REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS On the implementation of the New European Innovation Agenda
Date: 2024-03-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Subjects: EU investment, EU strategy, digital transformation, distribution of EU funding, ecosystem, green economy, innovation, new technology, public procurement, research and development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.3.2024  COM(2024) 121 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS On the implementation of the New European Innovation Agenda  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 
THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

On the implementation of the New European Innovation Agenda 

1. 

INTRODUCTION – THE NEW EUROPEAN INNOVATION AGENDA IN ACTION 

1.1. Purpose of the report  

The Commission  Communication on the  New European  Innovation Agenda (NEIA) (1) 
was  adopted  on  5 July 2022.  The  NEIA  aims  to  position  Europe  at  the  forefront  of  the 
new  wave  of  deep-tech  innovation,  developing  new  technologies  to  address  pressing 
societal  challenges,  and  bringing  them  to  the  market.  Deep-tech  innovation  is  about 
innovation  rooted  in  cutting-edge  science,  technology  and  engineering.  This  type  of 
innovation  often  combines  advances  in  the  physical,  biological  and  digital  spheres  and 
has the potential to deliver transformative solutions in the face of global challenges. 

In order to provide the best environment for deep-tech innovation to thrive in Europe and 
for  innovative  companies  to  grow,  the  NEIA  outlines  25  actions  grouped  under  five 
flagship  areas  1)  funding  scale-ups;  2)  enabling  innovation  through  experimentation 
spaces and public procurement; 3) accelerating and strengthening innovation in European 
innovation ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation divide; 4) fostering, 
attracting and retaining talent; and 5) improving policy-making tools. 

As stated in the conclusions of the NEIA,  ‘The Commission will monitor and report 
on the progress and impact of the actions identified in this Communication by 2024, in 
close cooperation with the representatives of Member States in the European Innovation 
Council (EIC) Forum’. This report delivers on that commitment, by focusing on the state 
of play and outputs of the various actions, while a longer timeline will be needed to fully 
evaluate their impact.  Since its inception, the Commission  has  regularly issued  updates 
on the NEIA’s progress on a dedicated section of the Europa website (2). Regular updates 
have also been provided to:  Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries at 
the  meetings  of  the  EIC  Forum (3),  as  well  as  to  the  EIC  Board,  to  the  relevant 

(1)  Communication  from the Commission to  the  European  Parliament, the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee 
and the Committee of the Regions of 5.7.2022 COM (2022) 332 final. 
(2)https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/support-policy-making/shaping-eu-research-and-innovation-policy/new-

european-innovation-agenda_en. 

(3)https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/support-policy-making/shaping-eu-research-and-innovation-policy/new-

european-innovation-agenda/eic-forum_en.  

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configuration of the Programme Committee of Horizon Europe and to the EU institutions 
and bodies. (4)  

18  months  following  its  adoption,  all  the  25  core  actions  announced  in  the  NEIA 
have  either  been  completed  or  are  ongoing.  In  addition,  a  number  of  additional 
actions  supporting  the  NEIA  have  been  launched  by  the  Commission  or  other  EU 
institutions  since  the  adoption  of  the  NEIA.  Finally,  Member  States  and  Associated 
Countries  have  announced (5)  in  the  framework  of  the  EIC  Forum,  more  than  200 
initiatives  supporting  the  NEIA  at  national  level  with  legislative  actions,  policy 
initiatives  or  funding  schemes.  This  report  also  provides  examples  of  these  supporting 
actions. 

Based on the progress made and on the evolving European and global context, this report 
identifies the next steps for the implementation of the NEIA. 

1.2. An evolving European and global context 

The  landscape  of  innovation  is  in  a  state  of  rapid  and  continuous  transformation  and 
since the adoption of the NEIA, both the global and the European context have changed 
significantly.  

At  a  global  level,  the  major  economic  players  have  significantly  ramped  up 
investments  and  initiatives  to  bolster  domestic  innovation.  The  United  States  has 
adopted both the Inflation Reduction Act, setting out plans for almost USD 400 billion in 
investment in green and digital projects (6) and the CHIPS and Science Act (worth USD 
280  billion)  in  the  area  of  semiconductors.  The  US  is  also  supporting  innovation  hubs 
throughout the country and spreading the so-called ARPA (7) model to boost innovation 
in transport infrastructure, energy, and health. China is equally making significant efforts 
to promote innovation, for instance through the ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative. In recent 
years,  high-income  countries  (such  as  Saudi  Arabia)  and  emerging  middle-income 
economies (such as Indonesia, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Brazil, the Philippines and Iran) 
have all improved their position in the Global Innovation Index rankings (8). 

These  developments  are  paving  the  way  for  reinforcing  or  challenging  existing 
technological  leaderships  at  a  global  level  in  key  technologies  such  as  batteries, 
hydrogen,  photovoltaics,  wind  energy,  space  &  propulsion  technologies,  quantum  and 
chips.  In  this  context,  the  growing  and  interconnected  challenges  linked  to  boosting 
competitiveness, accelerating the green and digital transitions and ensuring both open 

(4) See Chapter 3.1. 
(5) Member States and Associated Countries are actively supporting New European Innovation Agenda! (europa.eu). 
(6) See Commission Communication COM(2023) 684 final for a report on EU policy initiatives for the promotion of investments in 
clean technologies. 
(7)ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) is a financial programme supporting technologies in specific sectors that might not otherwise 
be pursued via high-risk, high-gain research involving government labs, private industry, and universities. Following the success of 
this model in the area of defence (DARPA), the US has created additional agencies on the same model: ARPA-E for energy, ARPA-H 
for health and ARPA-I for transport infrastructure. 
(8) See WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), Global Innovation Index 2023. For instance, compared with  2020, Saudi 
Arabia gained 18 positions (from 66th to 48th) in the global ranking, Indonesia 24 (from 85th to 61st) and Turkey 12 (from 51st to 39th). 
EU Member States have mostly maintained their previous positions during this time (between Sweden ranking second and Romania 
ranking in 47th place), but 12 of them saw a slight decrease in their innovation index ranking in these 3 years. 

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strategic  autonomy (9)  and  economic  security,  prompted  the  EU  to  launch  new 
initiatives and instruments following the NEIA’s adoption. These include the Green Deal 
Industrial  Plan (10),  and  concrete  initiatives  under  it  such  as  the  Net-Zero  Industry 
Act (11)  or  the  Critical  Raw  Materials  Act (12),  as  well  as  the  European  Economic 
Security  Communication (13).  The  EU  Chips  Act (14)  has  been  adopted  by  the  co-
legislators  in  2023  and  the  Strategic  Technologies  European  Platform  (STEP) (15), 
aiming to boost investments in critical technologies in Europe, was adopted in February 
2024. A  new  initiative  to  support  industrial  leadership  in  advanced  materials  was  also 
adopted  in  February  2024 (16).  In  all  these  initiatives,  the  importance  of  innovation, 
including deep-tech innovation, is emphasised because of its crucial role in future and 
emerging supply chains, as highlighted by the Commission President in her State of the 
Union speech in September 2023 (17). 

2.  STATE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF NEIA ACTIONS IN THE FIVE FLAGSHIP AREAS 

2.1. 

Funding for deep-tech scale-ups 

Under this flagship area, the NEIA aims at tackling the obstacles that prevent investment 
and growth for deep-tech scale-ups. Because of their capital-intensive nature, information 
asymmetry (with investors less knowledgeable than those working in deep-tech) and long 
lead  times (18),  deep-tech  startups  need  substantial  equity  investment  to  reach  their  full 
potential.  However,  Europe’s  capital  markets,  characterised  by  a  dependency  on  bank 
lending, continue to be insufficiently tech savvy, lack a broad investor base ensuring high 
supply  of  capital  or  are  not  sufficiently  connected  to  provide  the  capital  base  such 
companies need. (19)  

The  EU  needs  to  mobilise  existing  but  currently  untapped  sources  of  private  capital 
(such  as  European  pension  funds,  which  are  currently  decreasing  their  already-limited 
investments  in  private  capital (20),  as  well  as  asset  managers  and  insurance  companies) 
towards innovative companies, including through venture capital (VC) funds. Moreover, 

(9)The  concept  of  Open  Strategic  Autonomy  was  introduced  in  the  Commission´2021  Strategic  Foresight  Report,  COM/2021/750 

final’. 

(10) Commission Communication of 1.2.2023 COM(2023) 62 final. 
(11) Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16.3.2023 COM(2023) 161 final. 
(12)  Proposal  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  establishing  a  framework  for  ensuring  a  secure  and 
sustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/102. 
(13)Joint  Communication  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  European  Council  and  the  Council  on  the  European  Economic  Security 
Strategy, Join (2023) 20 final. 
(14) Regulation (EU) 2023/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council  13./9./2023. 
(15)  Regulation  (EU)  2024/795  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  29  February  2024  establishing  the  Strategic 
Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) 
(16)Commission Communication of 27 February 2024 on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership COM(2024) 98 final 
(17) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_4426. 
(18) https://dealroom.co/reports/the-european-deep-tech-report-2023. 
(19) Growth investments beyond series-C equity rounds are dominated by US/Asia actors and sovereign wealth funds. Compared to 
Europe, the US has 10-15 times more VC funds with a size of at least EUR 1 billion, and these funds of at least EUR 1 billion in size 
are needed to be able to deploy tickets of EUR 50+ million supporting the late scaling-up of deep-tech ventures. 
(20)  European  pension  funds  have  made  just  60  commitments  into  private  capital  funds  in  Europe  in  2023,  almost  half  their 
commitment in 2022 when they made 113 commitments, according to PitchBook data. 

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to  tackle  the  untapped  potential  of  VC  talent  in  terms  of  gender (21),  Europe  needs  to 
harbour a more inclusive and diverse investment ecosystem for deep-tech startups. (22) 

Completed NEIA actions 

The Commission  proposal  for the  Listing Act (23), adopted in  December 2022,  aims at 
simplifying  listing  requirements  -  mostly  for  companies  on  EU  capital  markets-   to 
reduce  costs  and  increase  legal  certainty  for  issuers,  while  safeguarding  investor 
protection  and  market  integrity.  The  Listing  Act  also  puts  forward  minimum 
harmonisation  of  national  regimes  allowing  multiple-vote  share  structures,  to  enable 
smaller  companies,  including  startups,  in  all  Member  States  to  raise  larger  amounts  of 
funds  by  issuing  shares  of  their  companies,  while  retaining  control  over  management 
decisions  post-listing.  The  co-legislators  have  finalised  the  negotiations  early  2024  and 
the publication of the act is expected in the course of this year. 

The  Commission  proposal  for  a  directive  on  a  debt-equity  bias-reduction  allowance 
(DEBRA) (24)  on  corporate  income  tax  was  adopted  in  May  2022.  The  objective  is  to 
address the asymmetric tax treatment currently existing in most Member States between 
debt  and  equity  financing  in  which  debt  is  treated  more  favourably  than  equity.  This 
proposal  would  incentivise  businesses  to  fund  growth/scaling-up  by  raising  equity 
instead of borrowing. The discussions on the proposal have been suspended in Council in 
November 2022. The Commission calls on the Council to swiftly resume discussion on 
the Commission’s proposal. 

The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Women2Invest programme 
was launched in 2022. It seeks to help women with backgrounds in science, technology, 
engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) to start careers in venture investment. Two 
groups of 131 beneficiaries from 25 European nationalities have already followed 8-week 
internships  in  VC  funds  under  the  programme.  Additional  groups  will  be  selected  in 
2024-2025. 

Ongoing NEIA actions  

The  expansion  of  the  European  scale-up  action  for  risk  capital  (ESCALAR) 
mechanism  under  the  InvestEU  programme  aims  at  mobilising  venture-capital  funding 
for  high  growth  scale-ups.  In  particular,  the  initiative  aims  at  encouraging  more 
involvement of risk-averse investors (such as pension funds and insurance companies) in 
scale-up VC  funds, by reducing  their risk  in  exchange  for  capping  the potential returns 
they can receive. In particular, it aims to attract untapped sources of institutional capital 
by providing favourable co-investment opportunities in VC funds.  

for 

Europe’, 

(21) Only 5% of European VC investments are currently made in mixed teams and only 2% in female-only ones. 
(22) Evidence shows that diverse teams make better investment decisions. See ‘Gender Smart Financing Investing In & With Women: 
Opportunities 
https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/gender-smart-financing-investing-and-women-
opportunities-europe_en or ‘Why diverse teams are smarter’ by Harvard Business Review, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-
teams-are-smarter.  
(23) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council COM/2022/762 final. 
(24) Proposal for a Council Directive on laying down rules on a debt-equity bias-reduction allowance and on limiting the deductibility 
of interest for corporate income tax purposes, COM(2022) 216 final, 2022/0154 (CNS) of 1.5.2022. 

4 

 
 
 
In  May  2023,  the  Commission  met  a  group  of  European  institutional  investors  who 
confirmed their interest in ESCALAR-type products. This led the European Investment 
Fund  (EIF) (25)  and  InvestEurope (26)  to  organise  a  follow-on  workshop  to  promote  a 
dedicated call, (27) that was launched in Autumn 2023. The call aims at selecting eligible 
financial intermediaries to become ESCALAR Financial Intermediaries and the selection 
should be completed in 2024. 

An  EIC  pilot  programme  is  also  being  developed  to  create  a  European  innovation 
gender  and  diversity  index.  The  programme  will  seek  to  measure  the  gender  and 
diversity gap in investment in deep-tech startups. The project (28) is advancing, with the 
first results expected by the end of 2024. 

Additional actions 

Under Horizon Europe, the European Innovation Council (EIC) (29) is helping Europe 
work towards achieving its deep-tech ambitions, namely to turn excellent European deep-
tech research into innovations and to deploy radical deep-tech innovations at scale. The 
EIC  is  successfully  delivering  on  these  ambitions  by  identifying  ground-breaking  ideas 
emerging  from  the  research  base  and  building  a  critical  mass  of  capability  that  links 
researchers with innovators, investors, SMEs, and corporations in strategic areas such as 
quantum  technologies,  innovative  space  technologies  and  services,  cell  and  gene 
therapies, hydrogen and battery technologies.  

The  EIC  is  the  largest  deep-tech  venture  capital  (VC)  investor  in  Europe (30)  and 
provides  a  unique  combination  of  traditional  public-grant  and  patient,  direct-equity 
investment in companies. This is helping to address a critical gap in Europe where VC is 
too small and fragmented. Importantly, by providing such investment in partnership with 
private investors, the EIC is also helping to develop Europe’s deep-tech investor base and 
make use of investors’ specialised domain knowledge and networks of private investors 
to help scale-up EIC-supported companies. 

Following just over a year of operations, investment decisions have now been made by 
the  EIC  Fund  for  over  200  companies  worth  well  over  EUR  1  billion  in  total.  These 
investment  decisions  have  ‘crowded  in’  EUR  3.5  of  additional  private  investment  for 
each  euro  of  investment  through  the  EIC  into  high  potential  startups  and  SMEs.  EIC-
funded companies  have  also  been successful in  securing significant  levels of follow-on 
financing  and  seeing  their  valuations  increase  considerably,  with  well  over  100 

(25) The EIF implements ESCALAR under InvestEU. 
(26) https://www.investeurope.eu. 
(27)https://www.eif.org/InvestEU/escalar-call-for-expression-of-interest/index.htm. 
(28) HORIZON-EIC-2022-GENDER-01-01. (28) HORIZON-EIC-2022-GENDER-01-01.  
(29) With a budget of EUR 10.1bn over 7 years, the EIC regularly runs three distinct grant calls: EIC-Pathfinder, EIC-Transition and 
EIC-Accelerator.  Within  the latter,  the  EIC  Fund  is a  specific  venture-investment instrument,  assisted by  the European  Investment 
Bank as investment advisor. 
(30) The European Innovation Council Fund: the biggest European deep tech investor - European Commission (europa.eu). 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
companies  now  achieving  ‘centaur’ (31)  valuations  following  the  provision  of  EIC 
support. 

In  February  2023,  the  European  Investment  Bank  Group  set  up  the  European  Tech 
Champions  Initiative  (ETCI),  aimed  at  providing  late-stage,  larger-scale  venture 
investments in deep-tech scale-ups. The ETCI is expected to make 10-15 investments in 
large VC/growth-capital funds (with approx. EUR 1 billion in assets under management). 
The goal is to mobilise more than EUR 10 billion of private investments into innovative 
companies in their growth stage. The ETCI Fund, managed by the EIF under a mandate 
from  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  and  participating  Member  States (32),  has 
secured EUR 3.75 billion of public funds. The EIF is already supporting four EU-based 
funds (33) while complementarities with existing EU funding instruments (34) are sought.  

The  Startup  Europe (35)  initiative  strengthens  networking  opportunities  for  deep-tech 
scale-ups and ecosystem builders to accelerate the growth of the European startup scene. 

The  Green  Deal  industrial  plan  for  the  net-zero  age,  published  in  February  2023, 
includes  a  pillar  on  promoting  faster  access  to  sufficient  funding  aimed  at  mobilising 
public  and  private  financial  resources  to  support  the  green  transition.  The  Net-Zero 
Industry Act includes the creation of skills academies to rapidly enhance the skills of the 
European workforce in key net-zero sectors, building on the success of initiatives like the 
European Battery Alliance Academy managed by the EIT. The EIT  is  extending this 
approach with the implementation of the European Solar Academy.  

Moreover,  the  Innovation  Fund,  supporting  projects  in  innovative  low-carbon 
technologies,  has  been  extended  and  reinforced. (36)  The  Strategic  Technologies  for 
Europe  Platform  (STEP),  adopted  in  February  2024,  aims  to  boost  investments  in 
critical technologies in Europe, including by facilitating cumulative or combined funding 
from several EU instruments. 

The SME  relief  package, published in  September 2023, includes measures to  improve 
access  to  finance  for  SMEs,  such  as  making  it  easier  to  access  sustainable  finance  and 
public-procurement markets (37). 

The  Commission  has  actively  engaged  in  promoting  the  NEIA  and  European 
innovation ecosystems in the US, visiting Silicon Valley with a large group of business 
and  academic  representatives.  The  key  objective  is  to  attract  talents,  innovators  and 
investors into the EU, so that European-based startups can develop and grow. 

(31)i.e. a valuation of at least USD 100 million. 
(32) To date: Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. 
(33)Atomico Growth VI, FSI II and Keensight Nova 6, plus an agreement that is in the process of being closed. 
(34) Including InvestEU, the EIC, ESCALAR and the IPO (Initial Public Offer) Initiative. 
(35) Startup Europe (HORIZON-EIE-2024-CONNECT-01-02) - European Commission (europa.eu). 
(36) In 2023 new sectors, a new financial instrument and a reinforced budget have been introduced following the Emission Trading 

System Revision 

(37) https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/news/unleashing-potential-europes-small-businesses-2023-09-28_  
 https://digital strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/startup-europe. 

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Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  have  also  announced  a  number  of  national 
initiatives  supporting  improved  funding  for  deep-tech  scale-ups (38).  For  example,  the 
‘Zukunftsfonds’  initiative  in  Germany  strengthens  financing  opportunities  in  the 
capital-intensive scaling phase of startups with various instruments, including a deep-tech 
& climate fund and a fund for venture-tech growth financing (39).The ‘Fondo Nazionale 
Innovazione’, run in Italy by the national promotional bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, is 
using  direct  and  indirect  investments  to  promote  the  development  of  the  domestic 
innovation  ecosystem,  including  programmes  of  acceleration,  technology  transfer  hubs, 
green  and  digital  transition  and  support  to  companies  from  regions  lagging  behind (40). 
The  ‘Innvierte’  programme,  run  by  the  CDTI  in  Spain,  is  also  promoting  venture 
investments  and  co-investments  in  strategic  technology  sectors  including  telecoms, 
artificial  intelligence  (AI),  robotics,  semiconductors,  cybersecurity,  aerospace,  defence, 
energy  storage,  quantum  and  nuclear  technologies,  nanotechnologies,  biotechnologies, 
advanced  materials,  and  advanced  manufacturing  systems (41).  The  NCBR  Investment 
Fund  (NIF)  in  Poland  acquires  shares  in  enterprises  implementing  projects  resulting 
from scientific research or development (‘portfolio companies’) in cooperation with co-
investors  (‘accredited  funds’),  to  create  a  stable,  long-term  investment  platform  for 
technology projects (42). 

2.2.  Enabling  deep-tech  innovation  through  experimentation  spaces  and 

public procurement 

Framework  conditions  –  including  regulations  –  are  important  factors  for  the 
development and uptake of innovative products and processes. Together with the further 
expansion  of  innovation  procurement,  the  creation  of  innovation-friendly  regulatory 
frameworks  is  the  main  priority  of  this  flagship  area.  The  important  role  of  such 
frameworks,  in  particular  regulatory  sandboxes,  has  also  been  explicitly  recognised  by 
the European Council since the adoption of the NEIA (43). 

Completed NEIA actions 

In July 2023, the Commission issued a staff working document (44) to clarify the nature 
and  role  of  available  experimentation  tools  (especially  regulatory  sandboxes,  but  also 
testbeds and living labs), providing guidance on how the EU and national governments 
can  support  and  engage  innovators  in  the  regulatory  process.  The  document  showcases 
existing  examples  of  experimentation  spaces  from  Europe  and  beyond,  with  a  special 
focus on the energy sector, in line with the RePowerEU plan (45). 

The revised State Aid Framework for Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) 
was adopted in October 2022 to simplify the rules applied by EU Member States and to 

(38) Flagship 1: Funding for deep tech scale ups (europa.eu). 
(39) https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Standardartikel/Themen/Internationales_Finanzmarkt/zukunftsfonds.html.  
(40) https://www.cdpventurecapital.it/cdp-venture-capital/en/home.page.  
(41) https://www.cdti.es/en/node/889.  
(42) https://nifasi.pl/en/.  
(43) See European Council Conclusions, 23 March 2023. 
(44) Commission Staff Working Document ‘Regulatory Learning in the EU, Guidance on Regulatory Sandboxes, Test-beds and living 
labs in the EU, with a focus section on energy’, (2023) 277/2 final of 29.8.2023. 
(45) COM(2022) 230 final of 18.5.2022. 

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allow,  under  certain  conditions,  public  support  for  testing  and  experimentation 
infrastructures required to develop, test and upscale new technologies. 

In March 2023, the Commission adopted a targeted amendment to the General Block 
Exemption Regulation (GBER) to further facilitate, simplify and speed up support for 
the EU’s green and digital transitions (46). The new rules facilitate the implementation of 
certain  projects  involving  beneficiaries  in  several  Member  States,  such  as  important 
projects  of  common  European  interest,  in  the  research  and  development  field,  by 
increasing  both  the  permitted  aid  intensities  and  the  notification  thresholds (47).  For 
instance, in December 2023, seven Member States were authorised to mobilise up to €1.2 
billion  in  public  funding  –  spurring  a  further  €1.4  billion  in  private  investments  –  to 
support research, development and initial industrial deployment of European innovations 
in  cloud  and  edge  technologies (48).  The  provisions  of  the  amended  GBER  have  been 
prolonged until the end of 2026. 

Since January 2023, the Commission has been co-funding together with Member States, 
four  testing  and  experimentation  facilities  (TEFs)  under  the  Digital  Europe 
Programme. (49)  TEFs  offer  a  combination  of  physical  and  virtual  facilities  to  allow 
technology  providers  across  Europe  to  test  and  experiment  at  scale  and  in  real-world 
environments  state-of-the-art  AI  solutions,  including  both  software  and  hardware 
products and services, including robots. European-wide access to the TEFs is facilitated 
by  a  dense  network  of  more  than  200  European  Digital  Innovation  Hubs,  funded 
through  a  combination  of  the  Digital  Europe  Programme  with  national  and  regional 
resources. 

Ongoing NEIA actions 

A  number  of  projects  on  open-innovation  test  beds  in  the  area  of  hydrogen  and 
advanced  materials (50)  are  being  carried  out  with  the  support  of  Horizon  Europe (51). 
The  projects  aim  at  providing  access  to  physical  facilities,  capabilities,  and  services  to 
support the development of a vibrant clean-hydrogen economy.  

In  2023,  the  Commission  launched  a  call  for  the  provision  of  a  specialist  advisory 
service  on  innovation  procurement  under  Horizon  Europe (52).  The  selected  projects 
are  expected  to  kick-off  in  Q2  2024.  The  advisory  service  will  act  as  an  intermediary 
between public procurers and innovative suppliers.  

(46) Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1315 of 23 June 2023 amending Regulation (EU) No 651/2014. 
(47)i.e. the amount of aid above which triggers a requirement to notify the Commission. 
(48)IPCEI  Next  Generation  Cloud  Infrastructure  and  Services  (IPCEI  CIS),  was  jointly  notified  on  December  5,  2023  by  seven 

Member States: France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. 

(49)These projects relate to Agri-Food, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Smart Cities & Communities. They will be supported for 5 
years with an overall budget of EUR 220 million. 
(50) Open-innovation test beds for advanced materials  – https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/0aaf1e05-2082-11ee-
94cb-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-289339785.  
(51) Horizon Europe 2022 work programme for cluster 4 (HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01-20, ‘Climate Neutral and Circular 
Innovative  Materials  Technologies  Open  Innovation  Test  Beds’)  and  Horizon  Europe  2023  work  programme  for  cluster  5 
(HORIZON-CL5-2023-D2-01-06, ‘Open Pilot Line/Test Bed for hydrogen’). 
(52) European Innovation Ecosystems work programme 2023-2024. 

8 

 
 
 
Additional actions 

The  Innovation-Friendly  Regulations  Advisory  Group  (IFRAG),  composed  of  11 
experts,  was  appointed  by  the  Commission  at  the  end  of  2022.  Its  role  is  to  provide 
upstream  policy  advice  on  new  technologies.  It  focused  in  2023  on:  (i)  the  use  of 
emerging  digital  technologies  in  the  public  sector,  and  in  particular  virtual  worlds,  by 
looking at their implication for the EU regulatory landscape; and (ii) applications in areas 
such as citizens’ involvement in decision-making. The IFRAG concluded its mandate in 
February 2024 and will publish its findings in Q2 2024. 

Once  adopted,  the  Net-Zero  Industry  Act  will  promote  regulatory  sandboxes  for 
strategic innovative net-zero technologies. (53) 

Once  adopted,  the  AI  Act (54)  will  help  to  create  a  legal  framework  for  AI  that  is 
innovation-friendly,  future-proof  and  resilient  to  disruption,  including  by  reducing  the 
regulatory burden on SMEs and startups. The AI Act will encourage national authorities 
to set up regulatory sandboxes, and sets a basic framework for governance, supervision 
and liability. Furthermore, the Commission proposed in January 2024 a new package of 
measures,  including  setting  up  of  AI  factories,  to  boost  innovation  and  startups, 
including  in  areas  such  as  testing,  evaluation,  and  validation  of  large-scale  AI 
models (55). 

Open-innovation test beds are crucial for implementing the Commission communication 
on  advanced  materials  for  industry  leadership (56) and  will  be  the  object  of  a  pilot 
programme for a European approach to investments in technology infrastructures. 

Govtech4all  (Incubator) (57)  brings  together  national  GovTech  initiatives  in  a 
consortium of 21 digital agencies from 14 European countries to foster a single European 
Union  GovTech  market  and  promote  interoperability  and  new  models  of  public  sector 
innovation.  It aims at exploring, through piloting and experimentation, the cross-border 
implementation  of  emerging  technologies  in  the  public  sector,  with  a  special  focus  on 
startups and innovative SMEs. 

Horizon  Europe  continues  to  increase  both  knowledge  and  activities  in  innovation 
procurement for health, with the Procure4Health Network launching two calls in 2024 
for twinning to widen the use of the instrument across Europe. Furthermore, the Horizon 

(53)The Act supports in particular 8 strategic net zero technologies: i) solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies; ii) onshore 
wind and offshore renewable energy; iii) batteries and storage; iv) heat pumps and geothermal energy; v) electrolysers and fuel 
cells;  vi)  biogas/biomethane;  vii)  carbon  capture  and  storage  (CCS);  and  viii)  grid  technologies  (which  also  include  electric 
vehicles smart and fast charging. 

(54)Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on  artificial intelligence 

(Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union legislative acts, (COM/2021/206 final). 

(55) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European  Economic and Social Committee 
and the Committee of the Regions on boosting startups and innovation in trustworthy artificial intelligence, of 24.1.2024, COM(2024) 
28 final. 
(56)  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee 

and the Committee of the Regions on Advanced materials for industrial leadership, of 27.2.24, COM(2024) 98 final  

(57)4-year project, funded under Digital Europe. 

