Order IET/786/2013 of 7 May 2013 established the regulatory basis for the granting of aid in the field of information and communications technologies and the information society in the framework of the Strategic Action Digital Economy and Society and the Digital Agenda for Spain.

According to the second provision, the regulatory bases are subject to the Community rules on aid compatible with the common market, making the necessary changes to comply with the rules. Community in force in each period.

This Community legislation has been amended by the European Union for the period 2014-2020, and the new Community provision affecting this area for the period 2014-2020 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. that period, Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, published in the 'Official Journal of the European Union', L187, of 26 June 2014, hereinafter referred to as 'the Official Journal of the European Union'. Block exemption, which amends various substantive and formal aspects of the regulation with respect to those in force for the previous period, 2007-2013.

Aid granted under these regulatory bases may be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) whose Community legislation has also been amended in December 2013 for the period 2014-2020 Having published Regulation (EC) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions for the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the The Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries, and laying down general provisions for the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2006 on the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions relating to the objective of investment in growth and employment and the the repeal of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006.

Due to these changes, it is necessary to proceed with the amendment of Order IET/786/2013 of 7 May, in order to adapt it to the new Community legislation.

This order is structured in preamble, a single article, a repeal provision, and a final disposition.

This order is dictated by the state competition in the field of telecommunications provided for by Article 149.1.21. of the Spanish Constitution. The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism is the department of the General Administration of the State responsible, among others, for the proposal and implementation of the Government's policy in the field of telecommunications, audiovisual media and development of the information society. The management that the General Administration of the State makes of these aids, allows to introduce an adequate level of competence, as well as a rational and efficient planning of the same.

This order, in accordance with the second paragraph of article 17.1 of the Law 38/2003 of 17 November, has been the subject of the mandatory report of the State Advocate and the Delegation of the State Administration General Intervention in the Department.

Article 17 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November establishes that in the field of the General Administration of the State, as well as of public bodies and other entities governed by public law with legal personality Their own or dependent on that, the relevant ministers shall establish the appropriate regulatory basis for the grant of the grants.

In its virtue, I have:

Single item. Amendment of Order ITC/786/2013 of 7 May laying down the regulatory basis for the granting of aid in the field of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the information society within the framework of the Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016 in the framework of the Strategic Action for Digital Economy and Society.

Order ITC/786/2013 of 7 May establishing the regulatory basis for the granting of aid in the field of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the information society within the framework of the Plan 2013-2016 Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation in the framework of the Strategic Action for Digital Economy and Society, is amended as follows:

First. Article 7.3 is worded as follows:

" 3. Not to be subject to a pending recovery order following a previous decision of the European Commission that has declared aid to the illegal beneficiary and is incompatible with the common market, nor is it in a crisis as provided for in Article 2.18 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the European Union ', L187, of 26 June 2014, hereinafter, General Regulation of exemption by categories. The conditions to be met for an SME to be considered a business in crisis are set out in Annex III. "

Second. Article 10.1 is worded as follows:

" 1. It is companies linked to the companies that exist in one of the relationships detailed in Article 3.3 of Annex I to the General Block Exemption Regulation. '

Third. Article 11 (3) and (6) shall be amended as follows:

" 3. The maximum gross aid intensity shall be as set out in Annex IV, as laid down in the General Block Exemption Regulation.

(...)

6. The projects to which aid is granted may be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The projects shall therefore be subject to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions for the European Development Fund Regional, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and laying down general provisions for the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and the Regulation (EC) Council Regulation (EU) No 1083/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions relating to the investment objective in growth and employment and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006. '

Fourth. Article 13 is worded as follows:

" Article 13. Incentive effect of the aid.

The aid must have an incentive effect. Annex V sets out the conditions to be met by an incentive to have an incentive effect, in accordance with Article 6 of the General Block Exemption Regulation. '

Fifth. Article 14.2 is worded as follows:

" 2. In accordance with Article 25.3 of the General Block Exemption Regulation, the following costs may be subsidised:

a) Staff expenses.

b) Costs of instrumental and inventoried material, to the extent and during the period in which it is used for the project.

c) Contract research costs, technical knowledge and patents acquired or obtained by license from external sources under conditions of full competition.

d) General expenses directly derived from the project.

e) Other additional operating expenses, including costs of material, supplies and similar products that are directly derived from project activity. "

Sixth. Paragraph (i) of Article 28.3 is worded as follows:

"i) That the aid granted is of a nature of aid to research and development, in accordance with the general block exemption regulation."

