Order ITC/3227/2011 of 18 November established the regulatory basis for the granting of aid for projects and actions in the field of information and communications technologies and the information society in the framework of the Advanced Plan strategy.

During the period 2008-2011 the actions of the Avanza2 Plan were framed in the VI National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation (R + D + i). It is considered appropriate to maintain the framework for such aid in the said Plan, as extended by the Council of Ministers ' Agreement of 7 October 2011.

That order clarified some aspects of the procedure for managing the aid that had been used in previous orders. However, the definition of the obligations and rights of the entities which, under Article 11 (3) of Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General of Grants, constitute a grouping, is to be addressed with greater precision. without legal personality to carry out projects in cooperation. In particular, the payment of the whole of the aid to the project coordinator, which was responsible for the transfer to the other participants of the funds which could correspond to them, has been shown to be inefficient, both in terms of management. the payments as in those of the reintegrals in the cases of non-compliance or of execution to a lesser amount than the intended amount and, even, in the repayments of the loans.

Article 64 of the Regulation of Law 38/2003, of 17 November, General of Grants, approved by Royal Decree 887/2006 of 21 July, leaves to the bases of the aids the regulation of the circumstances that must contest to authorise amendments to the granting resolution. The flexibility of the scheme which has been applied so far has not favoured the achievement of the objectives of the projects and actions financed and, on the other hand, has led to a considerable workload added for the instructor. This order reduces the cases where these modifications can be requested.

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/3227/2011 of 18 November laying down the basis for the granting of aid for projects and actions in the field of information and communications technologies and the society of the information in the framework of the strategy of the Advanced Plan.

Order ITC/3227/2011 of 18 November establishing the regulatory basis for the granting of aid for projects and actions in the field of information and communications technologies and the society of the information in the framework of the strategy of the Avanza2 is amended as follows:

One. The first paragraph is worded as follows:

" First. Object.

the purpose of this order is to establish the regulatory bases for the granting of aid for projects and actions in the field of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the society of the information, in the framework of the strategy of the Avanza2 Plan, within the National Plan for Scientific Research, Technological Development and Innovation, 2008-2011. "

Two. The second paragraph (1) is worded as follows:

" 1. The material scope of this order is limited to the instrumental lines defined in the Strategic Action of Telecommunications and Information Society of the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation, 2008-2011 and other actions for the development of the Information Society included within the Strategy 2011-2015 of the Avanza2 Plan, approved by the Council of Ministers Agreement of 16 July 2010. "

Three. The fifth paragraph is worded as follows:

" Fifth. Objectives.

Constitute priority objectives:

1. The increase in the advanced use of digital services by the citizenry.

2. The development of the technological capabilities of the ICT sector.

3. Strengthening the digital content sector.

4. The development of green ICT. "

Four. Paragraph 10 is worded as follows:

" Tenth. Modalities of participation.

1. Projects and actions may be carried out in the individual or in the cooperation mode.

2. A project or action is individual when it is performed by a single entity.

3. A project or action is carried out in cooperation where more than one entity is involved in its development as beneficiaries, which may or may not belong to the same type of subject, whose relations are formalised by means of a contract, agreement or agreement establishing the rights and obligations of the various participating subjects.

4. Entities participating in cooperation projects or actions shall form a grouping without legal personality, governed by the contract, agreement or agreement which the regulation, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 11 (3) of Law 38/2003 November 17, General of Grants. One of the entities will act as project coordinator. Its representative shall submit the request for the aid and shall channel the relationship of the participants with the Administration to the grant stage and the justification for the implementation of the project or action. The other entities shall act as participants in the project. All entities that are part of the pool and which obtain aid shall have the status of beneficiaries and must fulfil their obligations as such.

5. It is the mission of the coordinating entity to promote the project or action in all its phases. It is the commitment of all participants to meet the objectives of the project or action.

6. The grant and payment of the aid shall be made to each of the participating entities, in proportion to the part of the expenditure to be incurred in the project or action.

7. Each participant shall be responsible for the performance of the activities that it has committed to carry out. In particular, each of them must respond to the obligations of drawback or of the penalties which may be imposed as a result of the failure to fulfil their obligations. If a participant successfully develops his/her commitments, he/she will not be held responsible for the non-compliances of other participants, provided that the objectives of the projects or actions are achieved. On the other hand, where the failure to meet the objectives of the project or action fails to achieve the objectives of the project or action, the whole of the aid granted to the different participants will be recovered, in accordance with Article 37 of Law 38/2003, 17 of November, General Grant.

