IPCEI aid can cover up to 100% of your funding gap. The price is not equity and not interest. The price is knowledge. Understanding spillover obligations is what separates a fundable application from a rejected one.
State aid at IPCEI scale is only justified if the benefits reach beyond the aided company and its sector. That is why an IPCEI must normally involve at least four Member States, and why every participant must commit to positive spillover effects: concrete, measurable commitments to spread the knowledge the project generates across the EU economy.
What counts as a spillover
– Dissemination of non-IP-protected results: peer-reviewed publications, conference contributions, teaching, collaboration with research organisations. Named journals, named events, named institutions.
– FRAND licensing of IP-protected results: a commitment to license project IP on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to interested parties in the EU.
– Cross-border collaboration: documented cooperation with other direct participants, induced or enhanced by the IPCEI itself, not pre-existing business as usual.
And what does not count: marketing, PR, self-beneficial activities, or anything your project needs to do anyway. The Commission expects commitments that are specific, identifiable and verifiable. Vague promises of “knowledge sharing” are read as no commitment at all.
The quiet shift: SMEs moved in
Spillovers are one reason IPCEIs have opened up. Across the eleven integrated IPCEIs approved since 2018, more than 22% of participating companies are SMEs, and the trend is steep: from 7% in the first Microelectronics IPCEI (2018) to 64% in Med4Cure (2024) and 60% in Tech4Cure (2025).
SME share of participating companies. Source: European Commission, DG Competition (May 2026).
The takeaway:
Treat spillover commitments as a design element of your project from day one, not an annex drafted the night before submission. Strong, specific spillovers are an assessment criterion, and weak ones put the whole notification at risk.
Sources
– European Commission – Approved IPCEIs (DG Competition)
– IPCEI Communication, OJ C 528, 30.12.2021 (EUR-Lex)