♦ Projects financed by CDI funds often involve partnerships between the business environment and research institutes or universities. Romanian companies currently have at their disposal European funds for research, development and innovation, and from 2028 they will be able to take research and development projects to the next level, attracting money directly from the European Commission, explained Nina Irimia, managing consultant at Upscale Smart Consulting, in the ZF program Investiţi în România!, made in partnership with CEC Bank. «Each regional program has a component dedicated to research, development, innovation (CDI) projects. They are complex projects, the financial allocations are not very, very large, but somehow they prepare us for what the funding means after 2028. By then we will have these projects implemented and from 2028 we should be able to access CDI funds directly from the European Commission.» The allocations for CDI funds are not large and calls are launched by each regional agency separately. For example, the CDI allocation for the Northeast program amounts to 78.5 million. euros, and beneficiaries can access between 250,000 and 2.5 million. euro. «There are some very interesting projects that I am targeting directly. They are complex projects, they don't only have the equipment acquisition component, there is also a salary component, companies can hire researchers, specialized staff, they can buy innovation or consulting services in the field of innovation.» The project can result in a patent or more, but this is not an obligation for those who access CDI funds. There is an appetite for such projects, but the start is difficult. «Projects are difficult to initiate because they are not exactly the easiest projects, they are by far the most challenging. They are difficult to initiate because they often require an external partnership with which to develop the innovative solution or the innovative project that will result from that project. The start is difficult, I think the interest will increase as we have some applicant guides available and we will be able to see exactly what the access conditions are». Nina Irimia is a consultant in European funds and before running her own consulting firm she worked in the Southeast Regional Development Agency. Asked why the well-being resulting from the positive impact of European funds is not widely perceived at the national level in the context of the wave of Euroscepticism, Irimia emphasized that there are results, but they are not sufficiently promoted. «I think it is rather a matter of perception on the impact that European funds have on the economy, because the results are clear, concrete and tangible. We have companies that bought super-performing equipment, that managed to hire additional staff, that increased their profitability, turnover and positioned themselves much better on the market after making these investments from European funds».