Seventh. Article 34.1 is worded as follows:

" Article 34. Checking the help.

1. Subsequent to the submission of the documentation referred to in the previous Article, the corresponding aid verification shall be carried out in accordance with the General Plan for the Verification of Grants from the convening body.

The verification of the aid may include, where appropriate, a requirement for the subject to be submitted to the person concerned.

This verification may be carried out by means of sampling techniques which allow reasonable evidence to be obtained on the appropriate justification of the aid and/or verification of the performance of the activity determining the grant, using sample selection criteria to take into account, inter alia, aspects such as concentration of aid, risk factors and territorial distribution. The selection of the sample shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions for the European Development Fund. Regional, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and laying down general provisions for the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and the Regulation is repealed (EC) No 1083/2006 of the Council. '

Eighth. Article 35.3 is worded as follows:

" 3. In the publications, dissemination activities, websites and other results to which the project can take place, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism should be mentioned as a financial institution. If the project is co-financed by the ERDF, the acceptance of the aid implies the acceptance of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions concerning the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and laying down provisions The European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 on information and communication activities to be carried out by the Member States in relation to assistance from the Funds Structural. "

Ninth. The additional first provision is worded as follows:

" Additional disposition first. Applicable rules.

1. In all the non-expressly provided for in this order, Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General of Grants and its Rules of Procedure, approved by Royal Decree 887/2006 of 21 July, Law 30/1992, of 26 November, will be applicable. Legal of Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure; Law 47/2003, of 26 November, General Budget; Law 11/2007, of 22 June, of electronic access of citizens to Public Services, as well as the Royal Decree 1671/2009 of 6 November of partial development of Law 11/2007 mentioned above. The provisions of the annual laws of the State General Budget will also apply. Similarly, what is established by Royal Decree 1494/2007 of 12 November 2007 on the Regulation on basic conditions for the access of persons with disabilities to technologies, products and services will apply. related to the Information Society and social media.

2. The aid will be subject to the general block exemption regulation.

3. In the case of projects co-financed with Community funds, Regulation (EC) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions relating to the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, and laying down general provisions for the European Fund for the Regional development, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Regional Fund Fisheries, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions relating to fisheries the objective of investment in growth and employment and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006, as well as other legislation in force in this field. "

10th. Paragraph 1 of the second additional provision is worded as follows:

" 1. The projects under this aid scheme fulfil all the conditions of Chapter I, as well as the relevant provisions of Chapter III of the General Block Exemption Regulation. '

11th. Annex III is amended as

:

" ANNEX III

Consideration of SMEs in crisis

According to the General Block Exemption Regulation, an SME will be considered a firm in difficulty when at least one of the following circumstances is present:

(a) in the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME with less than three years of seniority or, for the purposes of the criteria for eligibility for risk financing aid, an SME within the period of seven years from its first commercial sale, which meets the conditions for receiving risk financing investments after due diligence checks by the selected financial intermediary), when more than one financial intermediary has disappeared half of its registered capital as a result of the accumulated losses; it is what happens where the deduction of accumulated losses from reserves (and all other items which are generally considered as company own funds) leads to a negative result exceeding half of the subscribed capital; for the purposes of the This provision, 'limited liability company' refers in particular to the types of companies referred to in Annex I to Directive 2013 /34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on states annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and other related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006 /43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78 /660/EEC and 83 /349/EEC and "social capital" includes, where appropriate, any premium for issuance;

(b) whether it is a company in which at least some of the partners have unlimited liability for the debt of the company (other than an SME with less than three years ' seniority or, for the purposes of the criteria for power (a) to qualify for risk financing aid, an SME within seven years from its first commercial sale, which meets the conditions for receiving risk financing investments following due diligence checks by the selected financial intermediary), when it has disappeared due to accumulated losses more than half of its own funds listed in its accounts; for the purposes of this provision, 'a company in which at least some of the partners have unlimited liability for the debt of the company' refers in particular to the types of companies referred to in Annex II to Directive 2013 /34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and other related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006 /43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing them Council Directives 78 /660/EEC and 83 /349/EEC and "social capital" includes, where appropriate, any premium for issuance;

