Under the premises of sustainability, digitalisation and social justice, Next Generation offers an opportunity for businesses to commit to their energy transition in a process of transformation in which R&D is key. Public-private collaboration linked to this European recovery tool is presented as a guarantee for both the optimisation of community funds and the launch of new projects that will drive the Galician economy.

The Next Generation EU European Recovery Fund represents an additional 750 billion euros on top of  the usual EU budget, of which 140 billion correspond to Spain for use in initiatives in line with a green, digital, healthy and equal Europe.

Galicia is a solid candidate and has quality projects as is recognised by the central government. As such, the forestry and automobile sectors, the agri-food industry and the pharmaceutical biotech sector hope for European finance for trailblazing projects such as a factory for textiles made from forestry resources, AutoÁncora (to advance future mobility: the electric, self-driving and connected car), the Galician Aerospace Centre, the Centre for Quantum Technology and the project to promote Zendal as one of the great strategic centres for the production of vaccines and sanitary products. The last of these, is in line with the Strategy for the consolidation of the biotechnology sector in Galicia, as pointed out by the director of the Galician Agency for Innovation, Patricia Argerey. 

Strategy for the promotion of the Galician economy

In conjunction with the National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, the Next Generation strategy looks to strengthen the economy through trailblazing projects which incorporate small and medium-sized enterprises in the Galician production network, reinforcing “a competitive and sustainable business ecosystem”. This is an initiative of the Regional Government of Galicia that rewards innovation, talent and equal opportunities as mechanisms of resilience in face of the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic.

In fact, one of the requirements from Europe is the active participation of SMEs, which represent 96% of all businesses in the Galician community, in investment development and final projects. This requirement is in addition to the need for ecological transition, given that 37% of the projects to be financed by Next Generation must be related to climate, energy, transport, decarbonisation, the circular economy and water management. In the case of the digital sector, initiatives should be around 20% of the EU's non-repayable investment.

How do Galician administrative simplification regulations contribute to opportunities created by Next Generation?

The president of the Galician Regional Government, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, suggested in the presentation of projects submitted to the government that the Next Generation European recovery funds are “an opportunity to redefine the new Galician economy and recover the path of job creation”.

Along these lines, and with the aim of backing businesses to boost the economy, the Galician government approved  law 9/2021 of administrative simplification and support for the economic reactivation of Galicia, in response to the necessary mobilisation of funds and the streamlining of management and procedural review, while at the same time encouraging the recruitment and retention of talent. The contribution of this law to the resources from European funds enables the backing of investments through the  Galician Reactivation Office, with the Doing Business and Igape Responde services, as well as the administrative simplification for the start-up and development of business projects and initiatives.