Overview
On 2 July 2025, the European Commission released its Strategy for European Life Sciences to position Europe as the world's most attractive place for life sciences by 2030. The strategy is a key part of the Commission's competitiveness agenda and was announced by President Von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines 2024-29.
Life sciences – the study of living systems, from cells to ecosystems – drive innovation in medicine, food and sustainable production, and are a major contributor to the European economy.
Backed by more than €10 billion annually from the current EU budget, the strategy sets out a coordinated approach across the entire life sciences value chain. It aims to accelerate innovation, facilitate market access, and build public trust in new technologies, ensuring they benefit the people and the planet.
Why the strategy is needed
Life sciences can make Europe more competitive and help drive progress in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, energy, food and biotechnology.
For decades, Europe has been a leader in this field thanks to its strong knowledge base and know-how. However, it is losing ground to other global players in turning research into real-world solutions due to challenges such as fragmented funding and innovation systems, regulatory complexities and slow market uptake.
The strategy builds on a large body of evidence, including studies on the life sciences sector by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and proposes actions that will help Europe regain its position as a global life sciences leader, driving innovation, economic growth, and job creation.
One year on
The Strategy is composed of 27 actions, most of which have already been initiated, including:
- Adoption of the Biotech Act proposal in December 2025, to streamline the regulatory environment in key health areas such as clinical trials and cell and gene therapies.
- Launch of a new European Research Area (ERA) Action in November 2025 to accelerate, through a coordinated approach across Member States, associated countries and stakeholders, the development and uptake of New Approach Methodologies in biomedical research and regulatory testing of medicinal products and devices.
- Publication of a new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) on Food Systems to foster development of competitive, sustainable and resilient food systems solutions, expected for September 2026.
- Establishment of a ‘European Life Sciences R&I Data Assembly’ through an Informal Commission Expert Group bringing together a range of EU and Member State authorities working in data-related domains. The initiative aims to strengthen cross-regulatory collaboration by addressing complex data-sharing challenges in life sciences while promoting harmonised approaches.
Moreover, €793 million have been mobilised in 2026-2027 for research activities targeting actions under the Strategy under the Health Work Programme, as well as €589 million from the Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Work Programme.
Another €65 million of funding under Horizon Europe are programmed to strengthen the long-term resilience and sustainability of critical data and knowledge repositories, including three of the world’s leading life sciences data and knowledge infrastructures: GENCODE, UniProt and Europe PMC.
These resources are the backbone of life sciences and are essential for ongoing and future biological and biomedical research. This will be instrumental for advancing AI in biotechnology, where competitiveness and economic security of the EU’s biotechnology sector depend not only on technological capacity but also on access to reliable biodata and clear rules on how this data is shared and used.
As scientific advances continue to reshape sectors ranging from health and biotechnology to food systems, agriculture and environmental sustainability, the Strategy for European Life Sciences provides a framework for ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of innovation while delivering benefits for citizens, society and the economy.
Documents
Life sciences infrastructures are critical for EU economic security, for EU strategic interests, competitiveness and for addressing societal challenges such as global health, biodiversity and climate change.