Skip to main content
Research and innovation
News article22 April 2022Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

Have your say on the development of the New European Innovation Agenda

On 12 April, the European Commission launched a ‘Call for Evidence’ to collect feedback on the plans for a New European Innovation Agenda, which is expected to be adopted before the summer.

Facing many challenges, the EU lacks an overarching innovation strategy. Throughout long consultations and co-creation processes with stakeholders, five broad action areas have emerged that are essential to boosting Europe’s innovation performance an can be addressed through a new European Innovation Agenda. These are: Access to finance, Regulatory sandboxes, Innovation ecosystems, Better Innovation Policy making, and Talent.

We invite all interested parties to provide feedback and empirical evidence on the benefits, unintended effects, consistency and coherence of the Call for Evidence of the New European Innovation Agenda. The Call for Evidence aims to gather feedback from all interested parties including national authorities, EU countries, citizens, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), startups, entrepreneurs, as well as the non-governmental sector.

You can respond to the Call for Evidence until 10 May. Have your say on the development of the New European Innovation Agenda here

Background

Innovation, notably deep-tech innovation, is critical for navigating the twin green and digital transitions and to improve health and well-being. It is also key to securing the EU’s open strategic autonomy.

Despite its numerous policy initiatives and instruments supporting innovation, the EU will benefit from an overarching innovation agenda that articulates all aspects in a way that allows efficient implementation and maximum impact on strategic objectives.

The proposed agenda will help better integrate initiatives and investment at EU and national levels. Action at EU level is crucial for supporting the development of coherent national innovation agendas, supporting access to finance, particularly for small businesses, creating a framework more supportive of innovation, connecting innovation ecosystems, and developing and attracting talent.

In the last two years, Europe has faced a series of dramatic challenges, which nevertheless provided us with the opportunity to “build forward” better: more sustainable, more digital, more resilient and more autonomous. We need start-ups to grow into innovative SMEs and then scale up to large successful corporations that contribute to the EU’s technological sovereignty. These actors play a key role and represent a new generation of innovators who use disruptive, transformative innovations to solve our deep societal challenges.

Details

Publication date
22 April 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation