23 Jul 2026
European Industry associations call for ambitious European Competitiveness Fund
Several European industry associations have issued a joint paper calling for an ambitious European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). The statement 'Innovate in Europe, scale in Europe: A joint industry call for an ambitious European Competitiveness Fund' was published on 22 July 2026.
The paper states that the power of innovation lies in its adoption. Without the necessary framework conditions, there will continue to be no business case for our companies to develop, deploy and scale innovative technologies in Europe. The associations therefore welcome the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen the EU’s long-term competitiveness through the ECF, which would help tackle part of the issue by providing the financial tools to support European companies from research to commercial deployment.
The industry associations call on Member States and the European Parliament to support the creation of an ambitious funding mechanism that delivers tangible economic impact, de-risks private investment, mobilises resources towards innovative projects, accelerates commercialisation, supports the deployment of innovative technologies and helps companies scale in Europe. The paper states that in order to achieve these goals, the design and governance of the ECF and its interactions with Horizon Europe need to reflect the realities of industrial innovation and commercialisation. The ECF should improve the predictability, speed and accessibility of funding procedures, while being accessible to companies of all sizes, including SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups.
The statement calls for the following in particular:
- strengthen industry engagement on ECF priorities;
- closely link funding for research and industrial policy;
- move at the speed of technology;
With regard to the close link of funding for research and industrial policy, the joint statement calls for close alignment between the ECF and Horizon Europe:
- fully align governance of the ECF and Horizon Europe to ensure that financing supports a smooth innovation journey from basic research to industrial deployment;
- create an integrated work programme with shared priorities across the ECF and Horizon Europe;
- better incentivise scaling and industry uptake of successful Horizon-funded research by ensuring project results are visible, relevant, and accessible to companies during and beyond the project lifetime;
- support the full innovation pathway, including accelerated access to financing for the next stage of technological development, demonstration activities, validation in operational environments, first industrial deployment and scale-up;
- facilitate collaboration between research organisations, industry, investors and end-users to accelerate the adoption of novel technological solutions through integrated innovation ecosystems, demonstration projects, matchmaking initiatives, co-investment and joint venture mechanisms;
- make private investment mobilisation a core success criterion of the ECF, using EU funding to crowd in rather than replace private capital.
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