Europe has no shortage of breakthrough ideas. The bigger question is whether a new push from Brussels can give its innovators the finance, freedom and markets they need to turn those ideas into global success.
From world-class research and emerging technologies to ambitious startups and deep pools of scientific talent, the foundations for a globally competitive innovation economy are already in place.
The challenge is turning those ideas into businesses that can scale.
That is the focus of a new European Innovation Act, proposed by the European Commission this week, which aims to make it easier for innovative European companies to develop, finance and scale their ideas across the continent — and compete globally.
The proposal forms part of the EU’s wider Startup and Scaleup Strategy and Competitiveness Compass, with a clear ambition: to strengthen Europe’s long-term competitiveness while building greater technological sovereignty.
From great ideas to global companies
One of the biggest challenges facing European innovators is access to finance.
Startups and scaleups can hold significant value in the form of patents, intellectual property and emerging technologies, but those assets can be difficult to value and use when seeking investment.
The proposed Act would introduce a common EU framework for valuing intellectual property, alongside a digital marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of IP.
The Commission estimates that these measures could unlock €10.2 billion a year in additional financing through IP-backed venture capital and debt, while generating around €35 million in administrative cost savings.
For innovators, the bigger prize is potentially much more significant: making intellectual property easier to understand, value and finance could help more European ideas make the journey from laboratory to market.
Making public procurement work for innovation
The proposal also targets another critical part of the innovation ecosystem: public procurement.
A common procedure for research and development procurement would give businesses and public buyers greater legal certainty, while making it easier for organisations in different EU member states to collaborate on R&D projects.
The Commission expects the measures to generate around €1 billion a year in savings for public buyers, alongside €25.92 billion in additional annual profits for companies.
It could also help accelerate technologies addressing major societal challenges — from healthcare and education to clean mobility.
Giving innovators room to experiment
Alongside the Innovation Act, the Commission is proposing a new framework for regulatory sandboxes.
These controlled environments allow companies, researchers and public authorities to test new products, services and technologies with regulatory oversight.
For innovators, that can provide something increasingly valuable: the opportunity to experiment without having to navigate an entirely different regulatory landscape in every market.
Today, regulatory sandboxes exist in some areas of EU law, but approaches vary between member states. A common European framework could reduce that fragmentation and give innovators greater clarity about how their technologies fit within existing — and future — rules.
It is a recognition that regulation does not simply need to keep up with innovation. It can also help create the conditions in which responsible innovation can happen.
The bigger question for Europe
The European Innovation Act is ultimately about more than individual startups or technologies.
It is about whether Europe can close the gap between inventing something and scaling it.
Europe has demonstrated that it can produce exceptional science, research and technological breakthroughs. The next challenge is building the financial, regulatory and commercial environment that allows those breakthroughs to grow into globally competitive companies — without leaving Europe to create value elsewhere.
As Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, put it, the ambition is to move towards a genuine single market where ideas can scale faster, finance can circulate more freely and Europe’s strategic autonomy can grow stronger.
“This is only the beginning,” the Commissioner said. “By 2028, we will create a genuine single market where ideas scale faster, finance circulates more freely, and Europe’s strategic autonomy grows stronger. That is the Europe we are building.”
The proposed measures are a step in that direction.
Because the next chapter of European innovation will not be defined simply by what Europe can invent.
It will be defined by what Europe can build from those ideas — and whether it can build it at scale.
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Iain is a writer, journalist and lecturer, and former editor of two international business magazines. Iain is now editor of Innovators Magazine, as well as the creative director for OnePoint5Media.