8. In cooperation projects, the number of participants, including the coordinating entity, may not exceed five, except for the exceptions set out for each sub-programme in the relevant annexes. "

Five. Paragraph unl. (1) is amended as follows:

" 1. As indicated in Article 29 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General Grants, it is understood that a beneficiary subcontracts when he or she is aware of the total or partial execution of the activity which constitutes the object of the subsidy. It is outside this concept that the costs incurred by the beneficiary for the self-realization of the financed activity are to be contracted. All references made in this order to the limits and amounts of subcontracting shall apply to each of the beneficiaries individually. "

Six. The wording of paragraph 20 becomes as follows:

" Twenty-one. Applications and deadline for submission.

1. The time limit for the submission of applications shall be opened on the day of the start of the effectiveness of the call resolution. The dates for the completion of the deadline for submission of applications and for additional documentation of project participants in cooperation for each sub-programme shall be indicated in the call.

2. The application form, the additional questionnaire for each participant in a cooperation project and the electronic documents required to complete and submit the applications for aid will be available on the Help Portal located at the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (https: //sede.minetur.gob.es). The application consists of two inseparable elements: the request-questionnaire and the project or action's memory. The request-questionnaire will necessarily be completed with the electronic means of support available in the above internet address in accordance with the instructions published for that purpose in the above mentioned aid portal.

3. The additional questionnaire for each participant in a cooperation project shall contain the relevant information of the entity.

4. As set out in the 18th paragraph, 2 requests for assistance and additional questionnaires for each participant in a cooperation project shall be submitted in the electronic register of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

5. The requests and additional questionnaires for each participant in a project in cooperation shall be submitted by means of electronic identification and authentication systems, in accordance with the provisions of Law 11/2007 of June 22, of access This is the case for the public services and the Royal Decree 1671/2009 of 6 November 2009, for which the previous one is partially developed. The electronic signature with which the application is signed shall correspond to that of the person who has taken over the entity requesting the aid.

6. The requested application and the additional questionnaires for each participant in a cooperation project shall be accompanied by valid accreditation of the signatory's power, which shall be provided by means of a digitised document, as provided for in the Paragraphs 18 and 4 of this Order. In the case of joint representation, a digitised copy of the application signed electronically by each of the joint representatives shall also be provided.

7. The entities registered in the Registry of Entities requesting assistance from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, enabled in the aforementioned aid portal, will be exempt from completing and providing the identification documentation for each the application to be submitted, as well as its economic activity and resource data as required in the application forms referred to in sub-paragraph 1 above.

8. In accordance with Article 22.4 of the Regulation of Law 38/2003 of 17 November, General of Grants, approved by Royal Decree 887/2006 of 21 July, the submission of the application for the aid and the questionnaire In addition, each participant in a cooperation project shall be authorised to obtain directly the accreditation of the fulfilment of the tax obligations and the social security through the grant of the grant. electronic certificates. However, the applicant or participant may expressly refuse consent, and shall then provide such certification when required by the instructor. "

Seven. The fourth paragraph is worded as follows:

" Twenty-fourth. Resolution.

1. The competent body shall decide on termination of the procedure. That resolution shall put an end to the administrative route. The resolution, in addition to containing the beneficiary or the relationship of beneficiaries to which the aid is granted, shall state, where appropriate, expressly, the dismissal or the non-grant of withdrawal, resignation or material impossibility. recognized, from the rest of the requests.

2. The decision shall be duly substantiated, including the references to this order and the call to which the resolution applies, as well as to the reports of the instructor and the body responsible for the assessment of the applications. In the case of the estimated applications, compliance with the requirements laid down in this order and in the call shall also be made. In the case of an unsuccessful application, the reason for dismissal shall be indicated, in particular if one of the thresholds set out in the Annex to the sub-programme concerned has not been reached.

3. It is for the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and for the Information Society, or the management body to whom it delegates, the decision to grant or refuse applications, in the light of the final draft resolution.

4. Applications shall be resolved and notified within the maximum period of six months following the publication of the relevant call. After the expiry of that period without the express resolution being notified, the persons concerned shall be entitled to understand their requests, in accordance with Article 25.5 of the General Law on Subsidies.

