EU funds for the R&D area

is the most economically developed area in terms of economy. It is here that the highest per capita GDP per capita ratio is achieved and amounts to 107% of the EU average. However, what characterises is its economic diversity. On the one hand, the leading role, the centre attractive for investors and to run a business, is played by . It is a metropolis in which over a million employees have found employment and in which entrepreneurs set up their companies’ headquarters and foreign corporations choose the capital as the place of their subsidiaries. On the other hand, there are municipalities in the region with much weaker economic development. One of the main areas of concentration of funds in the years 2014-2020 will therefore be the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially through research and development. generates almost 40% of expenditures on research and development, but in the following years it is necessary to increase the involvement of entrepreneurs in this area (GUS 2015). One of the possibilities is the EU funds from the Regional Operational Programme (ROP WM).
Development of the R&D sector in the perspective of 2007-2013
Already in the previous EU perspective, emphasis was placed on strengthening the research and development sector in the region. As a result, many research centres and centres have been established, which today cooperate with industry and the private sector, at the same time increasing their innovativeness and competitiveness on the market. The beneficiary of the Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 was the National Centre for Nuclear Research, which received almost USD 34 million for the construction, modernization and equipping of four laboratories and modernization of computer network. At present, the Centre is a world-class centre that carries out both domestic and foreign contracts. The results of the work carried out at the National Centre for Nuclear Research are used in science, industry and medicine.
An interesting example of the development of the company’s R&D area is the project of COBI S.A., which, thanks to the EU funds of 674.3 thousand USD, has implemented innovative new product lines and significantly improved educational toys, developing interest and skills in hereditary information technologies and mechatronics. Fano Sp. z. o.o., on the other hand, has introduced an innovative technology of label production within the EU funding of USD 1.6 million. Thanks to the investment, new jobs were created and new products were introduced to the sales offer. In turn, the cable factory Sp. J. received over USD 575.1 thousand of EU funding to adapt the machinery park to the production of special cables and the purchase of production machinery. As a result, the EU funds contributed to the implementation of a new product offer with better quality parameters and lower production costs. As a result of the project, six new jobs were created. All the described projects were implemented from the ROP MV 2007-2013.
Innovation thanks to EU funds
More than USD 2 billion will be allocated to support entrepreneurs, especially from the enterprise sector. Over 500 million USDDzasili create infrastructure to conduct work supporting intelligent specializations of, i.e. areas with the greatest development potential (Measure 1.1. Research and development activity of scientific entities). The increase in business involvement in research and development alone is over USD 600 million. Great emphasis will be placed on the cooperation of enterprises with research centres, establishment of research and development departments in the company structures (Measure 1.2 Research and development activity of enterprises). All this in order to strengthen the competitiveness of and encourage entrepreneurs to invest in innovative solutions and R&D investments. EU funds will be allocated, among others, for the development of technology, innovations – up to the stage of being launched on the market, as well as the creation of research and development centres in enterprises. What is important, within the framework of the project it will be possible to obtain protection of industrial property rights and conduct patent purity analyses. Still in December this year, a call for vouchers for research and development projects will be announced, enabling the establishment of cooperation between business and the scientific sector. Works worth several tens of thousands of USD will be possible. Over USD 430 million will be allocated for increasing the use of process, product and service innovations (Measure 3.3 Innovations in enterprises).
Funds for research and development projects will be transferred in the form of non-repayable grants, while in the case of implementation of innovations, financial instruments, such as preferential loans, may appear. In, the maximum co-financing of the project from EU funds will not be able to exceed 80% of the total value of the project. Detailed information about the new pool of EU funds for can be found on .
For disbursement of funds from the Region