NACHIP - Second Open Call

Yes, consortia implementing projects, awarded under calls I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a can apply to calls for Capacity Building I3 Strand 2b. Please note that the objectives of the Strand 1/2a calls, focussed on investments, and the Capacity Building I3 Strand 2b are different. For this, you can check the relevant current and future call documents.

No, as stated in Section 13 of the call text, if applicants need the call documentation in another official EU language, they must submit a request within 10 days after call publication.

As stated in section 6 of the call document, in order to be eligible for funding, the applicants - beneficiaries and affiliated entities – from non-EU countries must be listed in the “List of Participating Countries in the I3 Instrument”PDF.

Legal entities from non-EU countries that are not listed in the “List of Participating Countries in the I3 Instrument” may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners (that should bear their own costs), subcontractors, etc. (see section 13 of the call text). However, proposals must relate to activities taking place in the eligible countries and regions covered by the consortium.

As explained in the call document in section 10, FSTP is only allowed for grants (cash).

The Part C (KPI section) of the EU Funding and tenders submission tool shows the following options:

Product innovation

Process innovation

Marketing innovation

Organisational innovation

Other

You can tick one or several of the options. If you have for example more than one production innovation, or several other types of innovations, you can describe the innovations more precisely in the Part B application form.

An applicant can also use additional KPIs if relevant for the project (impact).

The expected TRL level at project start and project end must be indicated.

Under I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a, SMEs participate either directly as partners in the proposal consortium or indirectly, via receiving funding from the financial support to third parties scheme (FSTP), which is optional and not compulsory under these two call.

There are no specific requirements for companies that might receive services in the context of the project. There are specific requirements for companies expected to receive financial support (see the part dedicated to "Eligible activities", section 6 of the call text).

It is important to take note that the focus of the calls I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a is to contribute to actual investments. Support actions for networking, for testing new approaches for better innovation support or for enhancing services to SMEs (through collaboration, peer-learning or matchmaking, etc.) might be only eligible in combination with the implementation of activities listed in section 2.3 of the call text , i.e. "Activities that can be funded (scope)". The relevance, quality, cost effectiveness and impact of the proposed actions will be evaluated according to the conditions laid down in the call document.

One of the main goals of calls I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a is to provide support for companies (in particular SMEs) in building portfolios of interregional innovation investments in shared or complementary S3 priority areas. In this context, an SME can be funded either as consortium member or as a recipient of financial support to third parties.

The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rates fixed in the Grant Agreement (100% for the costs of providing financial support to third parties and 70% for all other cost categories).

If the technology providers are involved as consortium members, they have to comply with the general requirements for eligible participants and eligible countries.

If they are planned to be involved as recipients of financial support to third parties, they will have to be selected during the implementation of the project, via an open call for financial support to third parties. In that case they will have to be SMEs that are established in the regions covered by the consortium or in another less developed region or in an outermost region.

Please consult section 6 of the call documents.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361.Guidance and supporting documents, as well as a link to a self-assessment tool which you can use to determine whether your organisation qualifies as a SME, are available at https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes/sme-definition_en

If you encounter any difficulty while going through the steps of the SME self-assessment, please use this email for your help requests : GROW-SME-DEFINITION@ec.europa.eu

As explained in the call documents for I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a under the section 6, EU bodies with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research cannot be part of a consortium. However, the KICs (Knowledge Innovation Communities) created by the EIT are not EU bodies and therefore eligible.

Yes, applicants (and therefore also regions) may submit more than one proposal for different projects under the same call (and be awarded funding for them). Organisations may participate (also as coordinators) in several proposals. However, if there are several proposals for very similar projects, only one application will be accepted and evaluated. The applicants will be asked to withdraw one of them (or it will be rejected). Moreover, applicants cannot claim costs twice for the same activity implemented in different proposals. Otherwise, this would be double funding. Furthermore, if several proposals are selected, the entity must have the necessary technical and financial resources to carry out the work.

Subcontracting limited parts of the project’s actions (no core actions) to entities established in Third Countries is possible under I3. The use of subcontractors has to be identified and justified in the proposal (in particular if it exceeds 30% of the total eligible costs). As described in the call for proposals, the selection of the subcontractor need to be documented (for audits) and be based on the lowest price or best value for money. In addition, the subcontracted activities need to benefit the territories where the project’s beneficiaries are established.

Yes, a university can be a consortium coordinator under condition that it is a non-profit organisation, or Member State organisation acting under indirect management, or public authority. It must be a legal entity, established in one of the EU Member States.

