Beneficiary companies:

Foreign capital companies and/or groups of companies connected by contractual agreements which plan to set up in Spain, or if they are already established, plan to begin new R&D&I activities.

A foreign capital company is understood to mean one which has a headquarters in Spain if foreign direct investment accounts for more than 10% of its capital or which, regardless of the location of its headquarters, has set up a subsidiary in Spain.

In addition, economic interest groups (EIGs) in which a stake is held by at least one foreign capital company and groups of companies in which a stake is held by at least one foreign capital company may also be considered beneficiaries, in proportion to the percentage held by foreign capital.

As regards the actions intended to promote and stimulate R&D&I, together with SMEs, beneficiaries can also include public and private organizations and associations whose purpose is to promote and stimulate business activity.

Basic selection criteria:

1. Greater company resources allocated to R&D&I.
2. Increase in the level of technology contributed in the form of patents, licenses, etc.
3. Evaluation of the direct, indirect and resulting effects.
4. Clustering effect of the project on the regional/national economy.
5. Strategic interest of the technologies to be developed in Spain.
6. Promotion of partnership agreements among private agents.
7. Promotion of public/private partnership agreements (PPP).

Territorial distribution of the aid:

The activities which are the object of aid may be carried out anywhere in the country, although precedence will be given to those planned for convergence zones (Galicia, Extremadura, Castile-la Mancha and Andalusia), with 70% of the budget allocation; to “phasing-in” zones (Castile-León, Valencia and the Canary Islands), with 15% of the budget allocation; “phasing-out” (Asturias, Murcia, Ceuta and Melilla), with 5% of the budget allocation; and competitiveness (Aragón, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Madrid, Navarre, the Basque Country and La Rioja), with 10% of the budget allocation.

Maximum amount of aid per beneficiary:

The amount of the aid may total an overall maximum of 500,000 euros per beneficiary for any period during three consecutive fiscal years (Commission Regulation on de minimis aid, published 22 January 2009 in the OJEU).

Last updated: 19|08|2009