Navarra announces 160,000 euros for innovative employment and entrepreneurship projects

The Navarre Employment Service-Nafar Lansare (SNE-NL) has announced 160,000 euros in grants to develop innovative and experimental projects regarding employment and entrepreneurship in the Chartered Community of Navarra, framed within the activities of its Center for Guidance, Entrepreneurship, Support, and Innovation for Employment (COE). The call and its regulatory bases are approved by Resolution 4976E/2026, dated August 28, published in the Official Gazette of Navarra number 200, dated October 8, 2026, page 35566, with code BDNS 927085.

Regulatory framework and origin of the call

The resolution is issued under Foral Decree 13/2024, dated February 7, which approves the statutes of the autonomous body, whose Article 2 assigns the SNE-NL competencies in the planning, execution, evaluation, and control of employment policies, including advisory services for self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Law 3/2023, dated February 28, on employment, recognizes COEs as specialized support for the National Employment System, and Article 88 of Royal Decree 818/2021, dated September 28, regulates their functions. The Navarra COE was qualified via the Resolution of May 12, 2022, from the Directorate General of the State Public Employment Service, published in the Official State Gazette number 181, dated July 29, 2022.

As stated in the resolution itself, the call is launched based on the experience accumulated in the management of the COE SNE-NL work plans between 2022 and 2026. The expenditure is authorized against budget item 950003 96400 4819 241302, titled “Sectoral Conference. Grants for innovative COE projects,” from the 2026 expenditure budget.

Two lines of 80,000 euros and up to 40,000 per project

The total allocation of 160,000 euros is divided equally between two grant lines:

• Line I: 80,000 euros for projects that include the design, prototyping, and transfer of methodologies or tools regarding employment, professional guidance, prospecting, and labor intermediation.
• Line II: 80,000 euros for equivalent projects regarding entrepreneurship.

The maximum amount per project is 40,000 euros, and each entity may be the beneficiary of one project per line. If one line does not exhaust its credit, the remainder may be allocated to the other. The granting process is handled under a competitive bidding regime.

Among the mentioned areas are the diagnosis of transversal competencies, the identification of professional interests, preventive actions against unemployment caused by the emergence of artificial intelligence, the reduction of the gender gap, the viability and tutoring of entrepreneurial initiatives, generational renewal, and the green and digital transition.

Beneficiary entities and evaluation criteria

The following may apply for the grants:

• Local entities, their autonomous bodies, and dependent entities with competencies in active employment policies and local development.
• Public or private non-profit entities with their own legal personality.
• Self-employed persons, companies, and business associations.
• Groupings without legal personality.

Projects are scored out of a maximum of 100 points, distributed as follows: challenge and objectives (5), action plan (20), relevance (10), budget (10), innovative nature (25), evaluation system (10), transfer (10), and gender perspective (10). Projects with fewer than 15 points in innovative nature, fewer than 5 in transfer, or fewer than 60 in total will be denied.

Deadlines, execution, and justification

The deadline for submitting applications is one month from the day following the publication of the call in the Official Gazette of Navarra, and processing is exclusively electronic through the Navarra Portal. The managing director of the SNE-NL, María Esther Fernández Razquin, will resolve within a maximum period of two months from the submission of the application.

Projects must be executed between the notification of the award resolution and October 30, 2027. An advance payment of up to 60% of the granted amount is permitted, requestable until June 1, 2027, and the final justification must be submitted before November 20, 2027. The grants are de minimis in nature according to Commission Regulation 2023/2831, with a limit of 300,000 euros per company over three years, and are incompatible with other subsidies for the same purpose. An administrative appeal may be filed against the resolution before the Councilor for Social Rights, Social Economy, and Employment within one month.

The call seeks to transfer experienced and evaluable methodologies to public employment services, so that pilot projects can be scaled and improve the care provided to unemployed persons and those starting businesses in Navarra.

Source: Official Gazette of Navarra, number 200, of October 8, 2026, section 1.4. Subsidies, grants, and scholarships, page 35566 (official reference: Resolution 4976E/2026; BDNS 927085).