The disparities in innovation performance and the shortcomings of different national systems are so diverse that boosting the EU’s overall innovation performance cannot be one size fits all but will require tailored solutions for different regions.
The Commission is working on a new innovation strategy to tackle the fragmentation of existing start-up ecosystems. Europe lost out to the US in the previous wave of innovation around the internet and next time around, the Commission is aiming to dominate the deep tech market.
Innovation cohesion is one of the main issues to be addressed in the plan. Europe has a very fragmented innovation landscape, with some regions producing far more start-ups and attracting more investments than others. The differences are especially stark between western Europe and the EU’s newer member states in the east, although the gap is slowly shrinking.
The Horizon Europe research programme is making moves to bridge the divide. The new European Research Area (ERA) Forum for Transition will bring together member states and research stakeholders to brainstorm how to prioritise research and development investments. But member states and the Commission are still hashing out how this will work in practice, with member states expected to come out with a decision at the end of November.
