Open Letter: Research & Innovation must sit at the heart of the EU’s Competitiveness Agenda
The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) has joined twelve leading think tanks and associations in signing an open letter to EU leaders, calling for a robust, stable, and predictable Research and Innovation (R&I) framework that will keep Europe at the forefront of global competitiveness while advancing its climate neutrality goals.
As discussions continue around the design of the next Framework Programme for R&I (FP10), the letter underscores that Europe’s long-term leadership in innovation depends on a well-resourced and strategically guided R&I system. This must be central to the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework, providing the tools and funding innovators need to build Europe’s future.
Aymeric Amand, Policy Manager, Zero Emissions Platform, commented:
If Europe is serious about climate neutrality and industrial competitiveness, it must invest accordingly. The next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) should be the engine that delivers both technological excellence and systemic deployment in industrial carbon management.
The letter outlines eight principles that should guide the design of future EU Research and Innovation (R&I) funding:
- Increase the EU budget for research and innovation
- Bridge the gap between R&I and scale-up financing
- Focus funding on strategic high-impact technologies, including low-carbon construction and carbon removal technologies
- Strengthen and protect the European Innovation Council
- Expand and deepen public-private partnerships
- Prioritise collaborative research
- Use innovation procurement to build lead markets
- Align regulation and tenders with innovation goals (i.e. create regulatory sandboxes to allow controlled testing of new technologies).
R&I is the foundation of Europe’s future industrial strength, climate leadership, and global competitiveness – a future that will enable the deployment of industrial carbon management. Hence, a well-resourced, strategically focused framework for research and innovation must be at the core of the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework.