Aid for consortium activities – Provincial Law No. 6/1999

Non-repayable grants awarded under the de minimis rules for the establishment and operation of consortia and consortium companies aimed at carrying out one or more of the activities set out in Article 24-octies of Provincial Law 6/1999.

Types of activities eligible for funding

Grants may be applied for to support the establishment and operations of consortia and consortium companies aimed at carrying out one or more of the following activities:

1. the implementation of scientific, technological and technical experimentation programmes;
2. assistance and consultancy for the improvement and control of quality and the provision of the relevant guarantees;
3. the creation of quality marks and the coordination of members’ production;
4. the management of accounting data processing centres or other shared services;
5. the promotion of sales through the organisation of and participation in trade fairs, the implementation of advertising campaigns, and the carrying out of market studies and research;
6. the acquisition of orders and the placing of members’ products on the market;
7. other activities related to the initiatives set out in the preceding points.

Eligible expenditure limits

For each grant application, the minimum eligible expenditure for funding is €15,000.00 and may not exceed €200,000.00.

Grant scheme

A grant of 50 per cent is awarded on the amount or increase in the consortium fund or share capital that has actually been subscribed and paid up, excluding contributions in kind as provided for in the criteria.

For consortia in the porphyry sector, the above rate is increased by 10 percentage points.

From 7 February 2024, the grant is awarded in accordance with the new de minimis Regulation 2023/2831. Until 30 June 2024, the grant may be awarded under the previous Regulation 1407/2014, as amended, only if it is more favourable to the applicant in terms of the aid ceiling.

Costs

There are no application fees, apart from the revenue stamp.

Obligations

Consortia or consortium companies benefiting from the incentives must comply with:

• allocation requirements: they may not be reduced for a period of at least 5 years from the date they are fully achieved;
• local presence requirements: consortia and consortium companies benefiting from the subsidies must maintain their operations within the province for a period of at least five years from the date the grant is paid out, in accordance with the criteria for applying the law;
• prohibition on the distribution of profits or operating surpluses of any kind and in any form to member enterprises, even in the event of the dissolution of the consortium or the consortium company, in accordance with the criteria for the application of the law;
• a commitment by the applicants to comply with the obligations set out in Article 16(6) of Provincial Law 6/1999.

Cumulation

It is prohibited to benefit from other incentives for the same initiative, and, where applicable, any such incentives already obtained prior to the granting of the incentives under the Provincial Law must be waived. However, it is permissible to benefit from tax or social security relief that does not constitute State aid. In any event, the EU rules on the cumulation of State aid remain unaffected.

The beneficiaries of the incentives are consortia and consortium companies with, respectively, a consortium fund or share capital of not less than €15,000.00, which:

1. have at least one operational unit within the province, in accordance with point 3, paragraph 1, letter a) of the general regulations;
2. composed of no fewer than three undertakings, each of which has subscribed shares amounting to no more than one-third of the consortium fund or share capital, excluding contributions in kind; This is without prejudice, in any case, to the provisions relating to non-priority applications set out for consortia under point 4, paragraph 2, letter d) of the general regulations;
3. having a consortium fund or share capital of not less than €15,000.00, at least 75 per cent of which is held by undertakings operating within the province;
4. with any participation by large enterprises in the consortium fund or share capital not exceeding 25 per cent;
5. whose principal activities fall within those set out in the criteria.

Eligibility requirements

In order to be eligible for the aid provided for under these criteria, the applicant must:

• be registered in the Trento Register of Companies or in the Economic and Administrative Register (R.E.A.) maintained by the Trento Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture; 
• not be subject to any ongoing insolvency proceedings.

The application may be submitted by:

• The company’s legal representative
• An authorised representative

Submission of applications

Applicants must submit their grant application to the assessing body exclusively via certified email (PEC); failure to do so will result in the application being deemed inadmissible. The application must include all the required documentation.

The documentation must be signed in one of the following ways:

• with a digital signature
• by handwritten signature, scanned and attached to the email along with a copy of the signatory’s identity document. 

Application deadlines

Applications may be submitted from 1 January 2023

To be eligible for the grant, applicants must submit the following documents:

• application form
• information sheet
• power of attorney (if applicable)
• copy of the articles of association of the consortium/consortium company
• privacy notice

The submission of applications will be suspended from 1 July 2025

Once approved, the grants are paid out in a single instalment.