Access to the portal to access the benefits of the 2023 Innovation Fund starts today at 12pm , which has a financial allocation of 75 million , of which 10 million for SMEs with operational headquarters in the territories affected by the exceptional flood events of May 2023.
The Innovation Fund finances investments aimed at supporting the implementation and development of innovation projects aimed at increasing productivity in the agriculture, fishing and aquaculture sectors through the dissemination of the best technologies available for the digital management of the business , for the use of machines , robotic solutions , sensors and 4.0 platforms and infrastructures, for saving water and reducing the use of chemical substances , as well as for the use of by-products.
Individual or associated SMEs, including their cooperatives and associations, may be eligible for the benefits of the decree which:
are registered in the business register with the qualification of "agricultural business" pursuant to art. 1 of the legislative decree 18 May 2001, n. 228, or a "fishing enterprise" pursuant to art. 4 of the legislative decree 9 January 2012, n. 4, or with the qualification of "agro-mechanical company", pursuant to art. 5 of the legislative decree 29 March 2004, n. 99;
have been active for at least two years on the date of submission of the application;
have operational headquarters in the national territory;
there are no companies in difficulty pursuant to the art. 2, point 18 of the GBER Regulation;
make investments in technological innovation of an amount of no less than 70,000 euros and no more than 500,000 euros. For the fishing sector the minimum investment limit is established at 10,000 euros;
aid identified as illegal or incompatible by the European Commission is not included among the companies that have received and subsequently not reimbursed or deposited in a blocked account.
Pay attention to the fact that:
investments cannot be made before the date of submission of the application,
SMEs in respect of which the existence of an impeding cause pursuant to the anti-mafia regulations referred to in Legislative Decree no. 6 September 2011 cannot be admitted to the benefits of this decree. 159.
ISMEA has published a manual with operating instructions and all the forms necessary to request the benefit. (Source: https://www.ismea.it/ )