artica+i participated in a webinar on the European funds for the agri-food sector
The imminent implementation of the European funds of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, reinforced by the European Recovery Instrument-Next Generation EU, is undoubtedly a unique opportunity for the economic recovery of the national agri-food sector. A sector that continues to be strategic for our country, although it has also been hard hit by the health crisis we are experiencing, and the consequent economic crisis generated by the mobility restrictions that have led to the closure of a significant number of companies in the sector, mainly small and micro-enterprises, affecting 1% of the total existing in the pre-COVID situation.
In this context, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Alava, through its Support Unit for European Projects of Alava (UPEA), together with the Chamber of Commerce of La Rioja, organised an information day on 27 May in which artica+i participated.
The session, which was held online, highlighted the potential that these funds can have for agri-food companies, while at the same time highlighting the value of innovation as a key strategy for their initial recovery, medium-term transformation and future sustainability.
In this way, artica+i representatives Fernando Boned, director of business development, and Coral Gutiérrez del Anillo, head of the taxation area, explained to the attendees the concept of Continuous Innovation, understood as the implementation of a business policy oriented towards Innovation and supported by the double strategy that aims to take advantage of the opportunity of public funding in the new period 2021-2027 together with the application, without risk, of the tax incentives generated.
Fernando Boned gave an introduction to the current situation of the NGEU funds and the “España Puede” Plan, which will soon be available to, among other things, promote Spanish investment in R&D&I and highlight the key role of the agri-food sector as a driving force within the Plan. In this sense, it was emphasised how this sector responds to many of the challenges established by the components of the plan and its lever policies, making it necessary and advisable for agri-food companies to work actively in the coming months on the design of their individual innovation plans, aligned with these components and policies.
It is known that, during the period 2021-2027, Spain will have access to €140,000M that will come from the Next Generation, of which €70,000M will be in the form of direct subsidies. To this amount, a further €79 billion must be added, linked to structural funds and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In short, a sum of €149 billion in direct transfers between 2021 and 2027 that represent an important opportunity for the “recovery and transformation of our companies”.
For her part, Coral Gutiérrez del Anillo took the floor to propose to the attendees the necessary compatibility between public funding of innovation and the tax incentives generated, highlighting the importance of boosting R&D&I taxation in a comprehensive manner, with the existing mechanisms in the Spanish legal framework, with the aim of generating significant economic-financial returns for the agri-food companies that apply them, either as a lower expenditure in the settlement of corporate tax, or as income generated by the monetisation of the incentive, or by a reduction in expenditure by applying the corresponding Social Security rebates, both in the regional regimes and in the common territory.
If you missed the webinar, here is the full video:
