Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura: Call 2019
On 11 January 2019 DECREE 208/2018, of 28 December, was published in the DOE
establishing the regulatory bases for granting agro-industrial incentives in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, to support investments aimed at the processing and marketing or development of agricultural products, with the aim of promoting productive investment and improving competitiveness.
The Agro-industrial Incentives Line in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura is non-refundable. The minimum eligible investment is 25,000 euros and the maximum is 20,000,000 euros. The aid rate remains between 21% and 31%, depending on the type of company and the amount of the subsidy. The award procedure will be carried out on a competitive basis.
There is still no date set for the publication of the new Public Call Order. However, it is very likely that it will be published in February.
What's new in the 2019 call for Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura?
Guarantee
One of the great novelties of this call for Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura is the presentation of a Guarantee. This guarantee will be for an amount of 2% of the investments requested.
Presentation of Licences and Authorisations
Another change to note is the presentation of Licences and Authorisations at the time of the Application for Charge. This is a great benefit for the promoters. In the last call for Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura, this had to be submitted at the time of the Resolution of the File.
In this call, in the Subsidy Application, "only" the presentation of the supporting documentation is required. In other words, only the documents justifying the start of the project's environmental procedures must be submitted. This is an important advantage, as in previous calls it was necessary to present the Resolutions of the Environmental Authorisations.
It is common for a promoter not to start investing until he has received the Resolution of the subsidies. Once it has been received, it is when it is assured that if it fulfils the conditions of the Decree, it will obtain the subsidy. Therefore, it did not make sense to oblige the promoter to start the whole process and begin to incur expenses until this milestone had been reached.
The long processing times for some of these authorisations have caused certain inconveniences, such as environmental authorisations. They have even led to the environmental resolutions not being obtained by the date of the subsidy resolution. All of this having requested the authorisations sufficiently in advance. Therefore, this change, which is included in the 2019 call for Agri-Food Incentives in Extremadura, corrects this problem.
Differences between Incentive Lines
There are large differences between the Agro-industrial Incentives (EAFRD funds) and the Autonomous and Regional Incentives (both Feder funds). The inequalities between the Agro-industrial Incentives and the Autonomous and Regional Incentives continue to be maintained year after year.
Firstly, the Autonomous and Regional Incentives are open calls all year round. However, the Agro-industrial Incentives are still closed calls that are open for one or two months annually in competitive concurrence. Both EAFRD and ERDF are European Structural and Investment Funds (two of the five existing funds). Consequently, they should be managed in a similar way, with open calls for proposals.
This option would greatly benefit businesses, which should be the target of the funds. Thus, it would be possible to apply for aid at any time of the year and not just in a few specific weeks. Especially in this particular fund (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development), as companies work with products that are usually seasonal.
Each company processes a different raw material with its own start and end dates. Thus, in each one, the needs for extensions and improvements appear at a specific time of the year. It is also difficult to carry out extension work during certain periods, as work is being carried out in the middle of the season. This happens because there is a limited period to carry out the work once the Resolution has been obtained.
However, at Arram Consultores we hope that this will change in the future. We are committed to a Line of Agro-industrial Incentives in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura with an open call.
Another difference is that the Agro-industrial Incentives Facility does not allow changes to be requested or made. This is really detrimental to entrepreneurs. Investment projects are alive and a very high percentage of them are subject to change. These changes can be in terms of criteria, design or according to needs. Changes can occur from the moment work starts and the Application is submitted until it is developed and implemented.
A third difference with the Autonomous Community Incentives is the engineering fees for work carried out prior to the date of application for aid. The call for Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura requires a very high level of detail in the documentation submitted. In addition, it requires a large number of documents to be submitted.
At Arram Consultores, we are experts in consultancy and design for agri-food industries. We also have extensive experience in the management of any type of aid lines. This is why we know how important it is to start working in advance.
It is essential to start the engineering work prior to the publication of the Decree. In 8 weeks it is impossible to complete all the documentation in a timely manner for large investment projects. The fact that engineering costs prior to the application are not considered eligible is an incongruity. Project development must start earlier if it is to be completed on time. In other subsidy lines, such as the Autonomic Incentives, they are admitted.
Arram Consultores, experts in helpline management
Arram Consultores has extensive experience in managing grants and financing for investment projects.
Due to our low turnover, we advise clients to start work on new enlargement projects as soon as possible. This is due to the short deadline, the large volume of documentation and the level of detail required.
The 2019 call for Agro-industrial Incentives in Extremadura will be one of the last of the current 2014-2020 operational period. The last year will be 2020, eligible until 31/12/2023. The forecast is that these aids will be approved again for the new programming period 2021-2027. This forecast is based on the European Commission's proposal presented in May, although cuts are envisaged.
In general terms, the European Commision's main porposals for the next programming period are as follows:
- More co-financing.
- Importance of climate change.
- Redistribution of aid.
- Crisis reserve.
- More flexibility for member states.
Arram Consultores has participated in many projects advising on the management of non-refundable aid and financing. In the last three calls of the Agroindustrial Incentives Line in Extremadura, we have presented 62 projects with a total investment requested of around 120 million euros.