9 

 
 
 
Europe  2024  work  programme  includes  a  pre-commercial  procurement  topic  on  the 
greening of healthcare systems, with a budget of EUR 15 million.  

Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  announced  a  number  of  national  initiatives 
supporting  experimentation  spaces  and  public  procurement (58).  For  example,  the  ‘free 
technological zones’ in Portugal consist of regulatory sandboxes or living labs under the 
monitoring  of  the  National  Innovation  Agency  (ANI).  The  Innovation  procurement 
action  in  Estonia  or  Sweden’s  programme  of  ‘cheques  for  innovation  procurement’ 
aim  at  increasing  the  take-up  of  innovation  procurement  through  special  advisory 
services,  sharing  best  practices,  supporting  development  and  implementation  of 
innovative solutions in the public sector. The innovation procurement portal set up in 
Italy  will  match  the  demand  for  and  supply  of  innovation,  encouraging  collaboration 
between the public administration, companies, startups and research institutions. 

2.3.  Accelerating  and  strengthening  innovation  in  European  innovation 

ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation divide 

The innovation strength of Europe relies to a large extent on the diversity and dynamism 
of  its  regional  ecosystems.  Under  this  flagship  area,  the  NEIA  addresses  three  specific 
goals:  (i)  strengthening  regional  innovation  ecosystems  on  the  basis  of  local  ‘smart 
specialisation’ strategies; (ii) reducing the regional innovation divide that persists across 
Europe  (59)  in  spite  of  several  EU  and  national  actions (60) (61);  and  (iii)  incentivising 
better  innovation  collaboration  between  regions  in  their  common  areas  of  smart 
specialisation to create and strengthen value chains across Europe. 

Completed NEIA actions 

Developing  and  consolidating  synergies  between  cohesion-policy  programmes  and 
Horizon Europe are among the key actions to maximise the impact of EU intervention 
in  this  area.  The  Commission  published  the  guidance  document  on  synergies  between 
Horizon Europe and the European Regional Development Fund programmes (62) in 
2022 to help managing authorities make better use of available funding opportunities to 
foster innovation and the uptake of advanced technologies in their regions.  

Ongoing NEIA actions 

The  Regional  Innovation  Valleys  (RIVs)  action  aims  to  stimulate  and  exploit  the  full 
innovation  potential  of  EU  regions,  including  in  deep-tech  innovation,  in  view  of 
addressing  EU’s  burning  societal  challenges  and  addressing  disparities  in  innovation 
performance. Its objective is to identify up to 100 regions committed to concentrate their 
research and innovation efforts on specific priorities and to strengthen their coordination 

(58)  Flagship  2:  Enabling  deep  tech  innovation  through  experimentation  spaces  and  public  procurement  -  European  Commission 
(europa.eu). 
(59)See Regional Innovation Scoreboard. 
(60) Including EUR 56 billion from the Cohesion Funds dedicated to research and innovation and EUR 3 billion from Horizon Europe 
dedicated to widening access to R&I excellence. 
(61) See Regional Innovation Scoreboard. 
(62)O.J. C421/7 of 4.11.2022. 

10 

 
 
 
with  other  regions.  Priority  areas  are  food  security,  digital  transformation,  energy, 
healthcare and circular economy. 

Regions can get the “RIV” label via different channels: 1) regions selected under a call 
for  expression  of  interest,  launched  in  March  2023  by  the  Commission  and  the 
Committee  of  the  Regions,  with  170  applicants (63)  across  140  regions (64);  2)  regions 
selected  under  the  first  coordinated  calls  under  Horizon  Europe  and  the  European 
Regional Development Fund (I3), for a total budget of EUR 122 million (65): over 50 
proposals  were  received  with  nearly  1000  participants  from  25  Member  States  and  6 
Associated Countries.  

In  parallel,  the  action  on  doubling  the  number  of  the  so-called  hydrogen  valleys  is 
ongoing.  After  the  last  selection  run  in  2023,  there  are  currently  55  hydrogen  valleys 
featuring in the Mission Innovation Hydrogen Valleys Platform, which was revamped in 
May  2023.  In  March  2023,  the  Commission  signed  a  joint  declaration  on  hydrogen 
valleys (66).  The  concept  of  hydrogen  valleys  will  also  be  extended  to  cover  all 
renewable energies through a distinct topic under Horizon Europe. 

The action to set up a one-stop-shop for innovation ecosystem players is ongoing. The 
one-stop-shop  will:  (i) provide a virtual  platform to  interested stakeholders to  highlight 
the demand for and supply of innovative solutions, as a first step coming from Horizon 
Europe; (ii) provide access to key research results; (iii) support the circulation of ideas; 
and (iv) connect stakeholders. The one-stop-shop will provide information on innovation 
challenges  and  opportunities  (technology  and  market  trends,  intellectual  property, 
demand  levels,  etc.)  and  make  it  easier  to  identify  services  and  funding  opportunities. 
Reflections  are  currently  ongoing  on  how  to  provide  the  simplicity,  accessibility  and 
functionalities that would best serve the needs of the diversity of innovation stakeholders. 

In June 2023, the Commission launched the EIC Scale-Up 100 initiative. Its goal is to 
identify,  promote  and  support  the  growth  of  100  promising  European  deep-tech 
companies  with  the  potential  to  become  ‘unicorns’ (67).  Those  future  deep-tech 
champions will be selected from the top performing recipients of EIC financial schemes, 
other  national  and  European  innovation  programmes  and  elsewhere.  The  participating 
companies  will  be  selected  from  10  ‘market  opportunity’  areas (68)  closely  linked  to 
European policy priorities. The selection of the first group will take place in April 2024. 
The  EIC  Scale-up  Club  will  also  engage  400  stakeholders  in  each  market-opportunity 

(63) See the Regional Innovation Valley Matchmaking map containing the database of eligible applicants. 
(64)  Regions  are being  selected  that demonstrate  their  commitment to:  (i)  improving the coordination  and  consistency of  their R&I 
investments  and  policies  towards  key  EU  priorities;  (ii)  engaging  in  interregional  collaboration  to  develop  innovation;  and  (iii) 
strengthening and interconnecting their regional innovation ecosystems. 
(65)  EUR  60  Million  from  Horizon  Europe  (European  Innovation  Ecosystem)  and  EUR  62  Million  from  European  regional 
Development Fund (Interregional Innovation Investment Instrument).   
(66) Together with Hydrogen Europe, Hydrogen Europe Research and the European Hydrogen Valleys Partnership. 
(67) A ‘unicorn’ is a company exceeding USD ()(67) Exceeding €1 billion in valuation. 
(68) Next generation computing, digital security & trust, new space, cardiovascular therapies, new biotech platforms, smart mobility, 
renewable  energies,  batteries  &  energy  storage,  clean  fuels  &  hydrogen,  and  agro  &  food  tech.(68)  Next  Generation  Computing, 
Digital  Security  &  Trust,  New  Space,  Cardiovascular  Therapies,  New  Biotech  Platforms,  Smart  Mobility,  Renewable  Energies, 
Batteries & Energy Storage, Clean Fuels & Hydrogen and Agro & Food Tech. 

11 

 
  
 
 
area  and  will  facilitate  new  connections  and  partnerships  with  lead  investors,  advisers 
and relevant agencies. 

Additional actions 

Under  Horizon  Europe,  the  European  Innovation  Ecosystems  programme  provided 
some EUR 24 million  in funding to interregional projects bringing together almost 150 
partners  across  Europe  to  support  funding  scale-ups,  innovation  procurement,  and 
innovation ecosystems. 

In  2023,  the  European  Research  Area  (ERA)  Forum  set  up  a  sub-group  bringing 
together  Member  States’  representatives  in  charge  of  R&I  policy  and  cohesion  policy 
administrations. The aim of the sub-group was to facilitate future synergies through the 
exchange of information and policy updates to stimulate concrete actions, inspired by the 
example  of  the  transfer  of  European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF)  funding 
to Horizon Europe in two Member States. (69) The Commission also launched two pilot 
projects to develop, in close contact with the Committee of the Regions, the concept of 
ERA hubs. The aim of the ERA hubs is to develop and test a set of specifications and a 
methodology  to  help  regions  assess,  benchmark  and  upgrade  their  R&I  ecosystems  to 
achieve  minimum  quality  criteria  on:  (i)  internal  coordination;  (ii)  the  provision  of 
supporting services; and (iii) interconnection with other ecosystems. Furthermore, in the 
context of the “Widening” part of Horizon Europe,  

In January 2023, the Commission launched the Plug-In Scheme, a new mechanism that 
fosters  closer  collaboration  between  the  EIC  and  national  innovation  programmes. 
Thanks to it, a project awarded funding under a national programme (certified as a ‘plug-
in’ programme) can participate via a fast track to the EIC accelerator calls. 

In  the  area  of  energy,  the  EU  continued  to  be  actively  involved,  together  with  23 
countries, in  Mission Innovation (70) a global  initiative focused on innovation in  clean 
energy.  This  initiative  was  at  the  origin  of  the  first  catalyst  partnership  announced  at 
COP28 (71)  in  which  EU  funds  support  companies  with  potential  to  reduce  the  green 
premium of clean products and solutions in hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels, energy 
storage, CO2 capture and the decarbonisation of energy. Mission Innovation also runs the 
Clean-Hydrogen Mission to develop 100 ‘clean-hydrogen valleys’ worldwide, co-led by 
the European Commission.  

(69) Malta and Lithuania. ERDF funds were or will be used to grant EIC, ERA widening or MSCA applicants.  
(70)Mission  Innovation  (MI)  is  a  global  initiative  of  23  countries  and  the  European  Union,  with  the  aim  of  accelerating  effort  in 
innovation  in  clean  energy globally. It  was  launched at COP21, and  today  MI  members  represent  over 95% of  global government 
investment in clean-energy research and innovation. Partner organisations include the IEA, IRENA, Breakthrough Energy, the World 
Bank, the World Economic Forum, the Global Covenant of Mayors and the First Movers Coalition. For the next decade, MI members 
are concentrating their efforts around impact-oriented, public-private missions, with ambitious and inspirational goals that accelerate 
the pathway towards the Paris Agreement goals and net zero. 
(71) EU–Catalyst partnership (europa.eu). 

12 

 
 
 
 
Furthermore,  the  Task-Force  on  climate-neutral  technologies  in  energy-intensive 
industries produced a report (72) in 2023 analysing around 200 EU-funded demonstrators 
for net-zero technologies in energy-intensive industries in the EU. 

In  October  2023,  the  Commission  issued  a  Communication (73)  on  the  revision  of  the 
strategic  energy  technology  (SET)  plan  to  strengthen  the  SET  plan’s  role  in 
coordinating European and national R&I strategies for low-carbon energy. In particular, a 
new working group on hydrogen has been set up to implement the strategic agenda of the 
ERA pilot on green hydrogen (74). 

In the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in addition to the AI Act and its proposals on 
innovation-friendly  regulations (75)  the  Commission  is  working  to  assess  the  impact  of 
AI  on  research  and  innovation,  through  an  opinion  under  the  Scientific  Advice 
Mechanism (76). 

Furthermore,  a  network  of  more  than  200 European  digital  innovation  hubs 
(EDIHs) covering  all  regions  of  Europe  (77)  aims  to  promote  the  broad  uptake  of  AI, 
high-performance  computers,  cybersecurity  and  other  digital  technologies.  They  help 
companies  to  innovate  new  products  and  services  using  AI  and  help  to  make  these 
products  and  services  competitive.  The  innovation  package  for  AI  innovation  and 
startups (78) introduces AI factories (79) and other financial and operational measures that 
will  boost  AI  innovation  and  startups,  like  providing  access  to  world-class  High 
Performance  Computing  to  researchers  and  SMEs  active  in  AI  via  the  EuroHPC  Joint 
Undertaking. 

The Chips Act, which entered into force on 21 September 2023, aims to boost Europe’s 
technological leadership by facilitating the transfer of knowledge and by promoting the 
industrialisation of innovative technologies by European businesses (80). 

The  CASSINI  Space  Entrepreneurship  Initiative  is  the  Commission's  action  to  support 
entrepreneurs,  startups  and  SMEs  in  the  space  industry,  including  New  Space,  during 

(72)Scaling  up  innovative  technologies  for  climate  neutrality.  This  report  was  accompanied  by  an  interactive  tool  showing  the 
innovative demonstrators on a map: Demonstrators scaling up innovative technologies for climate neutral-industries around Europe | 
Research and Innovation (europa.eu). 
(73)COM(2023) 634 final. 
(74)  Expert  groups  of  the  agenda  process  (2022),  Strategic  Research  and  Innovation  Agenda,  Key  findings  and  conclusions  of  the 
version 
agenda 
(https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/downloads/files/SRIA_green_hydrogen.pdfhttps://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/download
s/files/SRIA_green_hydrogen.pdf).https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/downloads/files/SRIA_green_hydrogen.pdf). 
(75) See flagship area 2. 
(76) https://scientificadvice.eu.  
(77)  De  Nigris,  S.,  Kalpaka,  A.  and  Nepelski,  D.,  Characteristics  and  regional  coverage  of  the  European  Digital  Innovation  Hubs 

hydrogen,  Final 

the  European 

innovation 

initiative 

research 

process 

green 

and 

for 

on 

network, Publications Office of the European Union, JRC134620. 

(78) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European  Economic and Social Committee 
and the Committee of the Regions on boosting startups and innovation in trustworthy artificial intelligence, of 24.1.2024, COM(2024) 
28 final. 
(79) Under the Joint Undertaking on High PerformancePerforming Computers. 
(80) The ‘Chips for Europe’ initiative within the Chips Act, to be run by the Chips Joint Undertaking, will be supported by EUR 3.3 
billion  of  EU  funds,  which  is  expected  to  be  matched  by  funds  from  Member  States.  It  will  support  activities  such  as:  (i)  new 
advanced pilot production lines to accelerate innovation and technology development; (ii) the development of a cloud-based design 
platform; (iii) the establishment of competence centres; (iv) the development of quantum chips; and (v) the creation of a Chips Fund 
to facilitate access to debt financing and equity. 

13 

 
 
 
2021-2027 (81). It should accelerate the growth of startups and SMEs in all sectors of the 
space  industry,  with  the  goal  of  enhancing  business-friendly  ecosystems,  bolstering 
business capabilities in space market segments, strengthening critical supply chains and 
allowing the EU to achieve a greater degree of strategic autonomy. CASSINI includes an 
EUR 1 billion of EU seeds and growth fund, hackathons and mentoring,  challenges, in-
orbit demonstration and validation, a business accelerator, partnering and matchmaking.  

Horizon  Europe  funds  research  and  innovation  to  address  the  rural-urban  innovation 
divide.  In  2023,  more  than  EUR  25  million  have  been  programmed  to  fund  projects 
supporting  the  rural  innovation  ecosystem  and  two  EU  partnerships  have  been 
launched (82).  Furthermore,  the  EU  Mission  “A  soil  deal  for  Europe”  aims  at 
establishing 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 
2030. In 2023, EUR 60 million have been invested in the first calls for living labs. 

Under  the  Common  Agriculture  Policy  (CAP),  over  3  200  European  Innovation 
Partnership  on  Agriculture  Productivity  and  Sustainability  (EIP-AGRI)  Operational 
Groups have been supported and additional 6 600 are planned by Member States in their 
CAP  Strategic  Plans  for  the  period  2023-2027  to  co-create  practical  solutions  for 
agriculture, forestry and rural communities in innovation projects at local level.   

In  December  2022,  the  Council  recommendation  on  the  guiding  principles  for 
knowledge  valorisation (83)  was  adopted  to  set  out  common  policy  principles  and 
measures  for  national,  regional  and  local  policy  makers  to  transform  R&I  results  into 
solutions that benefit society. The guiding principles are: (i) to engage all actors in R&I 
ecosystems;  (ii)  to  focus  on  connections  and  co-creation  between  actors;  and  (iii)  to 
emphasise entrepreneurial skills and practices. (84) 

In  addition,  two  “communities  of  practice”  on  industry-academia  collaboration (85) 
and on citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation were set up by the Commission, 
bringing  together  more  than  300  stakeholders  from  universities  and  private  and  public 
organisations,  including  civil  society (86).  They  were  active  between  March  and  June 
2023. (87) 

(81)  The  initiative  is  open  to  all  areas  of  the  EU  Space  Programme,  and  covers  both  upstream  (i.e.  nanosats,  launchers,  etc.  and 
downstream (i.e. products/services enabled by space data, etc.). The CASSINI ecosystem consists of all the space-based startups and 
SMEs  that  benefit  from  and  participate  to  the  CASSINI  supporting  activities,  provided  by  the  Commission  and  its  agencies  (e.g., 
EUSPA, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency). 
(82)Including one on agroecology living labs and research infrastructures. 
(83)Council  Recommendation  (EU)  2022/2415  of  December  2022  on  the  guiding  principles  for  knowledge  valorisation  (OJ  L  317, 
9.12.2022, p. 141). 
(84) In March 2023 the Commission adopted two recommendations on the Code of practice on the management of intellectual assets 
and the Code of practice on standardisation to support the implementation of the guiding principles and provide hands-on guidance for 
stakeholders. 
(85)Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/499 of 1 March 2023 on a Code of Practice on the management of intellectual assets for 

knowledge valorisation in the European Research Area, (OJ L 69, 7.3.2023, p. 75). 

(86) These communities (groups addressing topics of common interest) prepared inputs for the Codes of practice on industry-academia 
co-creation  and  citizen  engagement  for  knowledge  valorisation.  These  two  Codes  will  introduce  new  strategic  approaches  for 
stakeholders to proactively seek for common interests to jointly produce and valorise extract value from knowledge. They will help 
to: (i) create an enabling environment and thriving conditions for co-creation; (ii), establish interactive models; and (iii) better match 
the supply and demand for innovation. 
(87)  The  Communities  prepared  inputs  for  the  Codes  of  practice  on  industry-academia  co-creation  and  citizen  engagement  for 
knowledge  valorisation.  The  Codes  will  introduce  new  strategic  approaches  for  stakeholders  to  proactively  seek  for  common 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Also,  Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  announced  a  number  of  national 
initiatives  to  boost  innovation  ecosystems.  For  example,  the  regional  business 
lighthouses  in  Denmark  focus  on  cultivating  future  positions  of  strength  for  Danish 
businesses  within  the  green  sector  (bio-solutions,  water  technology,  CO2  capture),  life 
sciences,  and  robotics  through  support  for  specific  projects.  The  ‘Cervera’  network 
grants  in  Spain  also  directly  support  regional/local  ecosystems  and  strengthen  the 
innovation  capacities  of  SMEs  by  contracting  R&D  activities  to  knowledge-generating 
centres or carrying out R&D projects in collaboration with these centres. In Germany, the 
federal agency for disruptive innovation (SPRIND) runs several projects to support and 
accelerate  innovative  ideas  including  a  competition  for  innovators.  The  Hydrogen 
Center  is  an  organisation  seeking  to  improve  access  to  research  infrastructures  in 
Slovenia and Austria. It is a good example of cross-border cooperation supported by EU 
regional funds and national resources. 

2.4. 

Fostering, attracting and retaining deep-tech talent 

The  capacity  to  nurture,  retain  and  attract  talented  and  skilled  individuals  remains  a 
priority for Europe, as also stressed during the 2023 European Year of Skills. To nurture 
talent,  it  is  essential  to  make  efforts  to  increase  education  in  science,  technology, 
engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) and entrepreneurial skills, especially among 
women.  To  retain  talented  people,  new  opportunities  and  interesting  growth  prospects 
need to be developed and promoted. To attract talented people from other continents – in 
part  to  fill  the  skills  gap  in  certain  technological  sectors  –  the  EU  can  further  promote 
itself  in  the  global  arena  and  facilitate  ‘circular  mobility’ (88)  opportunities.  The  EU  is 
complementing  Member  States’  actions  in  this  area  through  a  wide  variety  of  policy 
initiatives (89)  and  EU-funded  programmes (90),  including  the  actions  launched  by  the 
NEIA in this flagship area. 

Completed NEIA actions 

The EIT deep-tech talent initiative (DTTI) (91) is an ambitious scheme aiming to offer 
training opportunities to 1 million deep-tech talents by 2025. Launched in October 2022, 
the  initiative (92)  has  so  far  involved  106  education  and  training  providers,  enterprises, 
financial  partners,  and  institutional  partners  that  have  committed  to  train  more  than 
700 000 people (93). The recruitment of stakeholders to join the pledges will continue and 
events and calls for proposals will be launched starting in 2024. 

interests  to  jointly  produce  and  valorise  knowledge.  They  will  help  create  enabling  environment  and  thriving  conditions  for  co-
creation, establish interactive models and better match the supply and demand for innovation. 
(88)As opposed to brain drain, circular mobility is an approach where individuals spend some part of their career abroad before going 

back in their Country of origin 

(89) Bologna and Lisbon process, ERA, European Education Area, Skills Agenda. 
(90)Next  Generation  EU,  Erasmus+,  Erasmus  for  young  entrepreneurs,  European  Social  Fund,  Digital  Europe  Programme,  MSCA, 

ERC. 

(91) https://www.eitdeeptechtalent.eu/.  
(92) It also includes a dedicated platform featuring training courses, the ‘DTTI Radar’ (an interactive tool on emerging technologies), a 

prize and an annual conference. 

(93) Source: https://www.eitdeeptechtalent.eu/.  

15 

 
 
 
Launched in 2022 by the EIC, the Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership Scheme 
(94) provides training and networking opportunities for women-led startups. To date, the 
scheme  has  supported  almost  200  women-led  EIC  beneficiaries,  including  some  EIT-
funded  companies.  EUR  10-15  million  is  dedicated  every  year  to  these  calls.  The 
Commission  will  launch  new  calls  under  the  2023-2024  Horizon  Europe  work 
programme.  

The  Education  and  Innovation  Practice  Community,  gathering  around  700 
stakeholders  from  academia,  private  and  public  organisations  in  all  EU  Member  States 
and  several  non-EU  countries,  was  set-up  in  October  2022,  in  cooperation  with  the 
OECD. The first strand of work, including peer learning activities and analytical reports, 
focused  on  strengthening  higher  education-school  partnerships  for  green  and  digital 
innovation.  The  second  strand  supports  competencies  for  innovation  in  mainstream 
higher education.   

incubators  within  higher  education 

The Erasmus+ Alliances for Innovation  was launched, and the development of deep-
tech skills has been identified as a priority for 2023. This will aid and enhance the growth 
of 
the 
entrepreneurial  sector.  The  objective  is  to  help  student  entrepreneurs  to  transform  their 
ideas into viable businesses, aligning with the goals outlined in the European strategy for 
universities. Selected projects are currently starting their work. In 2023, 32 projects were 
selected  in  several  sectors,  including  AI,  gaming,  manufacturing  and  deep-tech 
innovation.  The  calls  for  proposals  under  the  2024  ErasmusPlus  work  programme  will 
maintain and strengthen the focus on deep-tech skills.  

institutions,  working  closely  with 

The  Digital  Europe  programme  is  focusing  on  advanced  digital  skills.  Digital  Europe 
calls to train  experts in key-digital capacity areas  were launched in  November 2023 
 (95):  one  focusing  on  strengthening  skills  in  semiconductors  and  the  other  on 
“Cybersecurity  Skills  Academy”  (96).  Additionally,  the  call  “Boosting  digital  skills  of 
young people, in particular girls”, targeted the development of digital skills from an early 
age. 

Ongoing NEIA actions 

The Innovation Talent Pool platform will facilitate the mobility of skilled individuals 
to and within Europe through international recruitment, by supporting matchmaking with 
EU-based  employers  that  are  unable  to  find  the  talent  they  need  in  Europe.  The  first 
phase  of  the  platform  (a  new  section  on  the  Euraxess  portal (97)  open  to  non-EU 
nationals)  was  launched  in  March  2023.  It  includes:  (i)  information  on  funding 
opportunities;  (ii)  information  on  the  EU  ‘Blue  Card’  immigration  visa;  (iii)  contact 
points  in  43  European  countries;  and  (iv)  a  digital  toolkit  for  startups  helping  them  to 

(94)EIT & EIC Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership Programme | EIT (europa.eu). 
(95)  Funding & tenders (europa.eu). 
(96) 

the  “Specialised  education  programmes  in key  capacity  areas“  called  for bachelor's  and  master's programmes as  well  as  self-
standing  modules  in  key  digital  areas  such  as  AI,  data  science,  cybersecurity,  Internet  of  Things,  cloud  computing,  quantum 
technologies, blockchain, and robotics. 

(97)  EURAXESS | (europa.eu) a one-stop shop for researchers. 

16 

 
 
 
launch a business in the EU. In the second phase, the platform will offer a matchmaking 
tool  for  innovators,  entrepreneurs  and  talented  workers  across  the  globe  who  wish  to 
create, work and live in Europe.  

Stock options represent an important incentive for employees to work in companies that 
offer  them.  The  EIC  Forum  working  group  on  stock  options  started  work  in  March 
2023  with  the  participation  of  EIC  Forum  members  (Member  States  and  Associated 
Countries), EIC Board members, external stakeholders and Commission representatives. 
Based on the outcome of future working group  meetings,  the EIC Forum  will consider 
drawing  up  a  list  of  good  practices  and  proposals  to  tackle  barriers  to  employee  stock 
options across the EU in 2024. 

The Next Generation Innovation Talents Scheme has been launched in 2023 and the 
first quarter of 2024. This is an internship scheme which will fund about 600 innovation 
internships for researchers and students over a 2-year period in companies supported by 
the  EIC  and  EIT,  covering  all  Member  States.  It  will  be  implemented  in  collaboration 
with  the  EIT,  ERC,  Marie  Sklodowska-Curie  Action,  and  Horizon  Europe  Research 
Infrastructures.  

Additional actions 

Several additional actions have been launched in the last 18 months, especially in AI and 
digital skills, to train Europeans, expand the talent pool in Europe, and develop advanced 
digital skills for the next generation of innovators. These actions include the European 
Skills  Agenda,  the  Digital  Education  Action  Plan,  the  Digital  skills  and  jobs 
coalition.  Also,  the  Digital  Europe  programme,  focusing  on  the  existing  gap  in 
advanced  digital  skills,  has  selected  36  projects  by  the  end  of  2023  to  enhance  the 
training  opportunities  for  acquiring  advanced  digital  skills  and  to  boost  the  number  of 
ICT  graduates  as  well  as  ICT  specialists  and  professionals  in  specific  sectors  with 
advanced digital skills (98).  

In 2022, the EIT’s HEI (Higher Education Institutions) Initiative announced its first 
call for proposals with a special focus on deep tech (99). Sixteen projects, involving 100 
HEIs  and  79  non-academic  organizations,  were  selected,  each  receiving  up  to  EUR 
750,000 to enhance innovation capacity, particularly in deep tech. 

To  boost  innovation  in  Europe’s  female-led  deep-tech  sector,  the  Women  TechEU 
scheme offers early-stage financing to support the initial steps in the innovation process, 
and  the  growth  of  companies.  So  far,  it  has  funded  130  women-led  deep-tech  startups, 

(98)In 2024 two additional calls for actions will be launched under “Digital Europe”, one for the continuation of the “Digital Skills and 
Jobs  Platform”  and  the  second to  support “Girls  and  women in  digital” by providing insights  into the gender  gap  in the  ICT 
professions in the EU. 

(99)The call  required that applicants  showed  how they  would build innovation  capacity  through the integration  of  deep tech  talent-

fostering activities. 

17 

 
 
  
 
 
 
and the next edition (100) will help women-led deep-tech startups to grow into tomorrow’s 
tech leaders. 

In the area of green skills, the EIT Girls Go Circular Project, addressing primary and 
secondary schools, has trained over 37 000 girls in 23 countries on circularity subjects, 
and will soon be broadened to include all Member States. 

As outlined in the European strategy for universities adopted in 2022, the development 
of a European framework for diversity and inclusion was proposed, including on gender 
gaps, to identify challenges and solutions for universities. To strengthen the participation 
of women and girls in STEAM studies and careers, the Commission launched a roadmap 
of activities in 2022 and 2023, including the creation of a manifesto for gender-inclusive 
STEM and STEAM education and careers, that will be implemented with the support of 
Horizon Europe Cluster 2 (‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’) (101).  

Also,  the  European  Universities  alliances  are  instrumental  in  implementing  the 
European strategy for universities including for closing the gender gap and increasing the 
proportion of women holding full professorship or leadership positions. Actions include 
the  development  of  support  platform  like  the  “Women  in  Tech”  Manifesto,  networks 
such  as  the  Female  Founder  Network  or  projects  with  pre-university  education  to  raise 
the attractiveness of STEAM careers (102).  

To  attract,  retain  and  promote  the  mobility  of  talented  workers  –  including,  but  not 
limited  to  the  innovation  sector  –  the  Commission  adopted  in  November  2023  a skills 
and talent mobility package. The package comprises a series of new measures designed 
to make the EU more attractive to talent from outside the EU, and to facilitate mobility 
within  the  EU.  For  R&I  careers  specifically,  the  Commission  has  approved  a 
competence  framework  for  R&I  skills  ResearchComp(103)  while  the  proposal  on  a 
European 
innovation  and 
entrepreneurial  talent  in  Europe  was  adopted  in  December  2023  as  a  Council 
recommendation (104). The adoption of this framework underscored (105) the significance 
of inter-sectoral mobility in achieving these objectives and the importance of the NEIA in 
this context. Furthermore, an ERA talent platform is being developed in 2024, which will 
provide access  for talented workers to  multiple resources  for R&I careers (including  to 
Euraxess, Resaver (106) and the planned Observatory on R&I careers). 

to  attract  and  retain  research, 

framework 

In  parallel,  Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  announced  a  number  of  national 
initiatives  to  nurture,  retain  or  attract  innovation  talent.  For  example,  the  AI  academy 

(100)https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/european-innovation-ecosystems/women-techeu_en.  
(101) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101132652. 
(102)The  alliances  also  promote  STEM  disciplines  for  example  with  STEM  Innovation  Contests  for  students  to  solve  real-world 

challenges in cooperation with STEM-related industries. 

(103)https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/jobs-research/researchcomp-european-competence-framework-researchers_en#what-

is-researchcomp.  

(104)Council  Recommendation  of  18  December  2023  on  a  European  framework  to  attract  and  retain  research,  innovation  and 

entrepreneurial talents in Europe (C/2023/1640). 

(105)Council  Recommendation  of  18  December  2023  on  a  European  framework  to  attract  and  retain  research,  innovation  and 

entrepreneurial talents in Europe (C/2023/1640). 

(106)RESAVER is a Penson Fund addressed to researchers with European mobility RESAVER Home | RESAVER. 

18 

 
 
 
run  in  Belgium  to  develop  deep-tech  skills  in  AI  for  researchers  and  companies  will 
boost  academic  careers  in  AI  areas.  The  female  innovators  programme  in  Austria 
provides targeted support for highly qualified female researchers and innovators in areas 
including  leadership,  entrepreneurship  and  networking.  The  tech  visa  in  France,  the 
startup residence programme in Malta, and the startup visa scheme in Cyprus all seek 
to  attract  international  tech  talent  by  providing  a  simplified  procedure  and  support  for 
people  working  in  the  tech  ecosystem.  Sweden  also  issued  a  call  to  attract,  integrate 
and retain international excellence, providing financial support for employers to recruit 
research  talent  and  Marie  Sklodowska-Curie  Fellows.  In  the  Republic  of  North 
Macedonia,  a  ‘fab  lab’ (107)  and  ‘maker  spaces’  have  been  set  up  to  provide  young 
people with the conditions for developing innovative products, services or processes.  

2.5. 

Improving the tools for innovation policy-making  

The diverse and evolving landscape of innovation definitions, policies, and data among 
the 27 Member States are in the focus of the fifth flagship of the NEIA. NEIA actions in 
this  area  aim  at:  (i)  facilitating  a  common  approach  on  some  key  features  to  improve 
coordination  and  cooperation;  and  (ii)  improving  on-demand  capacity  support  for 
Member States in their efforts to boost domestic innovation ecosystems and policies. 

Completed NEIA actions 

A  report  on  definitions  related  to  startups,  scale-ups  and  deep-tech  innovation  was 
produced  in  March  2023.  Building  on  this  report,  a  study  to  create  a  pilot  European 
startup scoreboard will be launched in 2024. Based on this study, a set of indicators will 
be drawn up that may be used to update future European Innovation Scoreboards (108). 

Ongoing NEIA actions 

The EIC Forum gathers representatives of Member States and Associated Countries to 
exchange  best  practices  and  improve  coordination.  It  regularly  meets  both  in  plenary 
sessions  and  in  thematic  working  groups  (109).  Based  on  this  work,  the  EIC  Forum 
adopted  annual  policy  orientations  in  2022 (110)  and  2023 (111).  The  Commission  will 
continue to consolidate the role, working arrangements and visibility of the EIC Forum, 
to strengthen its position as a high-level platform that both facilitates the coordination of 
innovation policies and provides early advice to the Commission on strategic innovation 
policy issues. 

Additional actions  

The  Commission  is  also  helping  Member  States  and  regions  to  design  and  implement 
more  effective  and  impactful  innovation  policies  through  the  Technical  Support 

(107)  Fab labs (fabrication laboratories) are small scale workshop with open access for digital initiatives  
(108) https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/04797497-25de-11ee-a2d3-01aa75ed71a1.  
(109) they discuss subjects such as innovation policy, innovation procurement and data, employee stock options or the EIC Plug-In. 
(110) https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/71293c89-75ed-11ed-9887-01aa75ed71a1\.  
(111) https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d120bc6d-9efa-11ee-b164-01aa75ed71a1.  

19 

 
 
 
Instrument  (TSI) (112)  and  the  Horizon  Policy  Support  Facility  (PSF) (113).  The  TSI 
has  supported  13  Member  States (114)  in  various  innovation-capacity-building  and 
innovation-advisory  projects,  such  as  “Overcome  barriers  to  innovation  in  regional 
entrepreneurship ecosystems” in Spain or the “Startup ecosystem strategy” in Romania. 
The  PSF  has  provided  practical  support  both  to  specific  Member  States115  for  their 
domestic efforts and to groups of countries with the PSF mutual learning exercise (116). 
The PSF will continue to support the design and implementation of structural reforms in 
Member  States,  including  through  the  use  of  the  new,  more  flexible  PSF  Open 
instrument and peer policy learning thanks to the PSF-Challenge. 

To strengthen innovation-driven territorial transformation, the pilot action Partnerships 
for Regional Innovation (PRI) (117) was launched in May 2022 by the Commission in 
cooperation with the Committee of the Regions. It was accompanied by the publication 
of  a  PRI  playbook (118)  presenting  policy  tools  and  practices  common  in  Europe  and 
beyond.  As  a  result  of  the  pilot,  an  ‘action  book’ (119)  on  innovation  for  place-based 
transformation has been published. 

For the past  two years, the  Joint Research Centre  of the Commission  (JRC) has  been 
supporting the EIC in building its strategic intelligence capacity through the development 
and  use  of  foresight  and  other  future-oriented  approaches,  by  capturing  insights  on 
emerging  technologies  and  disruptive  innovations. (120)  This  process,  through  a 
participatory  multi-stakeholder  approach,  provides,  among  other  outputs,  expert-based 
evidence to support EIC funding prioritization. 

At international level, the EU is working closely with partner countries and regions on 
innovation  cooperation  for  mutual  benefit,  such  as  under  the  Trade  and  Technology 
Council with the US. Other examples include: the African Union-EU Innovation Agenda, 
that supports  the uptake of research results focused on:  public  health,  green  transition, 
innovation, technology and capacities for science, to foster jobs and growth and to share 
technology and expertise; the EU-India Trade and Technology Council, boosting bilateral 
cooperation in green and clean energy with a focus on R&I cooperation, standards, and 
investments,  aimed  at  facilitating  trade  in  these  technologies;  and  the  revised  EU-
CELAC roadmap for R&I will have a strengthened, with an innovation dimension. 

The NEIA is implemented in the context of a large international toolbox, including Green 
Alliances  and  Partnerships,  Raw  Material  Partnerships,  Digital  Trade  Agreements  and 
Digital Partnerships. In fact, most sectors of the European economy require trans-national 

(112)TSI 

under  Next  Generation.(112)  TSI 
innovation/en/statistics/policy-support-facility 

under  Next  Generation.(112) 

See 

https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-

(113) See https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/statistics/policy-support-facility 
(114) Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czechia, Malta, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia. 
(115) Including Croatia, Czechia, Greece and Romania. 
(116) Concerning, for example, knowledge valorisation, industrial decarbonisation, and missions. 
(117) 74 territories, including 4 Member States and 63 regions, took part in the pilot. See: https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pri.  
(118) Pontikakis, D., Gonzalez Vazquez, I., Bianchi, G., Ranga, L., Marques Santos, A., Reimeris, R., Mifsud, S., Morgan, K., Madrid 
Gonzalez, C. and Stierna, K., Partnerships for Regional Innovation Playbook, EUR 31064 EN, Publications Office of the European 
Union, Luxembourg, 2022 available at https://dx.doi.org/10.2760/775610.  
(119)https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC135826. 
(120)This includes  direct  support  to  EIC  activities,  from  short to  medium  term  regular operations  and  strategy, and  considering key 

events such as the Horizon Europe mid-term review and the development of the next Framework Programme. 

20 

 
 
 
digital inputs,  that are fundamental  for their business  models,  processes and innovation 
pipelines, as well as  international  connectivity, which is  crucial to  ensure that  they can 
operate  at  a  global  scale.  To  that  end,  the  EU  has  concluded  free  trade  agreements 
containing  digital  trade  provisions,  including  data  flows.  The  EU  is  also  currently 
negotiating  specific  digital  trade  agreements  with  partners  such  as  South  Korea  and 
Singapore. 

Cooperation  with  China  on  innovation  actions  under  Horizon  Europe (121)  has  been 
suspended, pending progress in the discussions on framework conditions for innovation 
under the EU-China Joint Roadmap for Science, Technology and Innovation. 

