Europe maintains its scientific leadership but loses ground in technology

Brussels estimates that an additional €560 billion in R&D investment is needed by 2030

October 6, 2026
European project funding

At a glance: the essentials of this article

The EU remains a major force in global science but faces difficulties in turning its research capabilities into technological leadership, business innovation and higher productivity. The European Commission identifies insufficient investment, fragmentation, barriers to bringing innovation to market and growing international competition as the main challenges.

Scientific leadership. The EU ranks second worldwide in scientific output and continues to produce high-quality research.

Investment gap. Europe needs an additional €560 billion to meet its R&D investment target by 2030.

Fragmented system. The dispersion of efforts across countries, regions and institutions reduces the impact of European research and innovation.

Innovation and the market. Difficulties in accessing finance, valorising knowledge and deploying technology hinder the transition of innovations to the market.

European response. The European Commission is preparing new budgetary and legislative measures to boost investment, coordination and the growth of innovative companies.

Europe remains at the forefront of global science but continues to struggle to turn that knowledge into strategic technologies, companies capable of scaling up and productivity gains. The European Commission has quantified this gap in the 2026 edition of its Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU report, which identifies investment, fragmentation and difficulties in bringing innovations to market as some of the main obstacles to European competitiveness.

The EU ranks second worldwide in scientific output and continues to perform strongly in terms of research quality. In addition, 57% of its scientific publications involve international collaboration, reflecting the integration of its researchers into global knowledge networks. That strength, however, does not translate to the same extent into technological leadership or economic growth.

The EU needs an additional €560 billion for R&D

One of the main problems is investment. According to the report, the EU would need to mobilise an additional €560 billion to meet its target of spending 3% of gross domestic product on research and development by 2030. Brussels considers that closing this gap will require better coordination between public and private resources and greater mobilisation of private and institutional capital.

Fragmentation holds back European research

The assessment also points to the fragmentation of the European system. Research and innovation efforts remain dispersed across countries, regions and institutions, reducing their collective impact. The European Commission proposes strengthening regional cooperation and improving coordination between national and EU priorities, while concentrating resources on the technologies considered most important to Europe’s future.

Europe struggles to bring innovation to market

These difficulties are compounded by the obstacles innovations face in moving from laboratories to the market. Financing constraints, insufficient knowledge valorisation and problems with deploying new technologies hamper the growth of innovative companies. The report highlights areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors and cloud computing, sectors in which scientific capabilities need to be translated into a stronger industrial and commercial position.

The EU seeks a stronger position in strategic technologies

International competition is the fourth major challenge identified. The EU aims to strengthen its position in strategic technologies without sacrificing its scientific excellence, while also attracting and retaining researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs. Initiatives pursuing the latter objective include Choose Europe, which is designed to attract the talent Europe needs to compete in an increasingly contested global technology landscape.

Brussels steps up European investment in research and innovation

The report assigns science, research and innovation a central role in increasing European productivity while supporting the EU’s environmental objectives and preserving its social model. To translate the assessment into EU policy, the European Commission is preparing or has proposed several initiatives aimed at addressing the weaknesses identified.

These include a strengthened research and innovation budget for the 2028–2034 period, through which Brussels intends to help narrow the investment gap. The proposal is accompanied by instruments designed to mobilise more private and institutional capital, such as the Scaleup Europe Fund, which has already announced seven investments in European technology companies.

The EU prepares new research and innovation legislation

The institution headed by Ursula von der Leyen is also preparing a European Research Area Act aimed at tackling fragmentation. The forthcoming legislation seeks to strengthen coordination between EU and Member State research and innovation priorities, improve investment planning and remove the remaining barriers to the circulation of knowledge and talent across Europe.

Another initiative is a European Innovation Act, designed to make it easier for innovative companies to scale up. The proposal aims to improve their access to public procurement markets and facilitate financing backed by intellectual property, two avenues through which Brussels intends to reduce the barriers separating research results from their commercial exploitation.