EU Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva visited Prague on Wednesday to discuss EU priorities on innovation, research, artificial intelligence and competitiveness.
Zaharieva held talks with senior Czech government figures and research leaders, including First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Robert Plaga, and Czech Academy of Sciences president Radomír Pánek, the European Commission informed.
Discussions covered EU initiatives that support start-ups and “scale-ups” — companies that are expanding rapidly — as well as research and innovation.
The topics included the EU’s Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the Scaleup Europe Fund.
Talks also addressed the EU’s next planned research funding programme, Horizon Europe 2028–2034, as well as forthcoming legislation including a European Research Area Act and a European Innovation Act.
AI summit appearance in Prague
Zaharieva also took part in the Central and Eastern Europe AI Summit 2026 in Prague, the Commission said.
Her programme included delivering a keynote speech, joining a panel discussion on scaling AI innovation in Central and Eastern Europe, and taking part in a roundtable with founders and chief executives of AI start-ups.
