BusinessEurope urges EU to turn innovation ambitions into action in 2026

With a view to the forthcoming Leaders' Retreat on competitiveness, BusinessEurope has published a position paper called 'From Ambition to Delivery – An urgent call for action in 2026'. In this paper, the association welcomes the EU’s proposed European Competitiveness Fund and the planned budget increase for the 10th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It also backs measures in the Savings and Investment Union to revive securitisation and boost equity investment.

However, BusinessEurope stresses that Europe is still losing the technology race: 80% of European venture capital is invested outside the EU, and R&D spending as a share of GDP continues to lag behind the US, South Korea and China. A 'risk‑averse regulatory approach' is said to hold back the development and scaling of new technologies.

The paper calls for a larger Horizon Europe budget with a stronger role for public‑private partnerships, tax incentives for equity-financed investment, and swift completion of capital markets reforms to channel more long-term risk capital into innovative firms. Without this, BusinessEurope warns, the EU will struggle to regain technological leadership.

The position paper can be downloaded here:

From Ambition to Delivery – An urgent call for action in 2026