65 million. EUR 1.5 billion for the second call for the Processing of Agricultural Products from the Recovery Fund. Applications for support start on 12 May and close in two months, on 12 July 2023.

In particular, the terms, conditions and restrictions are set out in a decision posted on transparency and concerns the potential beneficiaries of sub-project 1: Innovation and green transition in the processing of agricultural products, of the Action "Economic transformation of the agricultural sector" of the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

The evaluation of applications starts on 13 July 2023 and ends on 29 September 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023 (October), the process of submission, evaluation and verification of payment requests is expected to start.

The duration of the investment projects is set at 18 months. An extension of six months may be granted, either for reasons of force majeure or on the basis of specific justification. In any case, the deadline for submitting the last application for payment of the aid shall not be later than 31 May 2025.

The aid schemes for the processing of agricultural products

Aid for processing and marketing of agricultural products concernsany operation on an agricultural product which also results in an agricultural product. Exceptions shall be made for work on the agricultural holding necessary for the preparation of a product of animal or plant origin for the first sale.

Similarly, aid for the processing and marketing of a non-agricultural product concerns any operation on an agricultural product, as an input to the production process, which results in a product not covered by Annex I to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The objectives

The objectives of the sub-project, according to the call, are:

• Increasing the degree of cooperation in the primary sector through collective schemes and/or the adoption of contract farming.
• Improving the position of farmers in the value chain.
• Enhancing the competitiveness of products in markets through the use of research, modern technology and digital tools.
• The integration of innovation processes and the use of new technologies and environmentally friendly processes that reduce climate change.
• Sustainable development and more efficient management of natural resources.

It should be noted that each investment project demonstrates that it fulfils at least one of these objectives.

The funding

The limits of the requested budget of each application for funding are as follows:

In addition, the aid intensity rates for regional aid (GAC, Article 14 of Section 1) are modulated in accordance with the new regional aid map and the approval decisions of the GAC and are set out in Table 2.

Processing of Agricultural Products - The beneficiaries

Beneficiaries of the sub-project may be legal entities belonging either to SMEs or to large enterprises and fulfilling one of the following conditions:

α) Producer Groups, Producer Organizations, Associations of Producer Organizations, Agricultural Cooperatives, Agricultural Corporate Partnerships and Public Limited Companies whose majority of shares belong to Agricultural Cooperatives of Law No. 4673/2020 "Agricultural Cooperatives and other provisions".

b) They are Social Cooperative Enterprises of the law. 4430/2016 and companies under commercial law, except those of the above case a), which:

apply contract farming under the following terms, conditions and restrictions:

• where they process and/or market an agricultural product with a finished agricultural product, at least 40 % per year of the value of the raw materials used in the aided investment is an agricultural product of contract farming. Contracts shall be concluded between the beneficiary of the aid and the producers of the agricultural product or between the beneficiary and producer associations (irrespective of their legal form) operating in any Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA).
• where they process and/or market an agricultural product, the final product of which is a non-agricultural product and at least 40 % per year of the value of the agricultural product used as raw material in the aided investment is an agricultural product of contract farming. Contracts shall be concluded between the beneficiary of the aid and the producers of the agricultural product or between the beneficiary and producer associations (irrespective of their legal form) operating in any Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA).
• the obligation to apply contract farming starts from the date of completion of the investment and the contracts have a minimum duration of 3 years.
• after 3 years from the completion of the investment and within 2 months, the beneficiary is required to submit a signed certificate from a certified public accountant substantiating the above condition in cases aa) and bb).

γ) They are Social Cooperative Enterprises of the law. 4430/2016 and companies under commercial law, other than those referred to in case a) above, which have a degree of vertical integration per year, using own-produced agricultural products in a proportion of at least 40% of the value of the agricultural product they use as raw material.

The obligation to maintain the vertical integration rate starts after the completion of the investment and lasts for 3 years.

After 3 years from the start of the obligation to vertically integrate production and within 2 months, the beneficiary is required to submit a signed certificate from a certified public accountant substantiating the above condition.

(d) Beneficiaries may also be legal entities in the process of being established, which complete the establishment procedures before the individual aid approval decision referred to in paragraph 12.1 is issued.

Persons operating under the form of a civil law company may not be considered beneficiaries. Except for Social Cooperative Enterprises and Consortium .