- Applications from: 7 April 2016 to 20 May 2016
- Beneficiaries: Existing Businesses
- Subsidy : €15,000 to €200,000
“Upgrading very small & small existing businesses by developing their capabilities in new markets”
The programme will support existing very small and small businesses active in the 8 strategic priority sectors of the Operational Programme Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPAnEK), which are the following:
- Agri-food / Food Industry
- Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI)
- Materials / Construction
- Supply chain
- Energy
- Environment
- ICT Information and Communication Technologies
- Health
Existing & new very small and small businesses can take part:
- Existing businesses active in the 8 strategic priority sectors that keep category B and C accounting books and that had closed two or more financial years by 31 December 2015, or
- New businesses active in the 8 strategic priority sectors that do not fall into the above category of existing businesses and were set up by 31 December 2015.
They receive a subsidy of €15,000 to €200,000. Funding covers 40% of eligible expenses and is increased by 10%, reaching 50%, if new staff are hired.
Target Audience
Eligible under this action are existing and new very small and small businesses, as follows:
- a. Existing businesses that keep category B and C accounting books and that had closed two or more financial years by 31 December 2015, or
b. New businesses that do not fall into the above category of existing businesses and were set up by 31 December 2015.
- By 31 December 2015 they were active in at least one eligible business activity code (KAD) (Annex VI), and
- When the investment plan is approved, they hold the KAD relevant to the investment plan, if this differs from the KAD(s) in which the business is already active. 10% of the action's budget will be reserved exclusively for new small and very small businesses, while 90% will go to existing very small and small businesses. Based on Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, specifically:
- Within the SME category, a micro enterprise is defined as an enterprise that employs fewer than ten people and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed 2 million euros (see Annex II).
- Within the SME category, a small enterprise is defined as an enterprise that employs fewer than 50 people and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed 10 million euros.
Submission period
from 7 April 2016 to 20 May 2016
Terms and conditions
The main conditions for a business to take part are the following:
- it must hold, where applicable, the required valid operating licence, or have applied to the competent authority for its issue or renewal, for the activity/activities in which it operates. If the investment plan concerns a KAD in which the company has not been active, the business must present the operating licence before the final payment is made. Businesses that lack the required legal operating licence, and businesses whose licence has expired and that have not applied for a renewed operating licence by the date the proposal is submitted, are excluded from the action from the outset.
- it must operate within Greece and make its investment in one Region only.
- it must operate exclusively in one of the following forms: businesses of a corporate/commercial nature (Société Anonyme (AE), Limited Liability Company (EPE), General Partnership (OE) or Limited Partnership (EE) and Private Company (IKE), Sole Proprietorship, Cooperative, Social Cooperative Enterprise under Law 4019/2011 [KOINSEP]).
- it must not be an undertaking in difficulty within the meaning of state aid law (see Definition of an Undertaking in Difficulty, Annex V).
- it must not be in bankruptcy, liquidation or receivership.
- there must be no pending recovery of aid against it. The State must suspend the granting of new aid to a beneficiary against which an earlier recovery decision is still outstanding. Therefore, on the one hand, each time the granting authority is about to grant new aid to a business, it must check whether recovery of earlier aid is pending against it; on the other hand, the business applying for aid must declare, by solemn declaration, whether a recovery procedure is pending against it.
- it must have in place, or undertake by solemn declaration of its Legal Representative that by the completion of the action/investment it will provide, suitable infrastructure and services to minimise barriers and make access easier, where this is necessary and required, for people with disabilities, in line with Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006. Infrastructure means both buildings and electronic applications aimed at customers (e.g. websites and other electronic applications, such as electronic information and/or service points, etc.)
- it may submit up to one investment plan per Tax ID (AFM)
- the investment plan (physical and financial scope) must not have been completed before the date the proposal is submitted.
- its investment plan must include expenses that have not been funded by, or included in, another programme financed from national or EU resources.
- it must undertake that its investment plan has not been submitted, and will not be submitted, for inclusion in another programme financed from national or EU resources.
- the total amount of de minimis aid previously received by the single undertaking, including aid from this Action, must not exceed €200,000 (or €100,000 for the transport sector) over a three-year period (the current calendar year and the two (2) previous calendar years) before the legal right to the aid is granted.
The following are not entitled to submit a proposal:
- public enterprises, public bodies or public organisations and/or their subsidiaries, as well as companies in whose capital or voting rights local authorities (OTA) and all the above public bodies, individually or jointly, participate directly or indirectly with a share of more than twenty-five per cent (25%)
- businesses belonging to an already organised uniform network for the distribution of products or provision of services which, under relevant contracts, use licences for intellectual property rights, usually trademarks or trade names, and know-how for the use and distribution of goods or services (e.g. franchising, shop-in-shop, agency networks, etc.).
Please note that all the above conditions are cumulative requirements for eligibility and participation in the action. Failure to meet any one of them excludes the investment plan. Consequently, failure to meet them, or incomplete or missing evidence that they are met, is grounds for rejecting the investment plan.
What is funded
The subsidised budget of each investment proposal by a potential aid beneficiary may not be less than fifteen thousand euros (€15,000) and may not exceed the business's 2015 turnover, or the amount of two hundred thousand euros (€200,000) where the business's turnover in 2015 was more than two hundred thousand euros (€200,000).
Beneficiaries receive a subsidy for the following expenses:
- Buildings, facilities and surroundings
- Machinery – Equipment
- Intangible Expenses
- Payroll costs of employees (existing and/or new staff) up to €24,000 as follows: €12,000.00 per AWU (annual work unit) (existing and/or new) and up to two AWUs
INFORMATION
Contact KEK KEPETH for more information
9 Vassani Street, 38333 Volos
Tel. Contact: 24210-30535
Useful information
The official call for the Programme “Upgrading very small & small existing businesses by developing their capabilities in new markets” has been issued under the Operational Programme Competitiveness – Entrepreneurship – Innovation (EPAnEK) of NSRF (ESPA) 2014-2020
According to the pre-announcement, the programme will support existing (set up by 31 December 2013) small and very small businesses active exclusively in the eight (8) strategic priority sectors of EPAnEK: Agri-food, Energy, Cultural and Creative Industries, Supply Chain, Environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Health – Pharmaceuticals, Materials – Construction. Investment proposals may have an investment budget (subsidised budget) of €15,000 to €200,000, while the aid rate is set at a maximum of 40%, with the option of an increase of 10 percentage points if new staff are hired, and only after achievement of this target has been certified.
