Finland: Next application round of EU Innovation Fund in autumn – advice available for project preparation

NordenBladet — The European Commission has informed the Member States about the next application rounds of the EU Innovation Fund and the situation with respect to last year’s applications. In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has created an advisory service that will provide immediate assistance for the preparation of energy investments.

The European Commission is preparing the next application rounds of the Innovation Fund. The application, targeted to funding larger projects, should open on 26 October 2021 and will continue until spring 2022. The planned amount to be offered in total will be about EUR 1.3 to 1.5 billion. The next application round for smaller projects will open in March 2022. The planned amount available will be about EUR 100 million. The application rounds concerning larger projects have aroused particular interest, which is why the Commission’s resources will now be specifically targeted to these. The Commission also wishes to speed up the decision-making process so that the application starting in the autumn will be a one-stage process and the decisions will be made already in July 2022. The application requirements should be about the same as before. Decisions on applications opened last autumn expected soon The decisions on the first application rounds concerning larger and smaller projects opened in autumn 2020 should be ready within the next few weeks. The selected applicants will be invited to negotiate on the support decisions with the EU. The authorities of the Member States will also be informed about the projects prepared within their territories that will proceed to the negotiation phase.

Advisory service to assist in planning energy investments
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has created a new advisory service that will help plan energy investments so that they will be eligible for the funding. Customers are invited to seek the advisory service immediately. Using the service does not require that an application has been or will be submitted to the Innovation Fund. The number of companies to be selected should be about 60, and the advice to be provided to them will be free of charge. The contact person for the advisory service at the EIB is Catherine Bender (c.bender(at)eib.org). More information on the EU Innovation Fund and applications for large and small projects can be found on the Commission’s Innovation Fund website. For more information on fall application processes, visit the site later.