4.11.2022
EN
Implementation
6.
Official Journal of the European Union
C 421/33
The ERDF programme supports R&D projects that complement HE, albeit with a different set of eligible costs.
Amended GBER Article 25d establishes compatibility conditions to grant State aid (including from ERDF resources) to co-funded R&D projects that complement Teaming actions (HE-eligible costs and funding rates apply in such cases).
Moreover, amended Article 25d GBER allows public investment aid to cover as much as 70 % of the infrastructure investment made under a Teaming action (also subject to certain conditions).
The project proposal undergoes a single evaluation that covers both of the project’s parts (i.e. the HE part and the part relating to a chosen complementary funding source such as a cohesion policy programme).
This is required in order to be able to apply amended Article 25d GBER, permitting the managers of the complementary funding source to apply the categories, maximum amounts and methods of calculation of eligible costs established under HE to the operation in question.
Upstream and downstream synergies
Upstream/downstream synergies emerge when EU support provides (primarily through HE and ERDF programmes) a coordinated and seamless framework for all steps of the R&I innovation process (from capacity-building and basic research to commercialisation and uptake of innovative solutions by private enterprises).
Such synergies provide particular added value when they emerge in areas that are linked to key EU policy goals and offer the prospect of making substantial improvements to the wider economy.
The development of such synergies requires close cooperation between the relevant actors – particularly the EU and national authorities involved in the programming and implementation of HE and ERDF support.
For example, HE missions (18) provide fresh ways to address the challenges identified in their missions, and transformative solutions that can help accelerate the uptake of the best available technologies.
Practical examples of possibly synergies of the five EU missions with ERDF are outlined in the Annex to this note.
To boost this uptake, the new Horizon Dissemination & Exploitation strategy will promote an integrated approach by creating and maintaining mission result portfolios, and by combining them with an integrated ecosystem of services (e.g. the Horizon Results Platform and Horizon Results Booster) and initiatives (e.g. events and workshops).
This will bring clear sets of R&I results to the attention of national and regional investors and policymakers.
The new Horizon Dissemination & Exploitation strategy also emphasises HE work programme topics, so that call applicants will consider whether they can harness potential synergies with other EU programmes.
The lessons learned from the fourth Interreg Central Europe call for the exploitation of the results of existing projects under Horizon 2020 (and other EU programmes) will be taken into account when deciding how to exploit HE’s R&I results using the Interreg programmes (as an additional way of increasing regions’ access to high-quality R&I results).
Future efforts in this direction will benefit from the knowledge and experience gained from matchmaking initiatives (for example, the new Horizon-Interreg synergies-mapping tool that combines thematic and regional information in order to identify potential synergies between these two funding streams).
These approaches and solutions can also help public administrations to develop new capabilities and provide new services.
This is particularly important for less developed and peripheral regions, which are less able to absorb new technologies and manage systemic transformation.
(18) For more detail on EU Missions in Horizon Europe: https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/funding/funding-opportunities/ funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/eu-missions-horizon-europe_en#what