PT2020 – New INCENTIVE SYSTEMS COVID-19
Incentive System for Productive Innovation in the context of COVID-19
It aims to support companies wishing to establish, strengthen or reverse their production capacities for goods and services to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including the construction and modernisation of testing and testing facilities for relevant COVID-19 products (Notice No 14/SI/2020). See product sheet
Incentive System for Research and Development Activities and Investment in Testing and Optimization Infrastructures (upscaling) in the context of COVID-19
It aims to support relevant research and development (R&D) activities in the context of combating COVID-19, as well as upscaling infrastructures that contribute to developing relevant products to cope with COVID19 (Notice No. 15/SI/2020).
Common requirements:
- Not being a company in difficulty on December 31, 2019;
- Start work from 1 February (projects started earlier must demonstrate that support has the effect of accelerating or extending the scope of the project);
- comply with the legal, national and European and regulatory provisions applicable to them;
- Integrate all the information required in the context of the investigation of the application process.
PT2020 – Approved projects
The following measures envisaged under the incentive schemes for companies, applicable to projects approved under portugal’s incentive system 2020 and projects closed under the system of incentives under the system of incentives of The NSRF and the CSF III with active repayment plans, which verify one or more of the situations:
I. Accelerating the payment of incentives to companies
Incentive refund applications submitted by companies will be settled as soon as possible. This process will take place on the incentive refund requests already submitted or that will be so, and no request from the company is required. In this way, means and administrative facilitation procedures for the acceleration of payments under incentive schemes will be mobilised, including, where necessary and possible, the simplified advance of 80 incentive associated with the expense submitted in the incentive repayment application, using the exceptional mechanism provided for in the payment s umbask. This advance in addition to the previous payments may not exceed 95 of the total approved incentive:
- the previous simplified advance shall be made after verification of the payment application and the fulfilment of the conditions deemed indispensable for payment;
- the simplified advances will then be settled by the MAs or OI within 60 working days.
Council of Ministers Resolution No. 10-A/2020 recommends in paragraph 15 that public entities that have assumed obligations to make payments to third parties in return for the supply of goods and services, or equivalent, pursuant to Law No. 8/2012 of February 21, in their current wording, make them as soon as possible.
Ii. Deferral of reimbursable incentive benefits
Benefits due until September 30, 2020 will be deferred for 12 months without interest charges or other penalty.
This deferral also applies to the outstanding benefits relating to agreed regularisation plans and in the framework of the projects of the QREN and QCAI incentive system and to the reimbursement plans established at the time of the closure of their projects Programs.
The approval will be automatic, and there is no need for any request from the companies, and will be communicated individually to the companies by the Intermediary Bodies.
Iii. Expenses incurred on canceled or deferred actions
Eligibility for reimbursement of expenses incurred in initiatives or actions cancelled or postponed for reasons related to COVID-19, provided for in projects in Portugal 2020, in particular in the areas of internationalization and vocational training.
Such expenses, proven to be borne by the beneficiaries and after deduction of any type of compensation arising from insurance or other risk coverage, may be eligible for reimbursement in applications for payment where:
- Proof of cancellation or postponement is presented by the organizers of the events/ initiatives / training actions cancelled or postponed; Or
- It is based on non-realization, based on the recommendations of the health authorities for containment/ limitation of international travel.
Companies will not need to make any request and shall provide information on the reasons given when submitting incentive refund applications.
Iv. Project reprogramming
The negative impacts of COVID-19 will be considered force majeure reasons not attributable to beneficiaries in the assessment of the objectives contracted under portugal 2020 incentive systems, under the following conditions:
- For projects in the investment phase, changes or adjustments to the level of:
- Investment configuration, changes to the initial investment project, such as the replacement of equipment or the reconfiguration of the investment;
- Schedule of realization, allowing the setting of a schedule compatible with new expectations for the realization of the project, without any penalty, since this adjustment occurs for reasons of force majeure. The time of evaluation of the results will be adjusted according to the new project implementation schedule;
- Contracted results, in particular in the indicators of achievement and result and the value of the approved goals related to job creation objectives, turnover, national and international, gross added value;
- For physical and financially completed projects, changes or adjustments to the level of:
- Values of the approved targets related, inter alia, to objectives on job creation, turnover, national and international, gross added value;
- Moment of evaluation of the results, assuming the extension of the cruise year referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2 of Annex D of Ordinance No. 57-A/2015, in its current wording, for another year, for reasons of force majeure.
Requests for reprogramming are made by companies at the 2020/PAS Counter, accompanied by reasons for the changes requested and the relevant documentation. In these applications, the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the beneficiary undertaking, which justify the adjustments requested, should be highlighted.
It should be noted that the flexibility to be allocated will be proportionate and that deemed necessary for the beneficiary to return to the previous situation.
The procedure for the assessment and decision of such applications shall be assessed and decided as a matter of priority within 35 working days, unless it is dependent on any key element in the adoption of the decision to be provided by the undertaking upon request.
V. ESF
In regulated offers, the maintenance of support through the European Social Fund until the end of its operation, where the conditions associated with the minimum number of pupils or trainees of classes or courses, or of the training methodologies to be given, in particular when distance training is used, are amended by the competent bodies responsible for such training offers.
In vocational training, vocational rehabilitation, active employment measures and other non-training measures, supported through the ESF:
- Where ongoing actions or activities are suspended and where it is not possible to maintain actions or activities, including through distance training, the eligibility of training grants and other social support shall be maintained during this period;
- The internal costs associated with training, rehabilitation and non-formative operations financed by the ESF, are also eligible, when essential and indestiable to the continuity of the activity or its resumption by the beneficiary, provided that the causal link and imprescindibility by the MA are assessed.
Saw. Suspension of ongoing measures
At this stage of emergency, the following measures with negative consequences for the beneficiary are suspended:
- Actions resulting from the implementation of the Recovery Exchange, and the process of monitoring the situation of inaccordance should be maintained;
- Notifications concerning support recovery procedures provided for in Article 159/2014 of Dl in its current wording;
- Introduction of an automatic moratorium on the recovery period of beneficiaries’ debts of 90 working days, which includes recovery procedures for compensation, as well as the processes already notified and the approved benefit plans.
PDR2020
Council of Ministers Resolution No 10 -A/2020, 12 March, adopted a set of measures relating to the epidemiological situation of the new Coronavirus – COVID 19, including, in paragraph 3, the determination that expenditure proven to be borne by beneficiaries in initiatives or actions cancelled or postponed for reasons related to COVID-19, provided for in projects approved by Portugal 2020 or other operational programmes, in particular in the areas of internationalisation and vocational training, as well as in the areas of internationalisation and vocational training, the Wine and Vine Institute, I.P., as part of the measure to support the promotion of wines in third countries, are eligible for reimbursement.
Understanding that the same reasons and solution should be applied within the framework of the specific regulations of the Rural Development Program 2014 -2020 (PDR 2020), Ordinance No. 81/2020 of March 26 was created, establishing a set of measures related to the epidemiological situation of the new Coronavirus – COVID 19, under the Rural Development Program 2014-2020:
- The maximum deadlines for beneficiaries to start and complete the physical and financial implementation of projects whose deadline for the start or end of investment occurs between 1 March and 15 June 2020 shall be extended by three months.
- Interim payments are allowed to be submitted with the finalsubmission of the expenditure and reimbursement thereof, without compliance with the maximum number of payment applications provided for in the specific regulations.
- Expenses proven to be borne by beneficiaries in initiatives or actions cancelled or postponed for COVID-19 related reasons provided for in approved projects are eligible for reimbursement.