The Business Economic Competitiveness Fund was created at the meeting on 6 March 2006 of the CIADT, the inter-ministerial committee for regional economic development. The new fund groups together resources distributed by several ministries – industry, defence, agriculture, health and regional development and resources – to joint projects administered by the Clusters.

 

The fund, which is distributed in the form of grants, has a budget of 170 million euros for 2006. The inter-ministerial process governing the selection of projects is co-ordinated by the Direction Générale des Entreprises (DGE – Business and Enterprise Department) of the Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Industrie (Ministry for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry). Applications for funding from the FCE are organised into three project-tendering phases per year. The procedure used for accessing the inter-ministerial fund also determines the right of companies to tax rebates and reduced social welfare contributions amounting to a total of 28.5 million euros in 2006.

 

The National Research Agency has an overall budget for 2006 of 600 million euros for funding in the form of grants to research projects on the basis of scientific and technological excellence. Projects officially recognised by the economic competitiveness clusters can apply for such funding by registering under one of the programmes recognised by the ANR.

 

The Innovation in Industry Agency has an initial budget of 1.7 billion euros for the enterprise-funding programme launched this year. R&D projects within major companies are entitled to apply for funding in the form of loans.  

 

OSEO offers support in the form of interest-free loans, repayable in the event of project success, and, in some instances, in the form of grants for R&D projects within small and medium businesses and companies with fewer than 2 000 employees.   It has an overall annual budget for project funding of 210 million euros.

 

 

Depending on the size of funding sought, the nature of the project and the stakeholders involved, some research funding applications can, with the support of the Brittany Maritime Cluster, be directed towards other financing options – ERDF, CEPM (Commission for Oil, Gas and Marine-related Studies), etc. 

 

Find out more