Receiving financial support for an experimental-development research project

Companies that are incorporated as commercial companies, as referred to by the Companies Code:

• active in any sector;
• of any size: SC, MC, LC.

Eligibility criteria

• The company is incorporated as a commercial company as referred to by the Companies Code;
• The company has a business unit in Wallonia;
• The company must not be experiencing financial difficulty;
• The company complies with the region’s VAT and social-security regulations;
• The project has not already received public funding.

Assessment criteria

• The innovative nature of the project;
• The quality of the project, its technical feasibility and its relevance to the region's technical and economic needs;
• The company must be able to highlight the expected results of the project;
• The project must aim to contribute to sustainable development;
• The company must be able to cover the current and expected future financial needs of the project; or be able to find additional funding for these needs;
• The project must represent an obvious degree of risk.

The maximum portion of admissible expenses covered by the Walloon region is:

• 35% in the case of a large company;
• 45% in the case of a medium enterprise;
• 55% in the case of a small enterprise.

These rates may be increased by 10% in the event of a collaboration between either a Walloon SME and at least one other Walloon company, or a Walloon company and a company that is located outside Wallonia.

Admissible expenses include:

• staffing costs for researchers and technicians;
• operating costs (cost of materials, supplies, etc.);
• general costs;
• cost of equipment used (acquisition or depreciation);
• subcontracting costs.

Applications for technological research and innovation aid may be submitted at any time during the year to the Research projects department, by means of the form and completed annexes below.

Each project submitted is reviewed by technical manager, who examines the file along with the project leader and the help of the Financial analysis department of SPW Economy, Employment, Research, based on the established criteria.

At the end of the review phase, the file is presented to the selection committee, which issues an opinion to the Minister responsible for research. This committee is made up of representatives of the administration and representatives of the Minister.

In the event funding is granted, the execution of the research phase is subject to technical and financial reports.

You  own the results of your research and you may use them in accordance with the agreement and the consortium agreement that is concluded between the partners, where applicable.

If the results are used after the research phase, the reimbursement of the advance is determined based on the success of the project, by comparing the objectives achieved to the objectives that were defined at the start of the agreement.

The company may justify its decision to waive the use of the results and be exempt from reimbursement after transferring the real rights to the project results to the region.

Deadlines:

You are guaranteed to receive an opinion (be it positive or negative) within 3 months of receiving your completed file

Identification and signing conditions:

Statement to be signed on the paper form

Scanned statement, in the case of electronic submission

Appeal procedures:

The appeal procedures are explained in the downloadable “appeal procedures” document, which is available below:

• contact the relevant administration

• make a claim to the ombudsman for the Walloon region

• to the State Council 

• make a request for cancellation to the State Council within 60 calendar days from the date of notification for the disputed decision
• The request for suspension may be submitted before, at the same time as, or after sending the request for cancellation. In exceptional cases, and under specific conditions, you may also request the suspension of the decision in cases of extreme emergency

• Decree of 3 July 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia
• Decree from the Walloon Government of 18 September 2008 concerning support for research, development and innovation in Wallonia, which was amended on 15 May 2014
• Text concerning the management of State aid for research, development and innovation (2014/C 198/01)
• General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) - State aid (Wallonia.be)