Euroviews. Europe needs all hands on deck to remove obstacles to innovation

The EU is losing ground to its global competitors, and this is partly due to legislation that sometimes creates unexpected barriers to research and innovation.

This is problematic since innovation is critical for achieving Europe's green and digital transitions towards sustainability, for strengthening Europe's competitiveness and for delivering on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. 

As such, strengthening the EU’s research and innovation performance should be a key strategic priority for the next European Commission between 2024-2029.

This is why, the idea of the Belgian Presidency of the Council to introduce a European Innovation Stress Test to repair system weaknesses could become an impactful instrument for enhancing the EU's innovation ecosystem, and therefore also competitiveness. 

This is why the European Economic and Social Committee has supported the idea, responded positively and came up with a number of proposals to develop a win-win instrument.

The EU provides dedicated institutions and programmes to foster research, development and innovation (RD&I). 

Horizon Europe is for instance the largest research and innovation funding programme in the world, funding excellent research, fostering cross-sectorial and international collaboration, and enabling the development of emerging and new technologies. 

It is as such important for the EU to be a competitive player in the global market. In addition, 

The New European Innovation Agenda aims to position the EU at the forefront of innovation against the backdrop of the post-COVID-19 recovery, the European Green Deal and the conflict in Ukraine. 

The European Commission's idea to leverage regulatory experimentation ("sandboxes"), regional ecosystems, human talent and access