IPCEI – Important Projects of Common European Interest

IPCEI allows supporting large, strategically important research, development, and innovation projects that connect multiple European Union member states, initial industrial deployment, and infrastructure projects of significant European importance. The support is intended for breakthrough and high technological or financial risk projects that a company would not implement to the same extent, scope, or schedule without public funding. IPCEI is not a single permanent call for proposals, but rather a framework under which national expressions of interest and calls for proposals are organized in specific strategic technology fields.

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Agency	EIS
Region	EU
Country	EE
Legal form	Company
Max funding	There is no general maximum grant amount per company or project., The maximum possible aid is the lower of two values: the project's discounted funding gap or the total sum of eligible costs of the project., Approval from the European Commission does not oblige the Estonian state to pay out the entire permitted amount. The actual grant depends on the national budget, the funding decision, and the ceiling approved by the Commission.
Coverage	State aid may cover up to 100% of the justified funding gap, but not more than the eligible costs. This does not automatically mean 100% coverage of the project's total costs. The company must make a significant own or private sector contribution to project financing. The share and amount of grant is determined based on funding gap analysis for each company's project. IPCEI support can be combined with European Union funding, such as Innovation Fund, Connecting Europe Facility, or Cohesion Funds, as long as double compensation of the same costs is avoided.

Grant application conditions

Applying via Estonia	EIS's IPCEI general page is not a direct call for proposals with a specific deadline. A company must submit a project proposal through a specific Estonian sectoral expression of interest or call for proposals. A national authority selects projects that can proceed to IPCEI partnership formation, pre-notification, and European Commission evaluation processes. A company applying for Estonian support generally must have economic activity in Estonia, the capacity to implement the project, and project costs incurred in Estonia according to the specific conditions of the call.
High level of project innovation	The project must be highly innovative and significantly advance existing technology or create a new technology, product, service, or production process. The project must not be ordinary business activity, simple capacity increase of an existing product, or minor improvement. The innovation advantages must be demonstrated with clear and measurable results, technical indicators, and a comparison with sector technology level.
Permitted project types	A research, development, and innovation project with a high level of innovation. First Industrial Deployment (FID) following research and development activities and still containing a substantial research and innovation component. Infrastructure project important for European strategic objectives.
Contribution to EU objectives	The project must make a concrete and substantial contribution to EU policy objectives or strategies. Possible objectives include the green transition, digital transition, competitiveness of European industry, strategic autonomy, supply security, economic growth, and job creation. The benefits of the project must be significant at the European level and not limited to a single company or local market.
Existence of market failure or societal challenge	The applicant must demonstrate that the project helps solve a significant or systemic market failure, coordination problem, or societal challenge. Only the company's own funding difficulty or business issue is not sufficient market failure. The application must explain why existing market mechanisms and traditional funding sources are insufficient to implement the project.
Cross-border and integrated cooperation	As a whole, IPCEI usually involves at least four EU member states. A single project must complement the projects of other participants and together create an integrated European value chain or technological ecosystem. Direct participants must establish substantial cross-border cooperation with other IPCEI participants. European-level matchmaking and cooperation events are usually organized to find partners.
Funding gap	The company must prove that the project would not be implemented without state aid, or would be implemented on a smaller scale, narrower in scope, later, or in a way that would significantly reduce its impact. The funding gap is calculated as the difference between discounted positive and negative cash flows over the entire economic life of the project. The calculation must include research and development, the initial industrial deployment, and later commercial or mass production stages of the project. The calculation must be presented in the European Commission's IPCEI funding gap form and justified with realistic financial projections and evidence.
Company co-financing	The company must make a significant contribution to project financing from its own funds or other private sector sources, including loan capital. In the case of SMEs, the required co-financing can take into account the company's size and opportunities to attract capital. There is no specific minimum percentage of co-financing in the general IPCEI framework; it depends on the project and call requirements.
Positive spillover effect	The benefits of the project must go beyond the supported companies and their direct clients. The applicant must make binding commitments for dissemination of knowledge, skills, and results developed in the project. Possible actions include scientific publications, conferences, workshops, cooperation with universities and research institutions, support for master's and doctoral theses, and training of external participants. In the case of results protected by intellectual property, licenses may be required to be offered on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. For first industrial deployment, required spillover effect may include access for other companies, SMEs, and startups to established labs, pilot equipment, or capabilities.
Limits for first industrial deployment	FID may include expansion of a pilot facility, demonstration plant, first-time equipment or production capacity, testing, and scaling up pilot batch production. FID must follow research and development and contain a substantial research and innovation component necessary for the project's success. Mass production, regular commercial production, and sales activities are not eligible for support under the IPCEI framework.
Environmental requirements	The project must comply with the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle. The project must not cause significant harm to European Union environmental or climate objectives. The applicant may be required to analyze the environmental impact, resource use, and climate impact of the project.
Impact on competition	The support must be necessary and proportionate for project implementation and must not unduly distort competition. Aid must not exceed the project's funding gap or the sum of eligible costs. An infrastructure project must allow open and non-discriminatory access and use non-discriminatory pricing.
Form of participation	A direct participant applies for state aid under IPCEI rules, and its project goes through the European Commission's pre-notification and notification procedure. An associated partner participates in national pre-selection, matchmaking, and IPCEI shaping, but does not receive support for its project under IPCEI state aid rules. Its project may be supported via another national or EU funding basis. An indirect partner cooperates with at least one direct participant or associated partner, but does not receive support under IPCEI rules, and may or may not receive other public funding.
European Commission approval	IPCEI state aid cannot be granted to a direct participant before the positive decision of the European Commission. The European Commission jointly assesses the entire IPCEI project and each direct participant's individual project. After the Commission's decision, the competent Estonian authority makes the final national funding decision and sets the disbursement conditions.
Possible strategic sectors	The sectors in development phase mentioned on the EIS website include biotechnology, critical raw materials, high-tech materials for circular economy, advanced semiconductor technologies, and artificial intelligence and interconnected industrial cloud or data processing solutions. In the identification phase, autonomous vehicles and quantum technologies are listed. The company’s project must fit the specific focus and value chain of the relevant expression of interest or IPCEI to be created.
Documentation	https://eis.ee/teenused/ipcei/

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements