Applying for recognition of an investment project with Inland Investment Project (IIP) status

This service allows companies with investment projects to apply for recognition of the status of Inland Investment Project (Projeto de Investimento para o Interior, IIP).

Companies can benefit from close supervision by the Standing Committee for Investor Support (CPAI). CPAI support is given only if there is a favourable decision to recognise IIP status.

This supervision includes help with procedures for obtaining licences, authorisations and approvals that fall within the competence of central and local government. These administrative requirements are necessary for the implementation of the project, as they circumvent administrative hurdles and ensure a swift response.

When a project is recognised as an IIP, the licensing process becomes the priority. Although IIP recognition does not confer any rights in itself, there are special provisions laid down in Decree-Law No 154/2013 of 5 November.

Service channels

Procedure and requirements

Documentos and requirements

An application for recognition of IIP status must be accompanied by the following:

  • a general description of the project, including an indication of the economic activity, jobs directly created or maintained, the planned location or alternative locations, the technologies involved, and the products or services provided;
  • economic and other feasibility studies necessary to demonstrate the sustainability of the project, including the related investment and financing plans;
  • an indication of whether the investment project is subject to any special arrangements or provisions regarding environmental responsibility; integrated pollution prevention and control; environmental impact assessment through the Natura 2000 network; prevention of serious accidents involving hazardous substances; protection of the cork oak and holm oak; and forestry, under the terms of the applicable legislation governing authorisations, approvals, licences and requests for prior information or opinions concerning projects, if any. There must also be an indicative timetable for the start of the procedures under the initiative;
  • a document proving the legitimacy of the promoter regarding the use of the property where the project is proposed to be developed;
  • a project history that meets the necessary requirements and can improve its chances for approval, and a list of the public authorities contacted in relation to incentives, licensing or other aspects, with the dates of such contact and the results, where applicable;
  • how the project fits in to the company’s overall strategy;
  • an estimated statement of the results of the project in the 3?year period after the investment is made;
  • studies to evaluate the compatibility of the application with the natural assets present, namely with protected areas and the Natura 2000 network, and a description of the main environmental impacts of the project as regards nature conservation, water, soil, waste and air, where applicable;
  • proof that there are no alternative solutions to the project, if there is a high probability that the project will affect assets that are protected under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, where applicable;
  • proof that there are no alternative solutions to the project, if it concerns land subject to the forestry regime;
  • a description of how the project fits into existing territorial management instruments, in particular municipal and special spatial plans, as well as easements or restrictions of public utility affecting the area concerned;
  • an extract from the zoning plans and restrictive covenant plans of the municipal spatial plans and special land use plans applicable in the area, with the project implementation area superimposed over the extract;
  • justification of the planned location, including an extract from an orthophoto map, i.e. a map produced from aerial photography without distortions caused by camera tilt or relief, and/or from aerial photography and cartography (on a scale of 1:5000), covering the project implementation area and clearly identifying the zoning and proposed uses, namely zones to be built on, access, roads and green spaces. If there are blemishes on the map, these elements must be georeferenced and sent in shapefile format, in vector form used by geographic information systems. 

The mapping should ideally be drawn up on the basis of the PT?TM06/ETRS89 georeferencing system in continental Portugal or PTRA08?MTU/ITRF93 in the autonomous regions, as set out in Decree-Law No 141/2014 of 19 September.  Nevertheless, the map may also be presented on the Hayford-Gauss Lisbon Datum georeferencing system, with the false origin of the cartographic coordinates being +200 000 m and +300 000 m in distance at the meridian and the perpendicular respectively, as laid down by Decree-Law No 154/2013 of 5 November.

Procedure

The project promoter submits the application for recognition of a project with IIP status and the necessary documents through ePortugal.

To use the service, click on the ‘Access the service’ button and sign in using one of the following methods of authentication:

Once you have signed in, fill in and submit the IIP recognition application form.

The assessment and validation of the application is the responsibility of the CPAI, which may request, on a case-by-case basis, that you submit any additional information needed for the decision. In this case, the deadline for issuing a decision will be suspended until the new documents requested are sent.

Time of issue/decision

IIP status must be recognised within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application with all the necessary documents.

Validity

The recognition of an investment project as an IIP will expire in the following situations:

  • when the project promoter does not comply with the defined timetable; 
  • when the project promoter does not fulfil the tasks laid down in the timetable after 90 days from the date on which IIP status recognition was notified;
  • whenever the promoter violates the law or a regulation. 

The supervision process by the CPAI ends when the implementation phase of the project starts.

Obligations

IIP status recognition is given to investment projects that meet all of the following eligibility requirements provided for in Decree-Law No 111/2018 of 11 December:

  • they represent an overall investment of EUR 10 million or more;
  • they create 25 or more direct jobs;
  • they are located in inland territories, being categorised as such in Ministerial Implementing Order No 208/2017 of 13 July;
  • they have proven economic viability;
  • they are environmentally and territorially sustainable;
  • they are submitted by promoters of recognised good repute and credibility.

They must have a positive impact in at least three of the following areas:

  • harnessing the endogenous resources of the region in which they are located;
  • enhancing the region’s natural or cultural heritage;
  • integrating into the region’s specialisation strategy;
  • producing tradable innovative goods and services, with a competitive advantage in the global market;
  • introducing innovative or developed technological processes in collaboration with entities in the regional scientific and technological system;
  • having a knock-on effect on upstream or downstream activities, particularly on small and micro-enterprises in the region in which they are located.

Investment projects with a total value of less than EUR 10 million and/or that create a number fewer than 25 direct jobs may, exceptionally, also be recognised as IIPs, provided that they meet at least three of the following requirements:

  • there is a declaration on Recognition of Municipal Interest;
  • there is a manifest social and environmental interest;
  • in-house research and development activity amounts to at least 5% of the business’s turnover;
  • there is a strong applied innovation component proving the introduction and development of technological processes carried out in collaboration with recognised entities in the scientific and technological system;
  • the installation of a productive base, with strong regional incorporation (competitiveness clusters) creating gross added value;
  • they are diaspora investment projects.

Legislation, refusals, contests, claims

Legislation

Special arrangements applicable to IIPs

IIPs are subject to the same special arrangements as those granted to projects recognised as having National Interest Potential (NIP) status.

Thus, IIPs, despite being governed by the legal and regulatory norms that – due to their nature – apply to them, benefit from special administrative procedure arrangements that translate into:

  • administrative procedures falling within the competence of the central administration being dealt with simultaneously;
  • reduction and simultaneous duration of procedure times;
  • a single public consultation period for the purposes of the various administrative procedures;
  • simplification of procedures relating to territorial management instruments relevant to the project;
  • positive tacit opinions and tacit acceptance under the various applicable procedures;
  • simplification of procedures relating to necessary urban planning operations.

Moreover, certain general legal arrangements are also adapted, always with the purpose of reducing the timeframes or simplifying procedures, as is the case for the Environmental Impact Assessment, where the decision period is shortened to 90 days.

Process manager

A project classified as an IIP is allocated a process manager, who is responsible for closely monitoring the development of the process, liaising directly with the promoter on and for the purposes of all the legal and regulatory procedures that provide for the issuing of opinions, authorisations, decisions or licences.

In particular, the process manager is responsible for ensuring that the timetable is adhered to and making the necessary efforts to clarify and coordinate positions with a view to implementing the investment project, in particular by promoting meetings with the public authorities and the promoter, as well as the respective coordination with local authorities.

Among the entities comprising the Standing Committee for Investor Support (CPAI), the AICEP, the IAPMEI or Turismo de Portugal may act as the designated process manager, depending on the nature of the project in question and the remit established in the respective organic laws on the monitoring of investment projects.

Reasons for refusal

  • Incorrectly submitted application/notification.
    • absence of any form, document or other type of information,
    • the documents are submitted after the deadline, the documents have expired or the documents are of no value,
    • application/notification incompatible with another ongoing application.
  • Unclear application/notification – a lack of information that prevents a proper assessment of the application/notification, as a result of the way in which it is written or erasures.
  • Application/notification submitted by someone not authorised to act – the person concerned does not have the legal capacity to submit the application/notification, or the application/notification has been submitted anonymously.
  • failure to comply, in whole or in part, with any of the technical requirements under the law and/or regulations.

Competent Entity

Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal

Address: Rua Júlio Dinis n.º 748, 9º Dto 4050-012 Porto

Phone number: 808 214 214

Email address: aicep@portugalglobal.pt

Web url: http://www.portugalglobal.pt/