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ACCIÓ - Agency for Business Competitiveness
ACCIÓ - Agency for Business Competitiveness
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Aid from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The European Union Cohesion Policy
A way to make Europe

The cohesion policy is the European Union’s main investment policy. The Europe 2020 Strategy is the general framework for action towards which the European cohesion policy is aimed.

Its purpose is to support the creation of employment, business competitiveness, economic growth, sustainable development and improve the quality of life of the citizens of all regions and cities in the European Union.

The strategy sets three models of growth and 11 priority areas so that the European Union and its Member States can promote the creation of employment, productivity and social cohesion.

Smart growth: promoting an economy based on knowledge and innovation.

Sustainable growth: promoting a greener and more competitive economy that uses resources more efficiently.

Inclusive growth: promoting an economy with high rates of employment enabling the development of social and territorial cohesion.

European Union

  1. Research, technological development and innovation
  2. Information and communications technologies (ICT)
  3. Competitiveness for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  4. Shift to a low-carbon economy
  5. Adaptation to climate change and the prevention and management of risks
  6. Environmental protection and resource efficiency
  7. Sustainable transport and the elimination of bottlenecks in key network infrastructures
  8. Employment and support for labour mobility
  9. Social inclusion and the fight against poverty
  10. Education, skills and continuous training
  11. Creation of institutional capacity and efficiency in the public administration

Distribution of resources by priority areas co-funded with ERDF, in accordance with the ERDF CATALONIA OP 2014-2020. EC-approved. Thousand €.

Distribution of resources
Priority areas Total expenditure ERDF Contribution %
Area 1: To promote research, technological development and innovation 653.409 326.705 40%
Area 2: To improve the use and quality of ICT and access to them 120.365 60.182 7%
Area 3: To improve the competitiveness of SMEs 303.856 151.928 19%
Area 4: To ease the transition towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors 257.925 128.962 16%
Area 6: To preserve and protect the environment and promote the efficiency of resources 263.943 131.971 16%
Technical assistance 17.369 8.684 1%
TOTAL 1.616.867 808.434 100%

The ERDF Operational Programme in Catalonia 2014-2020

The ERDF Operational Programme in Catalonia 2014-2020 has been produced within the framework of Catalonia Strategy 2020 (ECAT2020) and the Research and Innovation Strategy for the Smart Specialization of Catalonia (RIS3CAT).

These strategies identify the priority areas for action by public policies to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and achieve the goals of Europe 2020.

The priority areas of action are employment and training, social cohesion, the green economy, innovation and knowledge, enterprise dynamism and internationalization.

The ERDF Operational Programme

What ACCIÓ grants are co-financed with ERDF?

You can check the current announcements in this link.

RIS3CAT communities

The RIS3CAT communities are groups of companies, stakeholders of the R&D&I system, cluster organizations and institutions to support enterprise with operations established in Catalonia, that offer a strategy for research and innovation for the economic transformation of the productive activities framed in the leading sectors defined in RIS3CAT, through a plan of action for its implementation.

The maximum ERDF co-funding is 50% of the eligible expenditure.

Business Enterprise R&D nuclei

Projects in the form of local, individual or collaborative and international industrial research and experimental development cores designed to encourage the performance of industrial research and experimental development activities that are carried out in Catalonia and that involve obtaining new or technologically improved products and processes with respect to the existing ones.

The maximum ERDF co-funding is 50% of the eligible expenditure.

Beneficiaries without a website

The aid co-funded with the ERDF entails an advertising obligation that the beneficiaries must publish on their websites. Whenever a private beneficiary does not have its own website, it is the managing agency that must publish this information: