06 Jul 2026
European Innovation Act should put universities at the heart of innovation, EUA says
The European University Association (EUA) has urged the EU to use the upcoming European Innovation Act to build a truly shared European innovation culture, with universities playing a central role. As the first major EU law focused solely on innovation, the Act is seen as a key opportunity to address not only the needs of industry and SMEs, but also the challenges faced by universities. According to the EUA, universities are essential because they combine curiosity-driven research with a strong focus on societal impact.
The association calls for the Act to focus on five priorities: fostering a shared innovation culture, providing clearer guidance on intellectual property, making better use of results from EU-funded research, strengthening entrepreneurial and professional skills, and enabling local and international collaboration.
The EUA also stresses that innovation should not be measured only through patents, licences or spin-offs. Social, organisational and service innovation can also create major value. It argues that stronger support for proof-of-concept funding, technology transfer experts and cross-sector mobility is needed.
Ultimately, the EUA wants the Act to recognise the close links between startups, scaleups, innovative SMEs and university research across Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
The paper can be downloaded here: