Entrepreneurs here: EU announces technology sectors it will finance in 2023

The deliberations held in the European Parliament over the past week have officially concluded. A few days ago, the European Council announced that it had officially approved the EU’s general budget for 2023. The two institutions have committed a total budget of €186.6 billion next year. The budget size was increased by 1.1 percent compared to 2022.

According to the Commission, the 2023 budget aims to “accelerate the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, put Europe on the path to a sustainable future, protect and create jobs and strengthen the Union’s strategic autonomy”.

Europe will provide huge financing to sustainability and climate technologies

In particular, it was announced in the budget negotiations that a significant amount of funds will be allocated to sectors that can benefit startups and SMEs operating in the technology and sustainability industry. Specifically, €3 billion will be provided to the Connecting Europe Facility, which supports the development of high-performance, sustainable and efficiently interconnected trans-European networks in the fields of transport, energy and digital services.

Particular attention will be paid to the energy sector, in line with the Union’s plan to reduce dependence on Russian gas and alleviate the energy crisis. It has been committed to provide a financing support of 20 billion Euros for the diversification of energy resources and the acceleration of renewable energy resources.

Similarly, €1.5 billion will be financed to the Just Transition Fund, which supports investments in areas such as digital connectivity, clean energy technologies, emissions reduction and worker requalification.

The EU will also strengthen the research project Horizon Europe with an additional 12.4 billion Euros. This funding targets research areas such as health, digital industry, space, climate, energy and mobility. Finally, an investment of 602.8 million Euros will be made in the support program that supports and increases the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the Union.