ICE helps Italian companies win funding from the European Union and NATO

Brussels – Making Italian companies aware of the financing opportunities offered by the European Union and NATO was the purpose of the conference “Listen to Europe, opportunities from Brussels for Italian companies” held this morning (May 16) in the EU capital. The event was organized by ICE, the agency that supports Italian companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy.

Opening the conference was Marco Peronaci, Italian ambassador to NATO, followed by Igor Kalinić and Emanuele Piffaretti, who explained the procedures for participating in EU and NATO calls for proposals, respectively. Moderating the speeches was the host: Tindaro Paganini, Ice director in Brussels.

It was an important opportunity for Italian companies to learn more about how the calls of the EU and the Atlantic Pact work. Igor Kalinić and Emanuele Piffaretti explained, also in private one-on-one meetings with those present, the methods of participating in the projects and also suggested some tricks to enable companies to have a better chance of success. Paganini summed up the goal of the meeting: “To offer a more organic and comprehensive framework to all companies interested in working with the EU and NATO.”

The funding that revolves around the European Union and NATO is very significant in terms of numbers. Ambassador Peronaci pointed out that the calls coming from the Atlantic Pact do not only involve military matters but also civilian ones. In addition, following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, both the EU and NATO are pushing for new investments in the security sector. Peronaci said this offers an opportunity for companies, “We need to tighten a stronger relationship between the public and private sectors to respond to the challenge coming from an authoritarian regime that holds a war economy,” he said, concluding the speech with a warning to companies, “for this reason, in the coming period, there will be even more investments that if you want to take advantage of you have to be ready.”

One of the fields in which the EU wants to invest the most is technology. The European Innovation Council (EIC) is a structure that the EU Commission created for this goal. In this regard, Kalinić reminded, “We do not want companies like Skype, which are born in the Union, then get bought and end up in the United States,” which is why the EU provides new allocations for companies in the digital world. NATO can also be a growth opportunity for companies, as Kalinić stressed. “Silicon Valley did not come from nowhere: small and medium-sized companies were good at exploiting the spillover from the billions of defense investments. This is missing in Europe, but it can be recovered.”