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Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure EE-2021-29/2103 Updated – measures in Estonia

COVID-19 pandemic response fund – Company grants

Covid-19 pandeemiale reageerimise raames rahastatud toetused ettevõtetele

Country Estonia , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 12 July 2021 – 31 October 2023
Context COVID-19, Green Transition, Digital Transformation, European Semester
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery into a green future
– Support for spending, stimulus packages
Author Ingel Kadarik (Praxis Center for Policy Studies) and Eurofound
Measure added 23 December 2021 (updated 20 September 2022)

Background information

One of the priorities in Estonia is to support companies in development and innovation. This is especially important in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure business continuity and recovery. Enterprise Estonia support companies from the European Regional Fund in the framework of COVID-19 pandemic response fund by offering targeted grants.

Content of measure

Four application rounds have been opened between July 2021 and November 2021.

  1. Applied research programme goal is to increase income for companies through scientific and product development. Grant is provided to develop innovative technology, processes, products or services; experiment with new materials; or learn about technological feasibility via research and/or implementation. The total budget of the measure is €23 million. 25-80% of the project costs are supported depending on the specific project, the support per project is between €100,000 and €2 million, for feasibility study the maximum support is €20,000.
  2. Support for product development in the tourism sector is aimed at restoring the Estonian tourism and its export to pre-COVID-19 crisis level and increasing the Estonian tourism sector competitiveness. The products must create travel motivation and comply with the principles of sustainability, inclusiveness and digital and green transitions. The budget is €13.7 million. The maximum grant is 20-70% of the project costs and can be between €20,000 and €200,000.
  3. Support for digital solutions in the tourism sector aims at supporting the digitalisation of the tourism sector to make work processes more efficient and/or make it easier for visitors to access information and make reservations for visits. The total budget is €4 million. The grant is up to 55% of the project costs and between €20,000 and €550,000.
  4. Product development support aims to support investments in new competitive products and services with the goal of increasing export sales revenue. It is not a new measure, but it has been slightly amended in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total budget of the measure is €15 million. The maximum grant is 25-45% of the eligible costs (+15% if the project is related to COVID-19 or other antivirus related scientific research) and up to €500,000 per project.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

30 March 2022

Application rounds for two measures - support for product development in the tourism sector and support for digital solutions in the tourism sector - were closed. The othe two measures are still opened and support can be applied for.

Use of measure

Information is available for support for product development in the tourism sector. Altogether 91 projects received the support in the total amount of €14 million.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Applies to all businesses Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
Public support service providers
European Funds
National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role No involvement No involvement
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

No views available.

Sources

  • 23 December 2021: Rakendusuuringute programm (Applied research programme) (www.eas.ee)
  • 23 December 2021: Tootearenduse toetus (Product development support) (www.eas.ee)
  • 23 December 2021: Turismisektori tootearenduse toetus (Product development support in tourism sector) (www.eas.ee)
  • 23 December 2021: Turismisektori kesksete digilahenduste toetus (Support for digitalisation in tourism sector) (www.eas.ee)
  • 08 September 2022: COVID-19 pandeemiale reageerimise raames rahastatavad toetused (Grants funded as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic) (eas.ee)
  • 30 September 2022: Riik investeerib 14 miljonit eurot 91 uude turismitootesse üle Eesti (The state invests 14 million euros in 91 new tourism products across Estonia) (eas.ee)

Citation

Eurofound (2021), COVID-19 pandemic response fund – Company grants, measure EE-2021-29/2103 (measures in Estonia), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/EE-2021-29_2103.html

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