02/08/2021
Once the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan has been approved by the Council of Europe (7/13/2021), it is interesting to assess specific aspects of its content and, especially, those that refer to the reform proposals and Investments of the component 17 focused on institutional reform and strengthening the capacities of the National Science, Technology and Innovation System (SECTI). This component focuses on the need for this strengthening to improve efficiency, coordination, governance and transfer of knowledge and to promote and accelerate investment in R&D&I in a sustainable way and in strategic areas of the Spanish economy until reaching the average European in 2027.
The estimated investment for the aforementioned component amounts to € 4,053 million and should make it possible to meet three of the main recommendations made for Spain by the EU, such as the promotion and promotion of innovation as an axis of the economic investment policy, the improvement of the effectiveness of policies to support Research and innovation and the promotion of the ecological and digital transition, as well as the promotion of research and innovation in the production and use of clean and efficient energy sources, in the promotion of infrastructures energy, the management of water resources and waste and sustainable transport.
The component is broken down into 9 investment projects or major challenges with a total amount of € 3,380 million under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. Outstanding among these investment projects is the one defined as “New public-private, interdisciplinary R&D&I projects, concept tests and granting of aid as a result of international competitive calls and cutting-edge R&D aimed at societal challenges, including pre-commercial public purchase ” amounting to € 1,167 million. This project is already having its first materialisations within the framework of public financial instruments for R&D&I, such as the recent call for the CDTI’s Science and Innovation Missions Program endowed with € 140 million for this year 2021, and which channels funds of the aforementioned investment project. Likewise, highlight the R&D&I investment project in sustainable automotive which, endowed with € 40 million, has recently been published within the framework of the PERTE VEC (Electric Vehicle) and which will also be managed by the CDTI.
Other important investment projects should also be considered within the framework of this component of “Spain Can” aimed at strategic sectors such as Aerospace, Health, Environment, Climate Change and Energy and even the 282 M €, aimed at promoting plans complementary with the autonomous communities.
It is time, therefore, to boost investment in R & D & i and to take advantage of the resources from Next Generation funds (NGEU) without, for this reason, stop optimizing this use by applying tax deductions for R&D. D&I generated by companies when they develop these projects. In this sense, we continue to bet on promoting the tax certification of business R&D&I projects, as a means of maximum legal certainty when it comes to accrediting the tax incentive applied on the full quota in the annual liquidation of corporate tax. Undoubtedly, a possibility that applies to all types of companies and in proportion to the expenditure made on R&D&I, generating a very important economic return for companies.
The measures included in component 17 are intended to bring Spain closer to the goal established by the European Commission for 2030, which foresees that member states invest in total, between public and private, 3% of GDP in R&D&I and that public investment represents 1.25% of GDP. The objective of the Pact for Science and Innovation is that public funding for R&D&I increases regularly so that it reaches 1.25% of GDP by 2030, promoting quality R&D&I with special attention to key areas for economic recovery and social welfare in Spain.