POLICY SNAPSHOT – European Innovation Act

30 September 2026

As announced in the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the Competitiveness Compass for the EU, the European Commission presented its European Innovation Act on 9 September 2026 as a flagship measure to help Europe’s most innovative ideas be developed, financed and scaled up within the EU rather than elsewhere.

Presented by Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Act aims to create an innovation-friendly environment that lets companies grow across borders, with measures including a single rulebook for R&D procurement (quality must count for at least 50% and innovation at least 15% of the award) and steps to unlock an estimated €10.2 billion a year in intellectual property-backed finance.

The proposed Act focuses on creating a more coordinated regulatory, policy and investment framework aimed at removing barriers and bringing innovative solutions to the market across the EU. In particular, the Commission seeks to improve the functioning of the Single Market for innovation by tackling the underuse of public procurement to commission research, development and testing, and the uncertainty around intellectual property valuation that constrains access to finance.

The Act will address issues related to the commercialisation of research results, collaboration between industry and academia, and access to markets, finance, talent, and infrastructure. Rather than creating new funding programmes, the Act is intended to strengthen the framework conditions around existing EU support, helping innovative ideas developed in Europe move more effectively from research to market and scale across borders.

Rather than introducing sector-specific measures, the Act takes a cross-sectoral approach by addressing dependencies on critical technologies and raw materials through the resilience of European supply chains.

It followed an earlier public consultation that closed on 4 October 2025.