Europe must scale up research and innovation to remain competitive, new Commission report says

The European Commission published today the 2026 edition of the Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU report, providing a comprehensive assessment of Europe's research and innovation landscape. 

The report shows that Europe remains a global scientific leader. The EU ranks second worldwide in scientific output, while 57% of its scientific publications involve international collaboration. It also finds that the quality of EU research remains high.

However, Europe is less successful in turning that scientific strength into strategic technologies, market leadership and productivity growth. The report highlights four main challenges:

• Investment: the EU would need an estimated €560 billion in additional investment to meet its target of spending 3% of GDP on R&D by 2030.
• Fragmentation: research and innovation efforts remain spread across countries, regions and institutions, which limits their overall impact.
• Scaling up innovation: bottlenecks in financing, knowledge valorisation and technology deployment make it harder for discoveries to reach the market, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors and cloud computing.
• Global competition: Europe needs to strengthen its position in strategic technologies while maintaining scientific excellence and attracting top talent, including through initiatives such as Choose Europe.

According to the report, science, research and innovation must play a central role in boosting EU productivity while supporting Europe's environmental goals and social model.

From findings to action

To address these challenges, the report calls for better coordination of public and private investment, stronger collaboration between regions, and a clearer focus on the technologies most critical to Europe's future. It also highlights the need to remove barriers that prevent research from being developed into products and services, particularly barriers in finance and technology deployment.

To help close the investment gap, the Commission has proposed a stronger research and innovation budget for 2028-2034 as well as measures to mobilise more private and institutional capital, such as the Scaleup Europe Fund, which has already announced seven investments in European technology companies.

Also, to tackle fragmentation, the Commission is preparing a European Research Area Act to strengthen coordination between EU and national research and innovation priorities, improve investment planning and remove the remaining barriers to the circulation of knowledge and talent.

Furthermore, to help innovative companies scale up, the Commission has proposed a European Innovation Act to facilitate access to public procurement markets and unlock intellectual property-backed finance.

Together, these initiatives aim to strengthen Europe's position in strategic technologies. They complement efforts such as Choose Europe, which aims to attract and retain the researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs Europe needs to compete globally.

Background

The Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU report provides a detailed overview of the EU's performance in science, research and innovation, examines the key determinants of this performance and puts forward policy recommendations. It is designed to inform policymakers, stakeholders and the wider public about the EU's strengths, challenges and strategic priorities at a time of growing global competition and rapid technological change.

The analysis includes international comparisons, notably with major economies such as the United States and China, to assess the EU's position globally. It also presents thematic and sector-specific insights and connects the evidence to current and forthcoming EU policy initiatives.

A launch event is taking place today, in Brussels and online, to discuss the report's key findings and implications.

For more information

Science, Research and Innovation Performance

Scaleup Europe Fund

Choose Europe

European Innovation Act