Policy brief distils key insights from 'From Lab to Market policy dialogue

This policy brief distils the key insights from "From Lab to Market", a joint WKÖ/FFG policy dialogue held in Brussels on 22 January 2026. The event brought together European Commission officials, university innovation leaders, investors, research organisations, and deep tech founders to examine from the ground up what it takes to bridge the gap between research excellence and commercial impact.

The workshop found out that Europe’s challenge in turning knowledge into market value is not mainly about lacking ambition or funding, but about how the innovation system is designed. The proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and FP10 negotiations create a major opportunity to build a research and innovation system focused not only on scientific excellence, but also on commercial impact. Europe must ensure that new technologies are not just invented, but also industrialised, produced, scaled up, and kept within Europe.

The discussions at “From Lab to Market” showed that meaningful reform is possible, but it requires clear political decisions rather than small, gradual changes. Key priorities should include simplification instead of complexity, speed instead of lengthy procedures, demand creation instead of relying only on supply-side funding, and strategic focus instead of spreading resources too broadly.

The twelve recommendations presented in the brief are meant as practical contributions to the design of FP10 and the ECF. FFG and WKÖ, the organisations behind the brief, are ready to continue working with the European Commission, the European Parliament, and Member States to advance these discussions.

The dicument can be downloaded here:

From Lab to Market: Closing the Knowledge Valorisation Gap in FP10 and the European Competitiveness Fund