The Council of the European Union agreed on 21 July 2020 on a far-reaching package of measures, which brings together the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and incorporates a European recovery instrument (Next Generation EU), the central element of which is the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. In order to access the financial resources of this mechanism, Member States must draw up a recovery-oriented plan. Spain submitted its Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (hereinafter "Recovery Plan") to the European Commission, which was approved by Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the Spanish Recovery and Resilience Plan of 13 July 2021, recently amended by a new Council Decision (hereinafter "CID"). The Recovery Plan envisages ten lever policies and 31 components, bringing together a coherent set of investments and reforms aimed at recovery and the promotion of a change in the economic, productive and social model to address future challenges in a balanced way, towards a more sustainable, digitised Spain, with equality and greater social cohesion.

On the other hand, Chapter III of Title II of Royal Decree-Law 36/2020, of 30 December, which approves urgent measures for the modernisation of the Public Administration and for the implementation of the Recovery Plan, includes a new public-private partnership figure, the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE). This figure includes projects with a structural transformational impact on strategic sectors or with disruptive and ambitious research and innovation phases, beyond the state of the art in the sector. The Agreement declaring the Industrial Decarbonisation of the Manufacturing Industry as a Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation, approved by the Council of Ministers on 27 December 2022, recognises that the necessary circumstances exist to declare this project as a Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation, in accordance with article 8 of Royal Decree-Law 36/2020, of 30 December. Its descriptive report foresees the creation of four transformative measures. The first of these is a line of aid for comprehensive action for the decarbonisation of manufacturing industry, the purpose of which is to grant aid in the form of loans, subsidies or a combination of both, which may be in simple competition, to promote the reduction of direct emissions from production processes and the energy efficiency of industrial facilities, as well as R&D&I projects aimed at developing and scaling up the technologies needed to achieve the decarbonisation objectives.

This order articulates the first transformative measure of the PERTE for Industrial Decarbonisation, which consists of a line of aid for comprehensive action for the decarbonisation of manufacturing industry.

Component 31 of the Recovery Plan specifically includes four investments, C31.I5, C31.I6, C31.I7 and C31.I8, for the Programme to boost competitiveness and industrial sustainability, PERTE Industrial Decarbonisation. The first two of these include the grants and the second two the loans associated with this programme. These investments of Component 31 give continuity to Component 12 "Industrial Policy Spain 2030", Investment 2 "Programme to Boost Industrial Competitiveness and Sustainability" of the Recovery Plan. Thus, these investments of Component 31 materialise the PERTE of Industrial Decarbonisation, as a PERTE instrument foreseen in Component 12 Investment 2.

The grants are financed under the Recovery Plan which is funded by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU instrument and are specifically inserted in the Council Implementing Decision amending the Implementing Decision (EU) of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan under Component 31, Chapter REPowerEU, investments 5 (grants) and 7 (loans), investments to support industrial decarbonisation, consisting of boosting the decarbonisation of the manufacturing industry.

These grants contribute to meeting the milestones and targets incorporated by Component 31 of the Council Implementing Decision amending the Implementing Decision (EU) of 13 July 2021, by supporting projects involving the decarbonisation of manufacturing industry". It will partially contribute to milestones 491, 492 and 493 of Component 31 of the Addendum, for the grant part, and milestones L83, L84 and L85 of the same component for the loan part.

Furthermore, in line with the CID of Component 31, these grants contribute to green labelling. Within this order, it will be required that the tractor projects financed always have a climate coefficient of at least 40 percent. This is a condition that must be verified in order to be a beneficiary.

Moreover, in compliance with the provisions of the Recovery Plan, Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 and its implementing regulations, in particular the European Commission's Technical Guide on the application of the "no significant harm" principle under the MRR Regulation, all funded actions to be carried out under this Order must respect the so-called "do no significant harm" principle to the environment (commonly referred to as the "DNSH principle"). This includes compliance with the specific conditions foreseen in investments I5 and I7 of Component 31 in which it is framed.

Manufacturing industry accounts for 11.3% of Spain's GDP, but is nevertheless responsible for 24% of final energy consumption, 22% of final fossil fuel consumption (taking into account only energy uses) and 21% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonisation of its processes is therefore essential to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Industry has made significant efforts in decarbonisation, but remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, especially in those processes requiring high temperatures. The current situation and pace of investments are not sufficient to achieve the climate change goals for 2030 and 2050, so it is necessary to boost industrial investments in this direction.

This regulation governs the bases of the aid programme for the decarbonisation of the manufacturing industry, which constitutes action measure no. 1 of the PERTE Industrial Decarbonisation, approved by Agreement of the Council of Ministers on 27 December 2022, and announces the aid by means of an early call for applications in 2024. This aid scheme will be aimed at supporting strategic projects that may be carried out by industrial manufacturing companies individually or in collaboration with others, whether or not they are under the Emission Allowance Scheme, to support investments for the reduction of emissions in industrial facilities. In the case of consortia, in addition to industrial manufacturing companies, other non-industrial companies involved in the implementation of the projects may participate in the consortia.

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Borrador de la Orden [PDF] [1.07 MB]

Memoria de la Orden [PDF] [370.05 KB]