November 21, 2018

Management units of four regional rural development programs (Aragon, Extremadura, Catalonia and La Rioja) and the National Rural Development Program have presented the current status of the implementation of Measure 16 for the construction of Operational Groups, as well as problems faced and lessons learned and challenges identified .

Measure 16 has been very well received in the sector, and as a result, it is considered pertinent to increase support for innovation and facilitate liquidity and aid. Instruments such as eligible indirect costs, a higher rate of European co-financing, and the possibility of advance payments are ways to facilitate support, as indicated by Maite Ambrós, of the MAPA Subdirectorate General for Innovation and Digitalization. The management units present highlighted as future challenges improving the evaluation of the results and impacts of such diverse projects, increasing the effectiveness of the dissemination of Operational Groups, and simplifying the management of calls for proposals.

Additionally, projects related to olive grove and vineyard health, Olive Grove Health and Powdery Mildew Detection, respectively; the cava industry, represented by the PLUSCAVEX group; the beef industry, represented by Industria Carnia; and water, represented by the Ebro Water Partnership, shared their experiences at the event as AEI Operational Groups . Along these lines, the sector emphasized the need to work on simplifying bureaucratic barriers and allowing greater flexibility between the elements initially presented in the application and those ultimately implemented.

Taking advantage of the richness of the meeting, attendees formed working groups around topics such as digitalization and Big Data, irrigation, energy and the environment, agronomic techniques, innovation in transformation, and another group comprised of representatives from management services present at the event. These groups discussed proposals for further advancing the development of the creation and operation of Operational Groups.

Some key ideas that were repeated were the novelty and success of the Measure , its complexity , given that each Autonomous Community deals with it differently, the relevance of prior and subsequent support for the justification, and the demand for the creation of coordination tables for the management services and the Operational Groups.