Yes, the Coordinator must make sure to have the mandate of all participants to submit the application (explicit agreement to participate). There is no specific template. At the time of the submission of proposal, the Coordinator has to declare (in the Administrative Forms, Part A) that it has the explicit consent of all applicants on their participation and on the content of the proposal.

As stated in the I3 Model Grant agreementPDF, the beneficiaries must provide certificates on their financial statements (CFS), in accordance with the schedule, threshold and conditions set out in the Data Sheet. According to the Data sheet, Certificates on the financial statements (CFS) are required for the final payment if the threshold of costs ≥ EUR 325 000, in terms if requested EU contribution, is reached at beneficiary-level (for CFS; see Articles 21 and 24.2 and Data Sheet, Point 4.3 of the Model Grant Agreement).

Please see Section 6. Eligibility - Geographic location (target countries) of the call for proposals. Proposals must relate to activities taking place in the eligible countries and regions covered by the consortium.

Centrally managed by the European Commission such as the Interregional Innovation (I3) Instrument does not constitute state resources. A grant funded by the I3 is not considered as a State aid.

De minimis rules could be relevant in case of the optional FSTP (financial support to third party) facility when part of the I3 grant is distributed further to final beneficiaries. If I3 project is using the optional FSTP facility and redistribution of the I3 grant is entrusted to a Member State or a body under the control of a Member State then this could constitute State aid and de minimis rules would be at play.

For a specific advice and conditions linked to State aid national schemes, applicants to the I3 Instrument should consult their national competition authority (NCA).

The list of the NCAs is available at: competition-policy.ec.europa.eu

As stated in the call text, applicants may participate with associated partners (i.e. partner organisations which participate in the action but without the right to get grant money). They participate without funding and therefore do not need to be validated. At the time of the submission of the proposal, associated partners need to have registered beforehand and have their PIC. They have to be added to the participants list of the proposal by using the option “Add Associated Partner”.

The purpose of the endorsement letter is to ensure that the investment priority identified in the I3 proposal is coherent with the priorities identified in the S3 strategy. The coordinator must submit the support letter from the competent regional or national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy (S3) before the call deadline. Members of the consortium must only submit the support letter from their S3 authority provided that the corresponding region agrees to be identified as “Regional Innovation Valley”, see chapter 5 of the call text.

The financial support to third parties is limited to SMEs that are established in the S3 participating regions covered by the consortium or in another less developed region or in an outermost region.

Yes, this is possible. In the EU funding and tenders portal submission mask you need to add the partner first (in your case the subsidiary as beneficiary) and then add/link the affiliated entity to the beneficiary (in your case the parent company).

It is also possible to put the parent company as beneficiary and the subsidiary as affiliated entity.

To qualify as affiliated entity, there needs to be a legal/economic link between the two entities going beyond the proposal/project.

Sub-contractors implementing limited parts of the action for beneficiaries are not subject to nationality rules applying to eligible applicants/beneficiaries.

However, the geographical location of eligible activities defined in the call for proposals have to be respected by the grant beneficiaries during the implementation of the action. In addition, the applicant has to fulfil itself the required operational capacity to implement fully on its own the proposed action.

The use of subcontractors has to already be identified and justified in the proposal in particular if it exceeds 30% of the total eligible costs, and the selection of the subcontractor has to be documented (for audits) and be based on the lowest price or best value for money as defined in the call for proposals.

Furthermore, the applicants have to have themselves all required capacities to implement the action fully by their own means. Operational capacities of sub-contractors cannot be ‘counted’ for the applicant contrary to the capacities of affiliated entities.

Companies, other than SMEs, can be consortium partners.

Normally, the companies that are to receive FSTP should be SMEs. Exceptions should be duly explained. The call document (section 2.3 of the call document) states that FSTP can be used to complement the value chain of the companies (main investors) that are partners of the consortium.

As explained in section 2.1 of the call document, at least 70% of the total eligible costs must be allocated to investments in companies with a focus on SMEs.

As explained in the call documents for I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a in section 5, the coordinator needs to provide an endorsement letter from the competent regional or national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy (S3). The relevant region is the one in which the EIT KIC (node) has its seat. An EIC KIC "partner" can also be a coordinator. In that case, the partner needs to provide the endorsement letter from its competent regional or national institution or body.

Yes, there is only one template for the letter of support (endorsement letter) for both, see section 5 of the call document:

- The project coordinator must submit the support letter from the competent regional or national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy (S3).

- The Members of the consortium must submit the support letter from their S3 authority provided that the corresponding region agrees to be identified as “Regional Innovation Valley”, (by clicking at least box n 3 "we agree for [name of the region] to be identified as a Regional Innovation Valley").

As stated in the call text, the objective of the I3 Instrument is to support interregional innovation investments by offering consortia of innovation actors from the quadruple helix ecosystems the necessary financial and advisory support to bring their innovations to a mature level, ready for commercialization and scale-up, while bridging and reducing the innovation divide in Europe. Subcontracting should normally constitute only a a limited part of the action. Subcontracting is not compulsory.

SMEs can participate as consortium partners or as third parties via financial support to third parties as explained in section 6 of the call document. The funding rates are 70% for all cost categories except for the financial support to third parties, for which it is 100 %. The funding rate applies independantly of the organisational status of the consortium partner.

This call does not set any specific conditions regarding the sources the co-financing shall come from. Therefore, the consortium partners are free to choose how this requirement will be fulfilled. The resources to successfully implement the project will be assessed during the evaluation process under the ‘Quality” award criterion. See chapter 10 of the call document.

The co-funding rate of 70% needs to be applied to all budget categories and beneficiaries and will accordingly be fixed in the Grant Agreement. The Agency cannot be held responsible for any different internal arrangements of the project consortium (see also chapter 13 - consortium agreement, of the relevant call document).

Please consult the template for the detailed budget table. The tab ”EC Data” provides concrete instructions about what type of data has to be encoded and how. Usually, applicants have to encode the estimated number of persons working per staff category (e.g. Project managers, Senior experts, Junior experts, technical personnel etc.. ) and the relevant estimated personnel cost rate. Information about the staff type (e.g. employees, seconded persons, SMEs owners etc..) as well as the type of estimated personnel costs (actual or unit) has to be provided as well.

Please see section 10. Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements - Budget categories and cost eligibility rules. The indirect cost flat-rate of 7% of the eligible direct costs applies to the costs categories A, B (subcontracting costs), C and D (D.1 Financial support to third parties).

There is no fixed percentage of the total eligible project costs to be invested into SMEs in order to qualify as a "focus on SMEs". But the application should demonstrate that the project will have a positive impact on SMEs.

Yes, the detailed table sheet has to be used to enter the budget for each cost category and work package. To add a work package, click on 'Add a new WP on the Start sheet (tab 2"Start") ', enter the name and description (name in ALL CAPITALS) and click on 'Update Detailed Budget Table'. Tab "1.Instructions" of the Detailed budget table provides further technical information.

In principle, if an EU centrally managed fund such as the I3 Instrument transfers funds to a body in an EU Member State, which then distributes this funding to final beneficiaries (third parties in case of the FSTP/cascade funding), State aid can be involved if this body is a Member state body or controlled by the Member State. If the body distributing I3 FSTP funding to third parties is not controlled by the Member State, this funding is not State aid.

The control of the Member state over the body distributing I3 FSTP funding to third parties must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

For specific advice and conditions linked to State aid national schemes, applicants to the I3 Instrument should always consult their national competition authority (NCA).

The list of the national competent authorities of the EU Member States is available at: competition-policy.ec.europa.eu

There are two consolidated tables - “Consolidated table (participant)” and Consolidated table (project)”.

The “Consolidated table (participant)” sheet (i.e. tab 4) is calculated automatically.

As stated in the instructions for the table, the “Consolidated table (project)” sheet (i.e. tab 5) provides a budget overview per beneficiary, work package and cost category. It needs to be assembled manually by the coordinator on the basis of the detailed budget tables/consolidated budget tables filled out by the participants. In this sheet, the content of the template (lines 8 to 21) is expected to be copy-pasted in a way to provide a overview per work package (e.g. if there are 5 partners and 7 Work Packages, there are 7 consolidated tables (listing the partners' consolidated numbers in the budget categories for each WP)).

It is up to the applicant to choose the correct staff category depending on the relevant positions of the staff within the organisation and their role for the project. There are no other specific requirements.

No, these lines do not have to be completed at the time of submission of proposal. They might be completed later on, during the grant agreement preparation of the awarded projects.

The costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence have to be budgeted in the proposal as unit costs. They have to be calculated in line with the Commission Decision of 12 January 2021 authorizing the use of unit costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence costs under an action or work programme under the 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework (C(2021)35) as amended by Commission Decision C(2023)4928PDF of 26 July 2023.

All distances have to be measured using either the rail or flight calculator at the following website: ec.europa.eu

As there is no formal and separate call topic under which to submit a proposal, applicants can explain in the description of the action, which thematic priority and burning challenge they mainly target. Overlaps with other thematic priorities are acceptable as long as the main thematic priority is clearly addressed.

You should normally upload an Excel file as provided for on the EU Funding and tenders portal submission tool. This will comprise the individual tables per partner and WP as well as the consolidated tables per partner and at project level.

