The law of 17 May 2017 on the promotion of Research, Development and Innovation is particularly exhaustive. “The European Union’s state aid rules have been transposed in the same way, so that we propose the most comprehensive regulatory framework available,” says Marco Walentiny, Head of the Research and Innovation at the Ministry of the Economy. “Our system covers the entire innovation chain, including SMEs for which an innovation approach is new and for which we can co-finance the intervention of an external expert.”
In 2018, the first “full” year of the law being in effect, 86 projects or programmes were reported for an expected Research, Development and Innovation expenditure of more than EUR 100 million and aid granted of nearly EUR 34 million.
Companies, regardless of their size, are eligible for such aid, provided that they are not considered to be ‘in difficulty’, i.e. if more than half of their subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses or if, even more so, they are the subject of collective insolvency proceedings and receive rescue aid.
While interested companies can obviously apply directly for such support mechanisms, it is also in their interest to receive free support from Luxinnovation’s R&D and Innovation Support team.
“Our consultants have in-depth knowledge of national and European financing programmes and can consequently guide companies, whatever their size or activity, in structuring their projects,” explains Marc Ferring, Director R&D and Innovation Support at Luxinnovation.
“As a result, we are able to define, together, the solutions that are best adapted to their needs. It can also be done through one of our Fit 4 performance programmes, through which companies can see the impact that an innovation approach can have and, therefore, want to go further within the framework of the 2017 law.”