OP Brandenburg ERDF 2014-2020
Programme description
Main objectives
The Operational Programme (OP) for the ERDF in Brandenburg 2014-2020 is aimed at creating incentives for economic growth by investing in research and development, developing sustainable, competitive economic structures and integrating low-carbon technologies into existing value chains. Jobs are also to be created to help in the fight against poverty. In this way, the OP will directly help to achieve the Europe 2020 strategy's objectives for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The counterflow principle will be adopted in pursuing the objectives of the programme's four priorities. On the one hand, the state provides targeted funding instruments in the three priorities: innovation, SME competitiveness and CO2 reduction strategies. On the other hand there is the fourth priority: integrated development of urban and rural areas, towns and surrounding communities jointly develop measures for sustainable regional development. The town and surrounding area competition (SUW) created for this purpose will identify the best measures, which will then be implemented with the involvement of all three ESI funds. This is to tie in to the successes achieved, in terms of regional and structural policy, by the strategy for regional growth cores, sustainable urban development and integrated rural development.
Funding priorities
The programme will focus on four priorities:
(1) Strengthen applied research, development and innovation Since the 1990s, the Federal State of Brandenburg has been making considerable progress with its economic recovery. However, in terms of its R&D performance in the private sector, and the requirements of a high-quality, sustainable business structure, it continues to lag. The measures that have been selected aim to:
- strengthen the cluster-related research and development infrastructure of Brandenburg's research institutions;
- strengthen the research, development and innovation capabilities of Brandenburg enterprises;
- strengthen cluster-based technological and applied research at research institutions; and
- strengthen the innovation capability of Brandenburg enterprises by improving their links to cluster players and improving the transfer of business knowledge and technology.
The funding framework is provided by the Berlin-Brandenburg Joint Innovation Strategy (innoBB) and the Brandenburg cluster strategy, which is being used to align business and innovation policy in the sense of a smart focus on, at present, five joint clusters and four Brandenburg-specific clusters and their master plans. Along with regionalisation, these form innoBB plus, the State of Brandenburg's regional innovation strategy.
(2) Strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises One of the key challenges facing Brandenburg's economy is its fragmentation and the small number of large companies.
Because of their size, the SMEs often have very limited resources in terms of personnel and finance. So there are only limited opportunities to exploit potential growth, particularly from product and process innovations, and to engage more strongly in globalisation processes. The measures that have been selected aim to:
- support start-ups and young, innovative companies;
- strengthen the international competitiveness of SMEs through activities aimed at developing markets; and
- develop the growth and innovation capabilities of Brandenburg's SMEs.
(3) Fund efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in every business sector
Amongst the German states, Brandenburg is one of the main energy producers and exporters. The structure of the energy industry, the key role of local brown coal as a primary energy source and the fact that the industry is so energy and resource-intensive have a major impact on the state's energy and CO2 balance. At the same time, in recent years Brandenburg has vigorously promoted the development of renewable energies, which places particular demands on network integration. There is substantial potential for reducing CO2 through improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases and CO2 emissions. This potential can only be fully and effectively exploited via a system of well-coordinated measures. In this context, the State of Brandenburg's 2030 energy strategy is the basis for developing energy policy up to the year 2030. The selected measures aim to:
- develop storage capacities and control systems for energy produced decentrally;
- improve energy efficiency in business;
- improve energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies in public buildings and infrastructures, and in urban areas;
- reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases at landfill sites;
- develop pilot and demonstration projects, and implement associated measures in pilot regions to deploy systems which help increase network intelligence and protect energy transfers within networks more efficiently;
- develop strategies, regional strategies and implementation measures based on these to reduce CO2 emissions; and
- improve the CO2 balance in the transport sector.
(4) Integrated development of urban and rural areas
The State of Brandenburg is characterised by regional disparities
between its rural and urban areas, particularly those close to Berlin. Demographic change is already aggravating the unfavourable competitive situation suffered by rural regions which are distant from Berlin, and it will do so increasingly in the future. The measures that have been selected aim to:
- improve and protect areas surrounding towns by retaining and sustainably using natural resources in upper and middle centres and the areas surrounding them;
- improve infrastructures and educational facilities at selected schools via model investment projects; and
- improve and stabilise the economy in selected towns and their surrounding areas.
Anticipated results
- Fund 200 projects to develop technical infrastructures at research institutions and 8 projects to create and develop research infrastructures
- Create 100 new R&D jobs (full-time equivalents) by funding applied research projects
- Fund 140 companies to help them to develop new products
- 75 collaborative R&D projects to be initiated by the cluster management system
- Funding for 400 projects for involvement in international trade fairs in and outside Germany
- 695 enterprises to receive financial support other than grants (e.g. via revolving financial instruments)
- 2,500 MWh energy saved within commercial companies
- 20 MWh storage capacity created by developing smart control and storage systems
- 77,500 m² open land newly created or cleaned up in urban areas
- 20 projects to reduce air pollution and ambient noise
Funds
Regional Development Fund (ERDF): 872.404.319,00 €
Thematic priorities
View the dataFinancial information
Total OP budget: 1.079.031.124,00 €
Total EU contribution: 872.404.319,00 €
View the data