The Diplomat
The ICEX-Brexit Program will offer a maximum support of 200,000 euros to Spanish companies and self-employed workers affected by the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
The objective of this program, whose first call will be imminent after the publication of its regulatory bases in the BOE, is to support Spanish companies in adapting to the new situation, compensating the expenses incurred and the extra effort of positioning, consolidation and implementation that they have had to assume as a result of this process.
Since the Agreement on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union came into force on February 1, 2020, a new trade relationship has been established, as well as new rules on the free movement of people, services and capital between the EU and the United Kingdom, with far-reaching effects for companies, ICEX recalled in a press release. With the intention of counteracting the economic consequences for sectors harmed by the withdrawal, an EU Regulation establishing the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) was approved in October 2021 to help Member States.
After several months of active dialogue with the business community, both from its central services and from the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in London, ICEX has launched the ICEX-Brexit Program whereby exporting companies may receive aid of 75 percent of certain expenses incurred in the period from January 1, 2020 and July 31, 2023, to cope with this new situation. The maximum support per beneficiary will be 200,000 euros. This initiative is financed by the above-mentioned BAR of the European Commission.
Companies legally incorporated in Spain or self-employed workers registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, exporters or with investments in the United Kingdom that have been affected by the Brexit, either because of a reduction in their exports or because they have had to face expenses directly derived from the exit of that country from the European Union, may obtain the status of beneficiaries. According to ICEX, the United Kingdom continues to be a strategic destination for Spanish companies.
