FAR: Support for industrial research

Ministerial decree no. 593 of 8 August 2000 states: "Procedural formalities for the concession of reductions agreed upon by the legislative decree of 27 July 1999, no. 297” renders operative, as from 17 February 2001, one of the cornerstones of the national research system reform realised over the last three years by the Ministry. This cornerstone is the reordering and rationalisation of the entire system of benefits available for industrial research managed by MURST and to date regulated by a myriad of laws and regulations developed over the course of more than 30 years. Decree no. 593 eliminates from the regulations all the previous laws concerning the same, bringing together in one regulatory text the entire benefit package available to companies which invest in research and development.
Article 2 of the decree, consistent with the text of legislative decree no. 297/99, stipulates the operative field of MURST interventions: in relation to the community definitions concerning the same, ministerial support will concern industrial research activities, that can be extended to non-predominating precompetitive development activities, provided that they are necessary for the validation of results from previous phases.
All interventions governed by decree no. 593 will be financed by one fund, the Fund for Research Benefits (Fondo per le Agevolazioni alla Ricerca - FAR) that comprises the resources of the CIPE destined to depressed areas in Italy.

Those who are eligible for this assistance are the following.

1. industrial firms producing goods and/or services;
2. transport companies;
3. artisan companies;
4. research centres with autonomous legal status;
5. consortia and syndicated firms of any configuration, provided that the main financial participation is made up of one of the abovementioned firms; the limit for participation decreases to 30%  where the consortium structure is located in one of the aforementioned depressed areas in Italy;
6. scientific and technological parks, as per specific MURST lists.

One of the major new points lies in the opportunity, so far blocked, of presenting joint projects between industrial companies and public research centres (Universities and Public Research Centres).