The regulation establishing the future ‘Competitiveness Fund’ (ECF) will encompass 14 current programmes financed by the EU budget, according to a European Commission preparatory document published by Agence Europe on Wednesday 9 July. This proposal is one of the elements of the draft post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to be presented on Wednesday 16 July (see EUROPE 13667/29).
The ‘European Competitiveness Fund’ will support projects in the fields of ecological transition, health, digital technology, defence and resilience.
The 14 programmes that will be grouped together are as follows: - Innovation Fund; - Digital Europe Programme; - Connecting Europe Facility (digital component); - European Defence Fund; - Act in Support of Ammunition Production; - European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement Act t; - European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP); - EU4Health; - European Space Programme; - IRIS2; - InvestEU; - Single Market Programme (SME strand); - LIFE; - and, Horizon Europe “as a self-standing programme but tightly connected to the EFC” (see EUROPE 13677/2).
The main objectives of the ECF will be to increase technological and economic impact, reduce strategic dependencies, attract private investment and support infrastructure and SMEs.
The InvestEU programme will provide support for mobilising public and private funding, while the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation should enable a “seamless investment journey from research to start-up, scale up and global manufacturing; from idea to market”.
With the ‘European Competitiveness Fund’, the European Commission intends to make full use of the financial ‘toolbox’ of the EU budget: loans, grants, equity investments, quasi-equity, combined financing, public procurement and guarantees.
Simplification (reduction of the administrative burden, simplified joint award procedures), better coordination and the principle of European preference (support for the development and manufacture in the EU of technologies financed by the Union) will be the main principles.
A “seal of competitiveness”, for example, will provide easier support for beneficiaries. Projects covered by the ‘critical raw materials’ and ‘net zero industry’ regulations will automatically benefit. And the ECF will provide “advisory support” to projects throughout the investment cycle.
In the management of the funds allocated, a principle of flexibility will be introduced in order to be able to “reallocate parts of the budget in accordance with new challenges and emerging priorities during the duration of the Multiannual Financial Framework”. The Commission intends to propose an “indicative allocation of the budget between the various policy windows” of the ‘European Competitiveness Fund’.
These reallocations of funds have led several sectors of activity to oppose the merging of their programmes into a single fund, at the risk of seeing budgets reduced (green NGOs fear for the LIFE programme). However, the Commission plans to ensure “a certain minimum budget envelope is available for long-term planning and commitments broken down over several years into annual instalments in each policy window”.
The European Commission will operate by means of delegated acts, but will be assisted upstream by a number of councils and committees. The Strategic Stakeholder Board (including researchers, industry, investors, civil society, SMEs and large organisations) will advise on the general approach of the ECF. The Investment Committee will examine proposals for financing and investment operations under the InvestEU instrument. And committees will be set up for specific sectors: ecological transition, health, safety, etc.
To see the draft regulation establishing the ‘European Competitiveness Fund’, go to https://aeur.eu/f/hsb (Original version in French by Florent Servia)