The European Union needs to increase investment and improve how it turns research into market-ready technologies to stay competitive, according to a new European Commission report.
The Commission published on Thursday the 2026 edition of its Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU report, which assesses the bloc’s research and innovation landscape.
Europe ranks second worldwide in scientific output and 57% of its scientific publications involve international collaboration.
The quality of EU research remains high, but the report said Europe is less successful at translating that strength into strategic technologies, market leadership and productivity growth.
One challenge identified is funding: the EU would need an estimated €560 billion in additional investment to meet its target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D) by 2030.
Another is fragmentation, with research and innovation efforts spread across countries, regions and institutions.
The report also points to barriers that can prevent discoveries becoming products and services, including bottlenecks in financing and technology deployment — the process of putting new technologies into practical use — particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors and cloud computing.
Proposed steps to close gaps
To help close the investment gap, the Commission has proposed a stronger research and innovation budget for 2028–2034 and measures to mobilise more private and institutional capital, including the Scaleup Europe Fund, which has announced seven investments in European technology companies.
To tackle fragmentation, the Commission is preparing a European Research Area Act to strengthen coordination between EU and national research and innovation priorities and remove barriers to the circulation of knowledge and talent.
The Commission has also proposed a European Innovation Act to help innovative companies scale up by facilitating access to public procurement markets and enabling intellectual property-backed finance.
Science, research and innovation must play a central role in boosting EU productivity while supporting environmental goals and Europe’s social model.
