Fastest Finger for IRI, and from 2027 a New Megafund of 200 Billion Euros

This year will provide a significant investment boost for domestic entrepreneurs investing in research, development, and innovation, all thanks to EU funds. A total of 191.2 million euros will be available, which will be distributed, or so it seems, with the fastest finger, through calls for investments in Research and Development (IRI), which is ultimately a key step in strengthening the competitiveness of the Croatian economy and its integration into global value chains. The funds are secured from the Competitiveness and Cohesion Program 2021–2027, and the goal of this eagerly awaited allocation among entrepreneurs is to increase the share of investment in research and development, stimulate the commercialization of innovations, and strengthen cooperation between science and industry, all in line with national development strategies and European priorities.

Projects Ready

Natalia Zielinska, an EU funds consultant at Euro Grant Consulting and president of the HUP branch association of EU funds experts, states that domestic entrepreneurs are indeed ready for IRI and that by the end of last year, according to a survey conducted within HUP EUPRO, more than 60 projects were ready, with a value exceeding 211 million euros, which was higher than the available allocation.

– We can say that Croatian entrepreneurs have recognized the importance of investing in research and development and that they have prepared projects and are waiting for the announcement of calls ready. What is not yet known is how the projects will be scored or how the funds will be allocated, but according to our information, it will be a matter of the fastest finger – emphasizes Zielinska.

Special attention is directed towards projects implemented within the priority areas defined by the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3). This includes the health and quality of life sector, with an emphasis on biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry, medical equipment, and digital health, as well as the energy and sustainable environment sector, through projects related to renewable sources, energy efficiency, circular economy, and green technologies. Investments in transport and mobility are also encouraged, particularly in smart transport systems and autonomous vehicles, as well as in information and communication security and defense technologies, as well as in food and bioeconomy, including high-tech agriculture, the food industry, and biotechnological innovations in aquaculture.

New Megafund

While entrepreneurs in Croatia are preparing documentation for IRI, the European Commission and the European Parliament are shaping a new financial tool that is expected to mark the next budgetary period, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The new financial period begins on January 1, 2028, and ends on the last day of 2034, and it will have a new budget, which, as is already known, will consist of three main parts: the first part of the budget is intended for agriculture, the second for financing poor regions, and the third is a universal fund intended for financing industry from research to commercialization. The goal of the new megafund, as it is called, is to avoid the previously fragmented calls for financing the real sector, and the new Competitiveness Fund, born from the idea of Mario Draghi‘s report, would be, according to available information, worth as much as 200 billion euros!

Pillars of Competitiveness

And how this megafund will look is already somewhat known as the draft of the fund has ‘leaked’ to the media. According to that draft, the European Commission plans to create five pillars within the Competitiveness Fund: digitalization; resilience, defense, and space; clean transition and decarbonization; health and biotechnology; and blue sky research and careers. In other words, it will regroup a whole set of other funds into one with a clear goal of tracking the industry from research and development to commercialization and monetization of new products and services!

The new Competitiveness Fund of the European Commission was also announced by Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, highlighting that competitiveness financing is now fragmented and seeks a new approach.

– We need to regroup financing into a unified investment capacity to massively invest in strategic sectors from artificial intelligence to space to clean technologies to biotechnologies, including especially innovations and research – said Séjourné, who, along with Piotr Serafin, the budget commissioner responsible for developing the new fund, revealed that the new fund will essentially finance companies from research to industrial production. Additionally, he explained that the Competitiveness Fund will rely on grants, loans, capital, and the public market, but above all on private financing.