5. The decision of the procedure shall be notified to the parties concerned in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1. In cooperation projects or actions, the resolution shall be notified to the representative and to each of the participants.

6. The notification of the decision to grant the beneficiaries shall include the following:

a) Identity of the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the aid granted.

b) Project or supported action, as well as their characteristics and motivation.

c) Amount of the help granted.

(d) Technical and economic conditions to be met by the project or action subject to the aid granted.

e) In the case of the granting of loans, the characteristics of the aid granted within those set out in paragraph 11, as well as the timetable for reimbursements to be met.

(f) The technical and economic documentation and reports justifying the implementation of the project or action to be the subject of the aid, and the time limits for the implementation of the project or action to be supported granted. In cases where the decision to grant the aid explicitly requires it, the beneficiary shall submit a report by an auditor or audit firm entered in the Official Register of Auditors.

g) Obligation by the recipient of the aid to express in his references to the project or action, which he himself has been supported by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce.

h) How many ends are required by the project or action characteristics of the help.

(i) In the case of aid to projects granted under the Avanza Training sub-programme, the aid granted is of a nature of general training aid, in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008, of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (general block exemption Regulation).

j) In the case of aid for projects granted under the sub-programmes Avanza Competitiveness I + D, Avanza TIC Verdes and Avanza Digital Content, the aid granted is of a nature of aid to the research and development, in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (Regulation general block exemption).

7. The lists of the provisional motions for resolutions, the final motions for resolutions and the resolutions and orders for the granting of aid shall be notified in the aid portal lodged at the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (https: //sede.minetur.gob.es), as referred to in paragraph decim.4. '

Eight. The fifth paragraph is amended, which is worded as follows:

" Twenty-fifth. Amendment of the decision to grant aid.

1. Projects and actions with aid granted shall be implemented in the time and form to be determined in the decisions to be granted. However, where specific circumstances arise which alter the technical or economic conditions taken into account for the granting of the aid, the modification of the granting decision may be requested. Any changes to the project will require simultaneously:

(a) that the change does not affect the objectives pursued with the aid, including regional aid, to its fundamental aspects, to the determination of the beneficiary, or to damage third-party rights.

However, if it is possible to request those related to merger, absorption and division of companies and those that are the result of one of the beneficiaries of a cooperation project leaving it.

b) That the modifications are due to overcome causes that could not be foreseen at the time of the request.

c) That the change is requested at least one month before the end of the project execution period and is expressly accepted.

2. No amendments may be authorised to:

(a) Extensions of the time limit for the implementation of the projects or actions, except where the competent body is granted ex officio.

b) Redistribution of aid among participants, in cooperation projects and actions. The abandonment or waiver of one of the beneficiaries of a project in cooperation shall entail the reimbursement of the aid granted to it.

c) Increments greater than 20 percent in the concepts eligible for assistance related to section fifteenth.

3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall not apply to international projects. The amendments to be agreed by the managing body of the international programme shall be accepted.

4. The request for amendment, which shall be made in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 18 of this same order, shall be accompanied by a memory setting out the reasons for the changes and justifying the failure to comply with the amendments. conditions imposed in the decision to grant and comply with the requirements set out in paragraph 1 of this paragraph.

5. In duly justified cases, the instructor body may, within the project or action and for the same beneficiary, accept increases of up to 20% in the concepts eligible for aid in the fifteenth paragraph and which appear in the decision to grant, compensable with decreases in others, provided that the total amount of the aid is not altered and that it is established that the objectives envisaged in the project are achieved or improved, without any need to amend the grant resolution.

6. For each call, the Secretary of State may delegate the authorization of certain modifications to the projects in the General Subdirectorate responsible for the management of the aid. "

Nine. Paragraph twenty-no.2 is read as follows:

" 2. The supporting documentation for the implementation of the project shall be submitted by means of the means referred to in the 18th paragraph, by:

a) The representative of the beneficiary entity, in the case of projects performed in the individual mode.

(b) In the case of projects carried out in "cooperative" mode, each participant shall provide the economic supporting documentation of their participation in the project or action. The representative of the coordinating entity shall also provide the technical supporting documentation for the implementation of the project or action. "

Ten. Section twenty-first paragraph 5 is worded as follows:

" 5. The supporting accounts, communications and other documents required for the projects covered by the aid shall be presented in the electronic register of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, in accordance with the provisions of the paragraphs decimocavo.2 and decim.6. "

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, April 11, 2012. -Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria López.