Flagship 5: Improving policy making tools

This flagship focuses on the development and use of robust, comparable data sets and a common data taxonomy that can inform policies at all levels across the EU, and policy support for Member States.

The Commission is preparing an exploratory study on definitions related to startups, scale-ups and deep tech innovation. It will be due in 2025 The study is being conducted under the umbrella of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) project with a focus on how Member States and international organisations collect data and define indicators to assess start-up performance across Europe. This exploratory study aims to provide an extensive overview of concepts and definitions associated the start-up ecosystem, which indicators are being used to assess start-up performance, and which types of data and data sources are used in the analysis.

The Commission will strengthen the role of the European Innovation Council Forum, enhancing the exchange of best practices and coordination of national innovation policy initiatives. The EIC Forum Policy orientations 2022 document looks at the overview of challenges and proposed actions of the five established EIC Forum working groups for 2022, in particular: Innovation Policy, Innovation Procurement, Data, EIC Plug In scheme to the EIC Accelerator, and EIC Prizes Alumni network.

The EIC Forum Policy Orientations 2023 document reflects on the actions in each working group and with the particular focus on innovation policy, innovation procurement, data, and employees’ stock options.

The new Working Group on Employees’ Stock Options has been endorsed by the EIC Forum Plenary and will kick off in March 2023.

Relevant links

EIC Forum

At the Competitiveness Council in December 2022, following the adoption of Council Conclusions on New European Innovation Agenda (NEIA), the Commission launched a call to governments to announce actions in support of the NEIA. This announcement was based on the understanding that full support and engagement from the Member States and Associated Countries is needed to ensure the implementation of the NEIA. 

The actions were gathered through the EIC Forum, a group of Member States and Associated Countries' public authorities and bodies in charge of innovation policies and programmes, with the aim of promoting coordination and dialogue on the development of the Union's innovation ecosystem.