An innovative and competitive Europe: key files to watch in 2026
With global pressures mounting, innovation is back at the forefront — it even made it to Davos, where Ursula von der Leyen announced EU-Inc, a new European company structure for startups. Here is an overview of what to expect in 2026: key principles, policies, and funding.
Autonomy and competitiveness: the compass for 2026
Independence, strategic autonomy, and competitiveness: in the very unlikely event you missed it, these are some of Brussels’ buzzwords this January 2026 – along with Greenland and sovereignty.
With the increasingly challenging (and changing) global context, the European Union has been betting heavily on strengthening its internal resources, capabilities, and infrastructures. Last year, the European Commission presented the competitiveness compass, a roadmap to restore Europe’s dynamism and boost our economic growth inspired by the Draghi Report — identifying key actions to revitalise the European economy. Important developments for us also come from the Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the roadmap published last year to make Europe more attractive for tech-driven companies.
This year’s European Commission’s programme reflects those documents and priorities. Its very title — Europe’s Independence Moment — is quite telling; across policy areas, from climate action to technology, energy, defense and social measures, the message is loud and clear: strengthening Europe’s industrial base — including startups, scaleups and SMEs — and advancing sovereignty and sustainable prosperity are key to safeguarding Europe’s independence and democracy, while simplification (another keyword) is an enabling principle. And while only a few months ago it would have seemed far-fetched to connect defending democracy with promoting innovation, in the world of 2026 this has concrete implications for ecosystems across the continent. So, what should we be looking out for in the coming 12 months?
Innovation policy: key files to watch
The European Commission’s Work Programme identifies some key legislative pillars when it comes to innovation: here is a snapshot of the ones you should follow.
EU-INC: a 28th Regime for Innovative Companies
Much discussed at the Davos World Economic Forum, the Commission is expected to propose a European 28th regime, which, as announced by von der Leyen, will be called EU-Inc. The aim is to support young and small innovative companies by creating “a single, harmonised set of EU-wide rules” for innovative companies, instead of “27 distinct legal regimes”. The proposal aims to simplify starting and scaling a company across borders in Europe, making it faster and cheaper.
Learn more from one of our earlier articles.
EU Innovation Act
Another eagerly awaited file is the European Innovation Act, a key deliverable of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy, expected to be proposed in Q1. Its goal is to speed up the commercialisation of innovative ideas and closing the gap between the EU and its global competitors, such as – unsurprisingly – the US and China. It will address challenges to marketing research results, strengthen collaboration between industry and academia, and improve access to procurement and infrastructure for innovative companies. More to come on this topic as the situation evolves.
Read more on the Commission’s website.
Digital Sovereignty: Data Centres, AI, Chips, and quantum technology
The Cloud and AI Development Act, the revision of the EU Chips Act and a proposed European Quantum Act together will aim at boosting digital sovereignty and reduce reliance on foreign products. The legislative proposals are expected in Q1 and Q2.
Research
The European Research Area Act will address challenges in the EU’s research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem, including fragmented regulatory frameworks, uneven investment, and barriers to knowledge sharing.
More on the Commission’s website.
Environment
Although priorities have clearly shifted, the environmental crisis has not been completely forgotten, and many environmental concerns are considered strategic for European security. The commission foresees a Circular Economy Act and a European integrated framework for climate resilience (whose draft framework is now open to public consultation until February 23). These instruments might also unlock opportunities for local development actors.
Public procurement
The Commission also mentions upcoming proposals to modify public procurement legislation and make it more viable for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, support made-in-Europe clean tech, and promote the circularity of tech products. This might have a big impact on SMEs and startups.
Horizon Europe: the last funding stretch
Horizon Europe (HE) remains the main funding channel, with this year marking the beginning of the end of the current programming period, running from 2021-2027. The last work programmes, covering 2026 and 2027, focus on “initiatives that strengthen Europe’s security, reduce strategic dependencies and reinforce supply chain resilience” with 14 billion euros.
The programme introduces important changes concerning simplification, with fewer and less prescriptive topics, increased use of lump sums to reduce administrative burden, SME-, startup- and scaleup-friendly topics, and reduced proposal complexity.
When it comes to innovation more strictly, the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) programme will fuel interconnected ecosystems across the EU, a key priority for the Union, necessary to reduce fragmentation and unlock and scale innovations. It allocates around 65 million to boost Europe’s innovation capabilities, especially in the deep tech sector, and improve the commercialisation of research. Of these, 20 million will be allocated to the Startup and Scaleup Hubs pilot, an action under the Startup and Scaleup Strategy.
In addition to the above, the European Innovation Council’s 2026 work programme creates funding opportunities worth over €1.4 billion for strategic technologies to scale up companies. The programme is organised around five schemes to boost research, seize innovation opportunities and support and reduce risks for innovative companies. The Council is also setting up the Scaleup Europe Fund, a multi-billion late-stage and growth investment fund combining private and public capital.
More innovation-driven funding is spread across the usual Horizon Europe pillars, including research education, infrastructures, and widening, which is essential, among others, to boost academic spinoffs and startups and bring research and innovation into society and the economy.
Horizon Europe also offers funding in the following pillars: Health, Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society, Civil Security, Digital, Industry & Space, Climate, Energy & Mobility, Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment, and the five EU Missions.
Finally, the programme features two new horizontal calls to connect different parts of Horizon Europe through innovation-driven proposals: “R&I in Support of the Clean Industrial Deal”, to implement the Deal through “targeted research and innovation”, and “AI in Science”, fostering responsible and “trustworthy AI solutions to tackle societal and industrial challenges”.
How to apply for funding
As usual, the complete Work Programme can be found on the official page, whereas the calls for funding are gradually published on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.
What’s next
A brief mention about the successor of the current Horizon programme, Horizon Europe 2028-2034, is in order. Talks have recently begun and will continue into the year, and the proposed budget, set at 175 billion euros, is almost double the current one.
In conclusion, 2026 is set to be a dense year for innovators and ecosystems, with key upcoming legislation and substantial opportunities that unlock competitiveness, all in support of the emerging EU’s political priorities. As new developments unfold, we will make sure to keep you posted.
Further reads from SERN
- We concluded the StepUp Startups Initiative, providing data-driven intelligence to support Europe’s startup ecosystem, and explored Europe’s AI opportunities at the AI Policy Day: Scaling AI in Europe event in Amsterdam. Read more and check out all the reports!
- The YOUTH 4 OUTERMOST REGIONS project successfully concluded at the end of last year! Entirely implemented by SERN, it supported youth-led initiatives across the EU’s outermost regions located in the Atlantic and in the Indian Oceans, in the Caribbean Sea and in South America, developing policy recommendations to empower youth: read more!
- SYMBIO held its General Assembly in Klagenfurt (Austria), where SERN shared all the work done so far and the next steps for the communication and dissemination of the project’s results. Learn more.
Are you looking for a project partner or do you have a proposal in mind? Let’s connect!
That will be all for now! We hope you enjoyed the read: tell us in the comment section. See you next month with another edition untangling EU policy for regional innovators. Anything else you would like to learn about? Let us know!
