A renewed focus on European competitiveness

In a February 2024 speech, on European competitiveness, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen underlined the importance of innovation, research and education. She praised Europe’s resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, highlighting the crucial role of research and innovation policies which enabled solutions to be rapidly developed. She said that in the face of ongoing challenges, Europe needs to focus on long-term competitiveness, which is something that may be negatively affected by economic changes. She emphasised that a strong push for innovation is required. This is a key driver of competitiveness. Von der Leyen mentioned that Europe’s performance on R&I investment has room for improvement, with its global competitors, including the US, Japan, China and South Korea among those who are performing better. There is a need to boost investment in R&D, with particular focus on R&I. There is also a need to enhance strategies to address declining R&D expenditure. Von der Leyen discussed the results to emerge from an assessment on Horizon 2020, with lessons learned that can be applied to the EU’s current primary funding programme. Wins included widespread applications and funding, supporting breakthroughs and Nobel prize winners. There is room for improvement when it comes to simplification, expanding participation and dissemination and strengthening collaborations with other EU initiatives. Von der Leyen highlighted the critical role of education in supporting R&D investment and skills development.