Please note that the amounts entered into the summarized budget table (filled in directly online in Part A) must correspond to the amounts calculated in the detailed budget table.

In case an error and/or inconsistency persists, make sure to accurately encode the numbers in the Part A summarized budget table, as the amounts there will prevail over the detailed budget table (Section 5 of the Call document).

The consortium is free to choose whether to allocate all tasks related to financial support to third parties to one work package or to split them into separate work packages.

There is no exhaustive list of what an investment is according to the call document.

Any advisory or financial support to a company contributing to the project value chain could potentially constitute an investment. Please see the non-exhaustive list on page 14 of the call document.

The advisory support can also include advise given/staff hours spent by staff members of any of the consortium members.

Consortium membership and FSTP are not the only ways to achieve the 70% minimum investment level.

Further options are

-Services of consortium members to companies

-Company access to technical facilities of consortium members

-Equipment of consortium members used by companies

-Support from subcontractors to companies

The list is not exhaustive.

Please note that the supported companies must be part of or contribute to the value chains targeted in the project.

This is not an obligation. But regional authorities may join an I3 project consortium.

The 70% of the total eligible costs to be allocated to investments in companies, with a focus on SMEs can include the following :

• Costs for financial and advisory support to SMEs participating as consortium members (for activities that can be funded, please see Section 2.3 of the call document)

• Costs for financial support to third parties (that cannot exceed 30% of the total eligible costs and must be duly justified) provided during the implementation phase to contribute to the investment project by carrying out necessary and missing tasks

• Costs for administration and and communication in connection with the open calls for financial support to third parties

In general, costs for project management and project communication are not defined as costs for investment in companies.

The entities to be funded under the cascade funding must not be identified at the proposal stage. They will be selected through an open call for financial support to third parties. The call will be launched during the project implementation, in line with the conditions set in section 6 "Eligibility", sub- section "Eligible activities" of the call text.

However, the project application must clearly specify why financial support to third parties is needed, how it will be managed and provide a list of the different types of activities for which a third party may receive financial support. The proposal must also clearly describe the results to be obtained.

As stated in the section 5 of the call text, one of the mandatory annexes is the compilation of the CVs of the core project team.

There is no template for such documents.

These documents must be submitted as separate documents from the part B. They must be uploaded as indicated in the online submission form, section "Part B and Annexes" in the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System: for the CVs, under "CV" and for the outline of a project dissemination and exploitation plan, under "Other annexes".

At the point of submission, an endorsement letter from the competent regional or national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy (S3) has to be submitted by the project coordinator. Other partners of consortium have to submit an endorsement letter only if the corresponding region agrees to be identified as “Regional Innovation Valley”.

The required annex "Outline of a project dissemination and exploitation plan" must include an outline: a general description of the project dissemination and exploitation plan, and not the full dissemination and exploitation plan (which is a mandatory deliverable). There is no indication of the number of pages for this outline.

About the content of Section 4.2 Communication, dissemination and visibility of the technical description, Part B, please refer to the instructions in the grey box below the title of this section.

The business and investment plan must explain how the project holders intend to perform the investments into companies after project end. Therefore it is advisable to foresee a plan towards the end of the project. If you intend to foresee a plan at project half-time, it is advisable to foresee an updated plan towards the end of the project as further deliverable.

The list of mandatory annexes and supporting documents is available in section 5 of the call text.

The “Outline of a project dissemination and exploitation plan” might be included in the dedicated parts of the Application Form (Part B) or could be uploaded in the field available for “Other Annexes” .

The “Annual activity reports” and the “List of previous projects” are not compulsory documents for these calls and the proposals can be submitted without uploading them. It is up to the applicants to decide whether or not to provide these documents.

No, the endorsement letter is different. The endorsement letter for the call I3-2023-Cap2b can be found in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal submission tool in a zipped file, on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal call page and on the EISMEA website.

Please see sections 2.1 and 6 of the call document: FSTP allows to select SMEs during the implementation phase in order to contribute to the investment project by carrying out necessary and missing tasks e.g., to complete a specific value chain and/or to offer a specific groundwork for testing and optimising products and production processes, or for the exploration of new processing technologies. Please also see FAQ 3072 and FAQ 31245.

As stated in the instructions of point 4.2 "4.2 Communication, dissemination and visibility" of the standard application form , applicants have to describe the communication and dissemination activities which are planned in order to promote the activities/results and maximise the impact (to whom, which format, how many, etc.). They should clarify how they intend to reach the target groups, relevant stakeholders, policymakers and the general public and explain the choice of the dissemination channels. Proposals have to describe how the visibility of EU funding will be ensured.

