France - Spain Call for Eureka joint R&D&I projects

Deadline: Oct 31, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

Within the cooperation practices existing between France and Spain in the fields of industrial and technological research and development in the framework of the Eureka program, in which both countries are active members, participants from both countries are invited to submit joint project proposals. This call is managed in cooperation and in line with the procedures of Eureka innovation platform (www.eurekanetwork.org)

Scope

Bpifrance (French Public Investment Bank) from France and the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology, EPE (CDTI) from Spain are announcing this call for Proposals for joint R&D projects, focusing on developing innovative products and applications in all technological and market areas. Applicants are expected to develop ready to market solutions or projects which have strong market potential for France and Spain.

Although this call invites projects in ALL thematic areas or application domains, special focus is given to the following domains:

• Transport (including automotive and aeronautics)
• Agrofood technology
• Energy
• Tourism

Eligibility criteria

Eligible partners are invited to present joint proposals for industrial R&D projects according to the following criteria:

• The partners should include, at least, one French and one Spanish company. Participation of research institutes/universities and other organizations is welcome as self-funded participants or subcontractors according to each country’s funding regulations.
• Organizations from other countries may also participate, but they will not be funded by CDTI or by Bpifrance.
• The French and Spanish partners must express their will to cooperate to the development of a new product, industrial process or service. The product, process or service must be innovative and there must be a technological risk involved.
• The project should have an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the technological cooperation between the participants from the countries (e.g. increased knowledge base, commercial leads, access to R&D infrastructure etc.).
• The project should demonstrate the contribution of all participants and the project must be significant to them.
• The participants are required, prior to obtain the Eureka label, to have signed a consortium agreement.

Any partner whose cooperative R&D project is consistent with the aforesaid criteria can apply to the present announcement in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect.

Submission and approval procedures at international level

Participants are invited to contact the officers from the National Authorities (see contact details at the end of the text) before submitting the documents.

This call will have two deadlines (Spring and Autumn) to submit an application. Applicants will be able to choose if they want to submit to the Spring or the Autumn deadline. It will be possible to resubmit an application to the Autumn call if it has been rejected in the Spring call. In both deadlines, the process will consist of 1 phase at international level.

Partners will have to submit their applications according to the procedures of each National Authority:

• In France, the participants will have first to contact Bpifrance to confirm their eligibility for funding before submitting the Eureka Application form (in English). If the project is selected, the French companies will have to submit their national funding application form (Aide pour le Développement de l’Innovation).
• In Spain the participants will have to submit a formal R&D international project application through CDTI’s website (https://sede.cdti.gob.es/) including the Eureka Application form (in English) and the draft consortium agreement. Additional documents in Spanish language, containing detailed information on the Spanish participants, could be requested depending on the specific type of funding requested by the company.

Timetable

• Call launch: February 2019

Spring call:

• Deadline for submission of international applications: 10th April 2019
• Eureka label (estimated): July 2019

Autum call:

• Deadline for submission of international applications: 31st October 2019
• Eureka label (estimated):  end January or February 2020

Funding details

The funding support will be given to each eligible partner by its own National Authority. Funding conditions and eligibility criteria may vary from country to country. The information regarding funding for each country is explained below:

France

French companies must submit their national funding application to Bpifrance:

According to BPI funding rules, French enterprises with less than 2,000 employees are financed through reimbursable loan free of interest (commonly called "avances récupérables"). The global funding amount will be partially non- reimbursable in case of technical failure. The funding rate is up to 65% (minimum amount 50 000€, maximum amount 3 M€ per participant).

French enterprises must make it clear that they have the capacity (equity capital, fund-raising) to finance the proposed activities.

Eligible costs for Bpifrance:

• Personal costs
• Overheads: 20% of personal costs
• Costs related to intellectual property, patent extension etc.
• Feasibility study • Market search • Equipment (depreciation and amortization)
• Industrial research and experimental development
• Project management and associated costs (related travel costs of French participants)
• Implementation and development of prototypes, models, pilot productions, demonstration etc.

Universities and research centers are welcomed as subcontractors of a French company. Costs relating to subcontracting are taken into account.

Additionally, Bpifrance can provide funding support to cover French companies’ needs in the preparation of their project via the Technological Partnership Aid (APT) - a grant of up to 20.000 €.

In France, project activities shall not start before submitting the funding applications to Bpifrance. For further information, please contact Bpifrance.

Spain:

CDTI will finance industrial research and/or technological development activities of Spanish companies. Universities and research centers could take part as subcontractors.

Funding conditions for Spanish partners may vary depending on the nature of the project and the beneficiaries. The features of the main funding tool for Eureka projects in Spain is available here: https://www.cdti.es/index.asp?MP=100&MS=802&MN=2

For more information regarding all CDTI funding tools, please access: http://www.cdti.es/index.asp?MP=100&MS=802&MN=1

Only industrial partners, individually, are able to summit the funding proposal and other required documents through the electronic services at https://sede.cdti.gob.es/. Application must be submitted within 20 working days after receiving the communication of eligibility. The complete details of the Call are available on CDTI’s website: www.cdti.es .

Funding decision is expected within 3 months after submitting an eligible funding application.

It is mandatory that project activities do not start before submitting the funding applications to CDTI. For further information, please contact CDTI.

According to Eureka’s practices, applicants may choose to request a label without public financing (e.g. self-funding is also applicable).

Monitoring and impact

Applicants will be requested to provide information during the lifetime of the project at international level to make sure the project has been developed as expected. Additionally, they will have to provide information regarding the impact of the project once it has been finished.