Productive Innovation: the incentive system for business competitiveness

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A large part of the fund approved for Portugal 2030 has already been implemented, with 537 calls for applications scheduled between January and December 2024, of which 273 calls were issued by the end of February.


This programme envisages the application of 23 billion euros of European funds to projects that stimulate and develop the Portuguese economy, between 2021 and 2027, distributed across programmes, which will be materialised in support for those who wish to apply. One of the notices of particular interest to companies is the Innovation in Production programme . In this article, we explain what this support consists of.


What is the Productive Innovation incentive system?

Productive Innovation is a Portugal 2030 incentive system hungary whatsapp number database to support investments by companies that are innovative in nature.


More specifically, the Productive Innovation incentive system has the following objectives:

promoting changes in the specialization profile of the Portuguese economy and strengthening its external competitiveness, through differentiation, diversification and innovation;
improving the production capacities of SMEs and developing innovative, digital and sustainable solutions, based mainly on the results of Research and Development (R&D) and the increase in qualified employment.
This is one of the four major warnings of particular interest to companies – in addition to this, there are also Internationalization, Qualification and Research and Development – ​​which will remain stable throughout the duration of the Portugal 2030 program.

Who can benefit from Productive Innovation?
All micro, small and medium-sized companies, regardless of their nature and legal form , with organized accounting, located in mainland Portugal can benefit from Productive Innovation.

However, companies that fall within certain economic activities and certain sectors of activity are excluded , namely:

financial and insurance activities;
defense activities;
lottery activities and other gambling games;
steel, lignite, coal, transport and related infrastructure sectors;
energy production, distribution and infrastructure sectors;
fishing and aquaculture sectors;
primary agricultural production sector;
agricultural and forestry product processing and marketing sector;
operations with a total investment equal to or less than 20 million euros (except in the Algarve, where the limit is 4 million euros) or, when higher, which are developed by producer organizations.


Beneficiary eligibility criteria

Although it applies to practically all companies, to be eligible, they must meet, from the date of submission of the application until the date of completion of the operation, certain requirements, which include:

be legally constituted and registered, including with the RCBE, and be able to legally carry out their respective activities;
have regularized their tax and contribution situation with the tax authorities and social security, as well as with regard to refunds within the scope of European funds;
have or be able to ensure their own human resources and the necessary technical and material means;
be, within the scope of training activities, certified or use certified training entities in the training areas for which they request financial support;
have a bank account in an institution legally able to operate in national territory;
not have pending injunction proceedings for the recovery of illegal aid;
not be in insolvency proceedings;
not be a "firm in difficulty" as defined in Article 2, point 18, of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June;
present, when applicable, Electronic Certification proving SME status, at the time of approval;
declare that they have no outstanding wages.
Furthermore, they must have a balanced economic and financial situation and demonstrate the ability to finance the operation:

in the case of large companies, have a financial autonomy ratio of no less than 0.20;
in the case of SMEs and Small Mid Caps, present a financial autonomy ratio of no less than 0.15;
in the case of non-business entities of the R&D system (ENESII) and other non-profit institutions, present a positive net situation, if they are private in nature, or demonstrate the capacity to finance the operation, if they are public in nature;

Type of operations covered by support

As the name of the incentive system indicates, it covers operations considered to be of an innovative nature and which result in the production of new goods and/or services or significant improvements in current production capacity or processes. The aim is to produce tradable, internationalizable goods with high added value and a level of national incorporation.


Specifically, Productive Innovation covers the following types of operations:

the creation of a new establishment;
the increase in the capacity of an existing establishment, with the company having to increase its production capacity of goods and/or services already produced in that establishment;
the diversification of an establishment's production to products not previously produced in that establishment;
the alteration of the overall production process of an existing establishment, without the presence of new production of goods or services.
For each project, which must be assigned a typology, four innovation activities are applicable: product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and/or organizational innovation.


Investments eligible under the support

For the purposes of awarding Productive Innovation, the range of eligible expenses has a strong technological component, in line with the importance that Portugal 2030 attributes to innovation and digital transition, covering everything that can be considered productive investment.


The following investments are therefore accepted, provided they are related to the development of the project:

acquisition of machinery and equipment, including the directly attributable costs associated with transportation to the place where they will be installed and technical assistance to put them into operation;
acquisition of computer equipment and the respective software necessary for its operation;
technology transfer through the acquisition of national and international patent rights;
licenses;
technical knowledge not protected by patent;
standard software or software developed specifically for a specific purpose;
services provided by certified accountants or statutory auditors in validating expenditure on payment requests, up to a limit of EUR 5,000;
architectural and engineering projects and services;
studies, diagnostics and audits;
studies or reports within the scope of the alignment of the operation with the “Do No Significant Harm” Principle, up to a limit of 15,000 euros;
marketing plans;
construction of buildings, renovation works and other constructions, exclusively for operations in the tourism and industry sectors;
rolling stock, exclusively for tourism sector operations.
Regarding the penultimate point, there are some limits on the value of accepted expenses:

for operations in the tourism sector, a limit of 60% of total investments for operations located in NUTS II North, Center, Lisbon and Alentejo and 70% for those located in the Algarve;
for operations in the industry sector, a limit of 35% of total investments for operations located in NUTS II North, Center, Lisbon and Alentejo and 70% for those located in the Algarve.