Business Competitiveness - Encouraging Productive Innovation

"Productive Business Investment" operations that aim to encourage:

• The production of new goods and services or significant improvements in current production through the transfer and application of knowledge;
• The adoption of new or significantly improved manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes or methods, as well as business models, organizational or marketing methods.

Thus, innovative projects that result in the production of tradable and internationalizable goods and services with high added value and a high level of national incorporation are eligible.

• Creation of a new establishment;
• Increasing the capacity of an existing establishment;
• Changing the overall production process of an existing establishment;
• Diversification of an establishment's production into products not previously produced.

In addition to complying with the other eligibility requirements set out in the applicable national legislation, operations eligible under the 'Productive Innovation' intervention type must also meet the following requirements at the time of application:

• Demonstrate the economic and financial viability of the operation;
• Ensure the financing of at least 25% of eligible costs through own or third-party resources, without including any state financing;
• In cases where operations involve expenditure for the construction of buildings, renovation works, and other constructions, the respective architectural project must be approved by the competent authorities, when the initiation of an administrative licensing procedure is legally required, or prior notification must have been submitted to the competent authority, when the prior notification procedure is legally permitted, and duly accompanied by the legally required opinions;
• In the case of tourism sector operations, they must be aligned with the respective national and regional strategies for the tourism sector.

In addition to any specific requirements set out in the call for applications, they must also comply with additional provisions in operations involving the construction, renovation, or expansion of buildings, or the acquisition of equipment:

• Adopt the best available technologies to improve business and industrial infrastructure, as well as install technologically advanced and high-performance environmental equipment;
• Comply, where applicable, with the legal framework for Environmental Impact Assessment of public and private projects likely to produce significant effects on the environment;
• Adopt environmentally sustainable behaviors and practices in the planning and execution of construction, remodeling, or expansion of buildings, namely:
  • Comply with the new General Waste Management Regime and the new Legal Regime for Landfill Waste Disposal;
  • Comply with EN 16516 and ISO 16000-3 standards, with the use of materials containing substances that are harmful to the environment and people being prohibited;
  • Include noise suppression and dust mitigation measures from construction work;
  • Ensure that the works carried out will result in a reduction in energy use and an increase in the energy and thermal efficiency of the building;
  • Ensure that infrastructure is prepared for climate risks, through mitigation or adaptation measures to climate change;
  • Ensure that investments guarantee water consumption efficiency in the buildings to be renovated, contributing to the conservation of water resources and the reduction of energy consumption associated with the urban water cycle.

The following expenses are considered eligible, provided they are directly related to the development of the operation:

• Tangible assets, including the acquisition of machinery and equipment, costs directly attributable to bringing them to the location and condition necessary for them to be capable of operating, as well as the acquisition of computer equipment, including the software necessary for its operation;
• Intangible assets, including technology transfer through the acquisition of national and international patent rights, licenses, technical knowledge not protected by patents, and standard or purpose-built software;
• Other investment expenses, including expenses related to the intervention of certified accountants or statutory auditors in the validation of payment requests, engineering services, studies, diagnostics, audits, marketing plans, and architectural and engineering projects;
• Training of human resources, when provided for in the call for applications and under the terms defined therein.