal trade, included in the CITES Convention
Organism: Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
Total budget: 4 M€.
Objective: Support transformative projects, based on science and on the solutions provided by nature to promote green recovery.
Deadline for submitting applications: 25/11/2021.
Grants to promote actions aimed at the renaturalization and resilience of Spanish cities
Organism: Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
Total budget: 58 M€.
Objective: Encourage activities that contribute to urban renaturalization by increasing green infrastructure and the connectivity of green and blue spaces.
Deadline for submitting applications: 03/01/2022.
Grants to strengthen traffic jams and rescue networks for marine species
Organism: Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
Total budget: 4.25 M€.
Deadline for submitting applications: 24/11/2021.
Grants to support research programs and projects in the area of biodiversity management
Organism: Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
Total budget: 2.5 M€.
Deadline for submitting applications: 03/01/2022.
Grants for major transformative scientific-technical projects for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the contribution to the ecological transition
Organism: Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
Total budget: 20 M€.
Deadline for submitting applications: 03/01/2022.
Aid for the digitization of intellectual property rights management operators
Organism: Ministry of Culture and Sports
Total budget: 10 M€.
Objective: Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of operators and management entities involved in the management of intellectual property rights in documentation, collection and distribution processes in the digital market.
Deadline for submitting applications: 21/10/2021.
Moves II Program to grant aid to unique projects in electric mobility
Organism: IDAE together with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge
Total budget: 100 M€.
Objective: Contribute to the reduction of final energy consumption and, as a consequence, to the reduction of energy dependence on oil and the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Deadline for submitting applications: 25/11/2021.
