Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 is amended as follows:

1. (1)

   in Article 3(1), the following subparagraph is added:

   “In addition, the ERDF may support the financing of working capital in SMEs where necessary as a temporary measure to provide an effective response to a public health crisis.”;

2. (2)

   in Article 5, point (1)(b) is replaced by the following:

   1. “(b)

      promoting business investment in R&I, developing links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the higher education sector, in particular promoting investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, eco-innovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation, and supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies as well as fostering investment necessary for strengthening the crisis response capacities in health services;”.