Two public companies, Enisa (National Innovation Company) and Idae (Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving), will be the key instruments in the execution of the final tranche of European funds. Between them they will manage the distribution of 6,833 million and, as a great novelty introduced in the recent negotiation of the Addendum to the Recovery Plan, they will serve to overcome one of the problems that large companies and SMEs were encountering when planning. and launch projects: Brussels established that business initiatives had to be completed by December 31, 2026 at the latest, a time that was too rigid to, for example, launch an electric battery factory or a hydrogen production plant.
The European Commission negotiators were the ones who proposed that two state companies, and not the ministries directly, be the ones to manage the final part of the European funds, explain sources involved in the conversations. Brussels’ objective is for political managers to disappear from the direct execution of community aid from 2027. That is, both Enisa and Idea will from this moment become part of the so-called “executing partners” of European aid and will the final touch to the Recovery Plan. Specifically, both teams will execute up to four Perte: industrial decarbonization, hydrogen, electric vehicles and agri-food.
To activate this new execution function, some additional procedure is still required at Enisa. Firstly, the company dependent on the Ministry of Industry will be legally constituted as a public company (it is not yet one). Next, you will need to scale and reconvert, as you will have to interact with giants in energy, automobiles or the industry in general. At this moment it is dedicated to financing innovative projects of Spanish SMEs.
Enisa will manage 3,330 million European funds in the coming years. 1,480 million corresponding to the decarbonization Perte, divided into 430 million in subsidies and 1,050 million in loans; 1,250 million from the electric vehicle Perte, divided into 250 million in transfers and 1,000 million in credits; and 300 million in loans from the Agri-Food Perte. These amounts, added to 300 million to promote innovative SMEs, complete the new investment stream that the future public company will manage. Idae, for its part, will manage another 3.5 billion euros of renewable hydrogen funding.
The Ministry of Industry team, led by Héctor Gómez, has been an active part in this negotiation with Brussels to extend the execution period of European funds. The condition that the Commission demanded is that a part of the aid be already executed by 2026. In the decarbonization Perte, for example, 585 million will have to be already committed on that date. The rest, almost 900 million, can be managed later.
The Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez, tells La Vanguardia that his portfolio “must have the greatest strength and muscle possible to help transform the industry and be more economically competitive.” “We have taken many steps in that direction and this is one more to improve conditions,” he adds. Gómez concludes that “Spain is immersed in a new industrial revolution” and that “there is only one way to carry it out: in unity; unity between administrations and with the entire productive sector, from large companies to SMEs.”
José Bayón, CEO of Enisa for five years, is, for his part, aware of the challenge that his team will take on. “We have demonstrated great capacity when it comes to promoting and reinforcing Spanish innovative entrepreneurship; Now we have to grow and also become an instrument for managing industrial policies.” “It is undoubtedly a great challenge, but if we ask companies to [transform], it is also up to the public administration to do so,” he concludes.
