Grants for the business sector will double from 1.5 billion to 3 billion euros, according to a press release from the Ministry of European Funds
During a meeting organized at the Victoria Palace in Bucharest, the Minister of European Funds, Ioan Marcel Boloș, presented the government’s vision regarding the funding allocated for the beneficiaries from the private environment, showing that In the next programming period we have to think about another type of entrepreneurial initiatives, which are based on research, technology transfer and intelligent production.. We must also look at the policy promoted by the European Union, supporting the leading technologies that we have called the technologies of the future – nanotechnologies, biotechnologies and other leading fields of technology. I believe that following the state of the art technology will make the difference between present-day Romania and Romania for the next 10 years. For the next programming period, the amount allocated to the business environment will double, rising from 1.5 billion euros to 3 billion euros.
Information about the proposed financing:
Within the policy objective 1 – “A smarter Europe”
National investment priorities, aimed directly at supporting SMEs:
⇨ strengthening the competitiveness of the Romanian economy
⇨ investments in new technologies (artificial intelligence, automation, robotics);
⇨ investments for information and communications technology, digitization of production processes in SMEs;
⇨ investments for clusters;
⇨ setting up new companies and supporting their development;
⇨ setting up new businesses;
⇨ support for stepping up from start-up to scale-up for companies with high growth potential;
⇨ facilitating access to finance for SMEs, including by encouraging initial and early financing of start-ups;
⇨ financial instruments such as loans, equity, guarantees.
Other national priorities that have as potential beneficiaries SMEs target:
⦿ Integrating the national research and development ecosystem into the European Research Area aiming to promote Romanian innovation and research and use of good practices at European level;
⦿ Creating an attractive system of innovation in the industry, focusing on the needs of the business environment, where the research must respond applied, generating economic development;
⦿ Support the creation of new innovative companies and their development. Within the objective of “A Smarter Europe”, the process of digitizing central and local authorities and the business environment will be financed.
In the next programming period, the focus will be on supporting the development of key enabling technologies – KET (Key Enabling Technologies) – nanotechnologies, advanced materials, advanced production technologies and biotechnology, as vectors for ensuring the competitiveness of the Romanian economy in the globalized market and for the creation of new jobs. Investments in these areas will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of other economic sectors, providing the basis for innovation in industries such as automotive, food, chemical, electronics, energy, pharmaceutical, construction and telecommunications.
Future funding will continue to help bridge the gap with other, more developed countries, where investments are concentrated in the area of interconnectivity, digitalization, automation and artificial intelligence, by improving, replacing and transforming production processes and businesses in a general way.
In this context, SMEs will be supported to approach the research and innovation results in production processes, by purchasing the necessary equipment, infrastructure and know-how but also by transforming the way they do business.
Within the policy objective 4 – A more social Europe the are mentioned measures that aim to encourage entrepreneurship are identified. The main purpose of this intervention is to increase the employment opportunities on the labor market for people belonging to disadvantaged groups, with beneficial effects on the business environment. The following national priorities have been set within this objective:
⇨ Promoting entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurial initiatives & the social economy, by: providing financial support for starting new businesses, including social enterprises and self-employment;
⇨ Support for the promotion of products / services and support in identifying retail markets for social enterprises;
⇨ Entrepreneurial support programs (entrepreneurial skills training, coaching / mentoring, assistance / counseling, role models, etc.);
⇨ Assistance and consultancy in business and after setting up the businesses, including training programs addressed to managers or through co-working spaces and services;
⇨ Promoting the social economy and social entrepreneurship concept;
⇨ Creating opportunities for the integration of women in the labor market, through: programs aiming to promote employment among women, including support schemes and care for persons dependent on them;
⇨ Support to employers for the arrangement of spaces and the provision of support services for employees and flexible program schemes, in order to ensure the balance between professional and family life;
⇨ Supporting further the participation of the population in the process of lifelong learning and professional reconversion to facilitate transitions and mobility in the labor market, by:
– Promote schemes to stimulate employers to provide programs for improving / updating / developing the skills of their own staff, including through collaborative training or clusters and through modularized, flexible programs, adapted to the needs of employers;
– Access of employees to lifelong learning, through professional, industrial, technological, postgraduate courses, etc., developing partnerships between employers and providers of continuing education from secondary and tertiary education, involving economic agents, public and private organizations, etc.
– Participation of adults in lifelong learning programs, by identifying packages (including training tickets) and training methods tailored to the needs of individuals, including innovative approaches to on-the-job training.
Regarding the programming period 2021-2027, according to the proposal of the European Commission, Romania would benefit from approx. 30.6 billion euros.
