L'Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) is an instrument under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and aims at support interregional innovation projects in their commercialisation and scale-up phases. It also aims to promote innovation through smart specialisation and interregional collaboration. I3 supports stronger interregional cooperation in investment and creates sustainable connections by linking regional ecosystems in shared areas of smart specialisation that are vital to accelerate market uptake of research results and stimulate innovation.

The European Commission has published the notices of theInterregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3).

There are two tenders:

• Innovation investments Strand 1 (I3-2021-INV1);
• Innovation investments Strand 2a(I3-2021-INV2a).

Each announcement includes three topics:

• DIGIT (Digital transition);
• GREEN (Green transition);
• MANU (Smart Manufacturing).

Each application must cover only one of these topics. Applicants wishing to apply for more than one topic must submit a separate proposal for each one.

The calls will be launched in accordance with the work programme 2021-2022and will be managed by the European Innovation and SME Council Executive Agency (EISMEA).

The purpose of the call Innovation Investments Strand 1 is that of making EU value chains more competitive. It will provide financial and advisory support for investments in interregional innovation projects. For this purpose, the consortium must consist of at least 5 entities from 5 different regions, from 3 eligible countries. The coordinator must be established in a developed region; at least one of the partners must be established in a less developed, transition or outermost region. The available budget is EUR 39 795 300 for 2021 and EUR 36 763 277 for 2022. The maximum amount of the project grant should be understood between EUR 4 000 000 and 10 000 000.

The objective of the call Innovation Investments Strand 2 is that of creating value chains in less developed regions. For this purpose, the consortium must consist of at least 3 entities from 3 different regions in 2 eligible countries. The coordinator must be established in a less developed region; at least one partner must be established in a more developed region. The available budget is EUR 36 005 271 for 2021 and EUR 32 897 448 for 2022. The maximum grant amount per project should be between 2 and 3 million.

La classification of regions is available on the "Is my region covered?".

As far as deadlines are concerned, the first cut-off date is 1 February 2022, the second is 18 October 2022 for both calls.

Two changes are reported in relation to I3 calls:

• the first cut-off was postponed to 22 February;
• The European Commission removed the following element from the call for proposals: 'the costs for financial support to third parties will be reimbursed to 100% within the limits of the overall co-financing rate fixed in the grant agreement'.

Attached you will find the updated fact sheets and calls.