(c) where the undertaking is engaged in bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings or meets the criteria laid down in its national law for bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings at the request of its members. creditors;

(d) where the company has received rescue aid and has not yet repaid the loan or terminated the guarantee, or has received restructuring aid and is still subject to a restructuring plan. '

12th. Annex IV is worded as follows:

" ANNEX IV

Maximum gross aid intensities in the form of grants to beneficiaries

It is understood by aid intensity, the gross amount of the aid expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs of the project. All figures used shall be understood before tax or other deductions. Where aid is granted in the form of a loan, the gross equivalent in terms of the subsidy shall be considered to be the amount of this aid. The interest rate to be used for calculating the gross equivalent in terms of the subsidy shall be the reference rate established by the Commission at the time of the granting of the aid in accordance with the provisions of the Communication of the Commission on the review of the method of setting the reference and updating rates (OJ C 14 of 19 January 2008). The aid intensity shall be calculated for each beneficiary.

According to the types of projects the maximum gross intensities are as follows:

Type of projects

Maximum gross aid intensities in the form of grants to the beneficiaries
-SME enterprises	Medias enterprises	Small businesses
Industrial Research Projects.	Up to 50% of the project's eligible cost.	Up to 60% of the project's eligible cost.	Up to 70% of the cost project eligible
Development Projects.	Up to 25% of the project's eligible cost.	Up to 35% of the project's eligible cost.	Up to 45% of the project's eligible cost

Up to a maximum aid intensity of 80 per cent of eligible costs, a 15 percentage point bonus may be added if it is found in any of the following cases:

a) The project involves effective collaboration between at least two independent companies with each other and if the following conditions are met:

1. A company does not run on its own with more than 70 percent of the project's eligible costs in collaboration.

2. The project has the collaboration of at least one SME or is carried out in at least two Member States, or in a Member State and in a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, made in Oporto on 2 May 1992.

b) The project involves effective collaboration between a company and an investigative body and the following conditions are met:

1. The research body runs with a minimum of 10 percent of eligible costs.

2. The research body has the right to publish the results of research projects, provided they are directly derived from the research carried out by the body.

(c) In the case of industrial research, if the results of the project are widely disseminated through technical and scientific conferences or are published in scientific or technical publications or free access bases (bases publicly accessible from raw research data), or through free or open source software.

For the purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b) above, subcontracting is not considered to be effective collaboration.

In any case, the maximum limits applicable to the amount of aid shall be as follows:

1. For industrial research projects, € 10,000,000 per company and per project.

2. º For all other projects, 7,500,000 euros per company and per project.

3. For EUREKA projects, double the amounts previously set. "

13th. Annex V is worded as follows:

" ANNEX V

Incentive Effect

In accordance with Article 6 of the General Block Exemption Regulation, the aid covered by this order shall only apply if they have an incentive effect on the business of the undertaking which is the subject of the aid:

(a) In the case of an SME it is considered that the aid granted has an incentive effect if, before starting work on the project or activity, the aid application has been submitted by the beneficiary.

(b) Aid granted to large undertakings shall be deemed to have an incentive effect if, in addition to the condition laid down in subparagraph (a), the documents submitted by the beneficiary are incorporated into the memory demonstrating the incentive effect of the aid on the actions for which it applies, by assessing one or more of the following criteria:

1. The substantial increase in the project or activity thanks to the help.

2. º Substantial increase of the total amount invested by the beneficiary in the project or activity thanks to the aid.

3. The substantial increase in the pace of execution of the project or activity concerned. "

Single repeal provision. Regulatory repeal.

Any provisions of equal or lower rank are repealed or are contrary to the provisions of this order.

Single end disposition. Entry into force.

This order will take effect the day following your publication in the "Official State Bulletin".

Madrid, March 11, 2015. -Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria López.