In the area of grants and business support, the gap left by blocked funds from the National Reconstruction Plan has been partially filled by call for proposals from the European Funds for a Modern Economy 2021-2027 (FENG in Polish) Program.

The total amount for the calls envisaged in the schedule of competitions for 2023 is almost €4.7 billion (PLN 21 billion), or about 60 percent of the total budget for the program in the current financial horizon.

Of greatest interest to entrepreneurs is the Smart Path (successor to the Fast Track), whose budget corresponds to almost half of the entire FENG budget.

The Smart Path features a strict division in terms of the intermediary institutions handling the calls, based on the size of the enterprise: The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP in Polish) will conduct competitions for small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR in Polish) will conduct competitions for large enterprises and Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). This week, both institutions published partial rules for the implementation of calls for proposals.

One of the main novelties in the new system will be the possibility of submitting a single application for funding for different types of planned investments − previously each type of project activity (such as production investment, pro-environmental investment, or internationalization activities) required a separate funding application, often to different institutions.

Projects under the following modules can be included in a single grant application
(for large enterprises, Component 1 is mandatory; for SMEs, Component 1 or 2 is mandatory):

1. Research and development (R&D) activities: costs of conducting research and development work leading to the development of a product or process innovation at least on a national scale (including, but not limited to, personnel salaries, raw materials and ongoing costs of machinery and equipment).
2. Implementation of R&D innovation: includes the costs of implementing in the enterprise the results of R&D work, owned by the applicant or resulting from the implementation of the R&D module (including, but not limited to, investment costs related to the acquisition of land/real estate, civil works and the purchase of equipment and WNIP).
3. R&D Infrastructure: includes costs related to the creation of conditions for conducting R&D work (including, but not limited to, investment costs related to the acquisition of land/real estate, civil works, and the purchase of equipment and WNIP).
4. Digitization: includes costs related to digital transformation and ensuring cyber security of business operations.
5. Competencies: includes costs related to improving the competencies of employees and managers, their acquisition of new skills and knowledge, and the acquisition of qualifications (training costs).
6. Green enterprises: includes costs associated with activities aimed at the green transformation of the enterprise (including costs of investment in RES).
7. Internationalization: includes costs related to foreign promotion of the applicant's products and activities related to obtaining protection of industrial property rights or defending them in the case of infringement (among others, costs of participation in fairs; patent attorney costs).

Intensity of aid

For large enterprises, the aid intensity for the R&D module has not changed relative to the former Fast Track (i.e., it still averages about 50 percent), for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the aid intensity ranges from about 60 to 80 percent, and regardless of the size of the entrepreneur, for the other modules the aid intensity varies, depending on, among other things, the location of the investment.

Application deadlines for 2023 remain unchanged:

• April 12, June 15 and October 31 for enterprises implementing projects independently (both SMEs and large).
• August 31 for enterprises implementing projects in a consortium.
• April 14 – IPCEI projects.

According to the documentation, the end of April' call for proposals may be extended or shortened by at least 10 days, and may end no earlier than 40 days after the date of making the call public, due to, among other things, the submission of applications in the call for funding amounting to more than 200 percent of the amount allocated for project funding in the call. This means that, first round applicants should submit applications by March 19 just to be on the safe side.