The  EIT  has  also  been  strengthening  its  activities  in  the  Western  Balkan  economies, 
Turkey  as  well  as  Ukraine  to  build-up  their  innovation  capacity  and,  establish 
connections with their European counterparts.  (122) 

In  the  past  18  months,  Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  announced  several 
national initiatives to develop tools and instruments to optimise the performance of their 
innovation  ecosystems.  For  example,  the  Observatory  on  Innovation  in  Czechia,  an 
independent entity to monitor, analyse, evaluate and produce intelligence on innovation 
and competitiveness, supports decision-making on public policy. In Austria, the Startup 
Council  and  the  Startup  Dealroom,  an  online  platform,  provides  an  overview  of  all 
startups and investors active in the country with daily updates. The Deep-tech Startups 
Observatory  in  France  continuously  collects  and  analyses  data  related  to  the  French 
deep-tech landscape, providing information on: (i) where deep-tech is happening, in what 
industrial  sectors  and  with  what  technologies;  (ii)  the  funds  raised  by  deep-tech 
companies; and (iii) the impact of deep-tech innovations on turnover and employment. 

3. 

INSTITUTIONAL DIALOGUE, STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT AND COMMUNICATION 

3.1. 

Interactions with other EU institutions 

The dialogue and interactions with other EU institutions and bodies has been continuous 
since the launching of the NEIA.  

The Council discussed the NEIA under its various presidencies in both 2022 and 2023. 
For  instance,  Council  Conclusions  under  the  Czech  Presidency (123)  underlined  the 
importance of adapting to the new wave of innovation and emphasised the need to boost 
synergies among existing funding programmes and initiatives. 

Council Conclusions under the Spanish Presidency (124) focused on regional ecosystems, 
measures  to  close  the  innovation  divide,  and  innovation  procurement.  In  particular,  the 
Council called for more actions at national level  and invited the Commission to further 

(121)Based  on  Article  22(6)  of  the  Horizon  Europe  Regulation,  the  cooperation  is  suspended  for  the  Work  Programme  2023-24  on 

innovation close-to-market actions. 

(122) See in particular the EIT Jumpstarter programme. 
(123) Council Conclusions on the New European Innovation Agenda, 2 December 2022.  
(124) Council Conclusion on strengthening the role and impact of research and innovation in the policymaking process in the Union, 8 
December 2023. 

21 

 
 
 
explore ways to support innovation procurement. A conference on this subject will take 
place in 2024 under the initiative of the Belgian Presidency (125).  

The NEIA was the subject of an oral question with debate in the plenary session of the 
European Parliament in October 2023 (126). On that occasion, several members of the 
Parliament  from  various  political  groups  called  for  more  investment  in  innovation, 
greater synergies between programmes, more opportunities for SMEs in innovation, and 
more  opportunities  for  women  in  innovation.  They  deplored  that  Europe  is  lagging 
behind the US, South Korea, Japan and China. 

The Economic and Social Committee has issued an opinion on introducing a European 
stress  test  for  innovation (127)  for  the  new  policy  initiatives  in  this  area  in  order  to 
strengthen  European  innovation  ecosystems.  The  Committee  of  the  Regions  is 
contributing to the debate on regional innovation ecosystems and has actively backed the 
‘regional  innovation  valleys’  initiative,  which  is  partially  built  on  the  Partnerships  for 
Regional Innovations initiative. 

Furthermore,  the Commission  has  engaged in  a structured dialogue with  the  European 
Investment  Bank  Group  to  discuss  how  the  latter  can  best  contribute  to  the  first 
flagship area of NEIA, including through the InvestEU programme, ESCALAR and the 
European Tech Champions initiative.  

3.2.  Dialogue with stakeholders 

The  implementation  of  the  NEIA  actions  has  been  accompanied  by  a  constructive 
dialogue with stakeholders from the innovation sector. In particular, the ‘Coalition of the 
Willing’ (128) composed of more than 80 members from public and private organisations, 
was  set  up  with  the  purpose  of  enriching  the  NEIA  with  additional  complementary 
initiatives  taken  in  national,  local,  or  private  contexts.  The  aim  was  to  facilitate 
collaboration and give visibility to best practices. As part of this work, the Coalition of 
the Willing announced nearly 80 actions in support of the NEIA. 

3.3.  Communication activities and events on NEIA actions 

Several  communication  activities  have  been  carried  out  to  promote  the  NEIA  and  its 
added  value  across  Europe,  including  to  the  innovation  community,  policy  makers,  the 
financial actors and the wider public. Since the adoption of the NEIA, the Commission 
has organised or participated in more than 100 events across Europe (often in cooperation 
with  Member  States)  and  beyond,  including  the  first  European  Innovation  Days  in 
Silicon  Valley  in  March  2023 (129).  The  dedicated  Europa  website  section (130)  is 
constantly  updated  and  the  Commission  carries  out  ad  hoc  communication  activities, 

(125) March 19-20 2024, during the 2024 R&I week in Brussels. 
(126) Question for oral answer O-000038/2023 to the Commission by Cristian-Silviu Buşoi on behalf of the Committee on Industry, 
Research and Energy. 
(127) https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions/introducing-european-innovation-stress-test.  
(128) https://www.coalitionofthewilling.eu.  
(129) See flagship 1, within ‘additional actions’. 
(130) The New European Innovation Agenda - European Commission (europa.eu) 

22 

 
 
 
including  press  and  social  media  actions  on  the  occasion  of  specific  events  or  new 
developments of the NEIA (131). The NEIA has also been a regular item on the agendas 
of  the  R&I  enhanced  dialogues  that  the  Commission  organises  with  Member  States,  as 
well  as  on  the  agendas  of  Joint  Committees’  meetings  with  the  Horizon  Europe 
Associated Countries. 

4.  NEXT STEPS AND CHALLENGES AHEAD 

The implementation of the NEIA is progressing well. Among the 25 actions set out in the 
NEIA (132) 13 have been completed and 12 are ongoing. In parallel, as explained in this 
report,  several  additional  actions  at  both  European  and  national  level  support  the 
implementation  of  the  NEIA  and  contribute  to  its  objectives.  The  completion  and  full 
implementation of the NEIA, together with enhanced coordination and exchange of good 
practices  with  and  amongst  Member  States,  will  constitute  important  contributions  to 
boost European innovation and competitiveness.  

The Commission will continue to monitor and report on the progress and impact  of the 
actions  identified  in  the  NEIA.  This  will  be  done  in  close  cooperation  with  the  EIC 
Forum.  In parallel, the  Commission will continue  to boost its dialogue  with  innovation 
actors,  also  with  a  strengthened  communication  and  advocacy  strategy  on  the  NEIA, 
called ‘Innovation Made in Europe’. 

(131) Examples: the publication of the regional ‘innovation valleys’ calls; the adoption of proposals for DEBRA Directive and Listing 
Act; the publication of the guidance document on regulatory sandboxes, etc. 

(132)   See List of actions in Annex 1. 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX I - List of actions in the NEIA 

Title (Flagship – Actions) 
Flagship: Funding for deep-tech scale-ups 
(1) 

(2) 
(3) 

(4) 

Directive on debt-equity bias-reduction allowance (DEBRA) on 
corporate income tax, Commission proposal 
Listings Act, Commission proposal 
Expansion  of  the  European  Scale-Up  Action  for  Risk  Capital 
(ESCALAR) mechanism 
EIC  WP  2022  Pilot  European  innovation  gender  and  diversity 
index 
EIT Women2Invest Programme 

Completed on 

Q2 2022 

Q4 2022 
Ongoing 

Ongoing 

(5) 
Flagship:  Enabling  deep-tech  innovation  through  experimentation  spaces  and 
public procurement 
(6) 
(7) 
(8) 

Guidance document on regulatory sandboxes  
Open-innovation test bed in renewable hydrogen 
Launch  Testing  and  Experimentation  Facilities  for  testing  AI 
innovation 
Revised  State  Aid  Framework  for  Research  and  Development 
and Innovation 

Q3 2023 
Ongoing 
Q1 2023 

Q4 2022 

Q4 2022 

(9) 

(10)  Launch of specialist advisory service on innovation procurement   Ongoing 
Flagship:  Accelerating  and  strengthening  innovation  in  European 
innovation ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation 
divide 
(11)  Set up and connect regional deep-tech innovation valleys 
(12)  Commission  notice  on  synergies  between  Horizon  Europe  and 

Ongoing 
Q3 2022 

European Regional Development Fund programmes 

(13)  Double the number of hydrogen valleys in the EU 
(14)  Set up a one-stop shop for players in innovation ecosystems 
(15)  Launch the ‘Scale-up 100’ 
Flagship: Fostering, attracting and retaining deep-tech talents 
(16)  Launch EIT deep-tech talent initiative 
(17)  Launch innovation intern scheme 
(18)  Launch an EU talent pool to help businesses, including startups, 

Ongoing 
Ongoing 
Ongoing 

Q4 2022  
Ongoing  
Ongoing  

to find talent from outside the EU  

(19)  Set up Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership scheme 
(20)  Exchange of best practice on startup employees’ stock options 
(21)  Community of practice on education and innovation 
(22)  Launch Erasmus+ Alliances for Innovation 
(23)  Launch  Digital  Europe  call  to  train  experts  in  future-oriented 

Q4 2022 
Ongoing  
Q4 2022 
Q2 2023 
Q3 2022 

fields 

Flagship: Improving policy-making tools 
(24)  Report on definitions related to startups, scale-ups and deep-tech 

Q1 2023 

innovation 

(25)  Strengthen the role of the European Innovation Council Forum 

Ongoing  

24