Later on, during the project implementation, projects beneficiaries will have to submit as a project deliverable a full dissemination and exploitation plan.

According to the call document, only for the coordinator the provision of an endorsement letter is mandatory. The other partners only need to provide an endorsement letter if their region targets to be recognised as Regional Innovation Valley as explained in the call document.

If the cluster is based in a specific region and acts as coordinator, the endorsement letter must be signed by the smart specialisation authority of that region.

In case you have some cluster subsidiary/node in another region, where some project activities will take place, this subsidiary/node should also be a partner in the consortium.

According to the call document, only for the coordinator the provision of an endorsement letter is mandatory. The other partners only need to provide an endorsement letter if their region targets to be recognised as Regional Innovation Valley as explained in the call document.

If you provide an endorsement letter as coordinator, this letter must be signed by the smart specialisation authority of the concerned EIT KIC main entity / EIC KIC network member/node implementing the action, whichever is indicated as coordinator.

In the case you describe, it may be advisable not to put the Brussels based main entity as coordinator to avoid the need for an endorsement letter from the Brussels region in the absence of Brussels based smart specialisation / investment related activities. Instead, in your case it may be be advisable to have a network member/node as coordinator that implements smart specialisation / investment related activities.

If you add the Brussels based EIC KIC main entity as partner (not as coordinator), you are not required to have investment related activities in the Brussels region but need to explain the contributing role of that entity in the project.

The maximum amount to be sent on FSTP is 30% of the total eligible project cost without applying the 70% co-funding rate.

The assessment and selection of the FSTP applicants may be carried by members of the consortium or by hired independent experts; the responsibility remains with the consortium.

As stated in the Call text, there will be no interim payments for the projects implemented under I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a.

There will be only 2 payments :

- a prefinancing to start working on the project (float of normally 70% of the maximum grant amount) and

- a payment of the balance at the end of the project.

No, there are no deliverables linked to payments during the project implementation.

The "Progress report at project mid-term" is a mandatory deliverable that will allow to check the progress during the project, independently of the schedule for payments.

The "Report on cumulative expenditure incurred" is a mandatory deliverable for all grants > 5M EUR with reporting periods > 18 months. It will be used for Commission accounting purposes, not for cost eligibility checks. The document is a simple list of payments. There is no written reporting text to provide. Please check the deliverable template.

As stated in section "10. Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements - Budget categories and cost eligibility rules - Specific cost eligibility conditions for this call", unit costs are mandatory for SME owner/natural person costs, as well as for travel and subsistence costs.

About the SME owner/natural person costs, please consult Commission Decision of 20 October 2020 authorising the use of unit costs for the personnel costs of the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises and beneficiaries that are natural persons not receiving a salary for the work carried out by themselves under an action or work programme (C(2020)7115).

About travel and subsistence costs, please consult Commission Decision of 12 January 2021 authorising the use of unit costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence costs under an action or work programme under the 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework (C(2021)35) as amended by Commission Decision C(2023)4928 of 26 July 2023.

All eligible unit costs incurred should be declared in the periodic reporting. No invoices and time sheets need to be submitted for the periodic reporting. However, adequate records and other supporting documentation to prove the number of units declared must be kept (e.g. in case of an audit).

No, bank fees for pre-financing guarantee should not be foreseen at the time of the submission of the proposals.

They could be budgeted later on, during the grant agreement preparation of the awarded projects, if a bank guarantee is required from the consortium, further to assessment of weak financial capacity for one or several partners. For further details, please consult sections 7 and 10 of the call document.

The bank guarantee for pre-financing is linked to the amount of pre-financing that the consortium will receive from EC to start working on the project.

The bank guarantee for pre-financing is not related to possible bank credits of partners, ensuring their own resources .

As stated in the calls' text, Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) allows to select SMEs during the implementation phase in order to contribute to the investment project by carrying out necessary and missing tasks e.g., to complete a specific value chain and/or to offer a specific groundwork for testing and optimising products and production processes, or for the exploration of new processing technologies.

The focus of these calls being on investment in companies, with a focus on SMEs, travel costs for SME third parties should be part of their own investment.

As the Annual Activity Report is optional, there is no fixed template.

In kind contributions are allowed under the calls I3-2023-INV1 and I3-2023-INV2a but cost-neutral. This means that they cannot be included in the financial statements for a potential reimbursement. However, a salary can be considered as part of the personnel costs (budget category A) and can be reimbursed (up to 70% of the total eligible cost). For the remaining 30% the consortium/entity has to find another funding source.