Direct awarding of grants to Spanish projects which have received the Seal of Excellence in the following calls for applications to the Accelerator instrument within the European Innovation Council's Horizon Europe programme (EIC Accelerator 2022):

• The first call for applications, which closed on 23 March 2022.
• The second call for applications, which closed on 15 June 2022.

Support R&D projects carried out by SMEs which have obtained a Seal of Excellence in the call for applications to the EIC Accelerator instrument, in order to:

• Enable beneficiary companies to validate their technology in relevant environments.
• Refine their business model.
• Strengthen the structure for further scaling up.

SMEs, which must:

• Be validly constituted when submitting their application for support under this call for applications.
• Have a tax domicile within Spanish territory.
• Have obtained a Seal of Excellence in the first or second call by the European Innovation Council's Accelerator Instrument, which is part of the EIC Work Programme 2022.

SMEs as defined in Annex 1 of EU Regulation 651/2014 of the European Commission on 17 June 2014 are eligible for support.

For more information, please check the call for applications.

Direct awarding of aid

9–22 November at 12:00 Spanish peninsular time.

Publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE)

Grant.

€30,000,000

The amount of aid will be determined on the basis of the actual eligible cost of the project and the budget available. 70% of the eligible budget will be granted.

The maximum amount of support shall not exceed €2,500,000 per beneficiary and per project.

The eligible activities of the supported R&D project shall be defined as those eligible under the rules of the Horizon Europe programme, excluding activities that go beyond experimental development.

Eligible activities for the Accelerator call for applications are R&D activities (TRL 5 to 8) and deployment activities (TRL 9). As the latter go beyond the scope of the definition of experimental development, they will not be funded under this call.

Eligible projects may have a one-year or multi-annual duration. The project must begin no earlier than 1 June 2022 and must end on 31 December 2024.

This call is included among the actions covered by the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which will receive funding from Next Generation EU funds, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Actions which directly or indirectly cause significant harm to the environment are not eligible for support (DNSH principle). Obtaining the Seal of Excellence in the EIC Accelerator call already guarantees respect of this principle, as it is included as an eligibility criterion and in the programme's impact assessment criteria.

Yes.

Only costs that are clearly in line with the nature of the activity to be financed and which are strictly necessary, on the basis of the description of the project covered by the application and project technical report, may be considered eligible for funding.

The following costs are considered eligible:

• Equipment, instruments and materials, to the extent and for the period used for the project.
• Staff members.
• External technical collaborations.
• Other additional operating expenses: travel, intangible asset acquisition, intellectual property rights applications, publication and dissemination of results and costs arising from the auditor's report (up to €3000 per year).
• Indirect costs, calculated as a fixed percentage of 25% of the direct costs of the project (excluding technical subcontracting).

The total eligible budget for the project may not exceed the total budget in the project submitted to the EIC Accelerator call for applications.

The maximum amount of subcontracted activities shall be 80% of the total eligible budget.

When the amount for a service or good exceeds €15,000, the beneficiary must request a minimum of three tenders from different suppliers prior to signing a contract, unless, due to its specific characteristics, there is not a sufficient number of entities on the market to perform, provide or supply them.

Where the activity contracted to third parties exceeds 20% of the amount of aid granted and this amount exceeds €60,000, subcontracting shall be conditional on the contract being concluded in writing, then sent to and authorised by the awarding body.

During its implementation period, the aid granted under this call for applications cannot be combined with any other public aid at the European, national or regional level with the same objectives and purpose.