Research, Technology & Industrial Capacity

Quantum Europe Strategy (Research-Related Policy Initiatives)

Planned for between 2025 and 2026.

It contains coordinated roadmaps to speed research-to-industry. The Commission will publish an EU Quantum Computing and Simulation Roadmap, a Quantum Chips Industrialisation Roadmap, and a European Quantum Standards Roadmap, while expanding Quantum Competence Clusters to link labs, pilot lines and design facilities. It adds a coordinated European Quantum Sensing, Measurement and Testing Roadmap. To catalyse uptake, the EU will pilot two Grand Challenges (fault-tolerant computing; quantum PNT) and launch a Pilot Programme for Researchers-in-Residence in quantum startups. For dual-use and space, it will deliver a Quantum Technology Roadmap in space with ESA and a Quantum Sensing Space & Defence Technology Roadmap aligning civil-security priorities.

EU Space Act

The law will establish a single, harmonised regulatory framework for the safety, resilience, and environmental sustainability of space activities across the Union. It aims to overcome the fragmentation caused by 13 divergent national space laws across Europe, ensuring a predictable internal market for space services and space-based data. The Act introduces uniform authorisation and registration rules, tailored cybersecurity and debris-mitigation obligations, and a common environmental footprint methodology. By providing legal certainty and reducing regulatory complexity, it will strengthen the competitiveness of EU space operators, foster innovation in the New Space sector, and position Europe as a global standard-setter in space governance.

Advanced Materials Act

Planned for Q4 2026.

Europe’s competitiveness in the green and digital transitions will depend on its ability to develop, produce and deploy next-generation materials at scale. To achieve this, the Commission will propose an Advanced Materials Act establishing clear framework conditions for the entire value chain; from fundamental research and prototyping to manufacturing and market uptake. The Act will focus on accelerating industrialisation, de-risking private investment and securing resilient supply chains for materials critical to clean technologies, energy, defence and space. By providing a coherent strategic framework, it aims to reduce dependencies, boost technological sovereignty and position Europe as a global leader in advanced materials innovation.

European Biotech Act

Planned for Q3 2026.

As a cornerstone of the EU’s Life Sciences Strategy, the law will make Europe the most attractive place for biotech by 2030 by speeding approvals and risk assessments without compromising safety, unlocking risk-tolerant finance and biomanufacturing scale, building EU-wide clusters/infrastructure, closing skills gaps, and enabling trusted AI/data use (incl. supercomputing and EHDS links). It tackles single-market fragmentation across health, agri-food, industrial and marine biotech, strengthening competitiveness and economic security. Expected impacts of the law includes faster time-to-market, deeper investment pipelines, resilient supply chains and environmental benefits, supported by strong EU governance.

European Innovation Act

Planned for Q1 2026.

It will create horizontal, Single-Market-wide conditions to accelerate deployment and diffusion of innovation. The law will (i) simplify and make rules more innovation-friendly (incl. regulatory sandboxes), (ii) unlock IP-backed finance and improve access to EU/national funding, (iii) open research & technology infrastructures to companies, (iv) make public/private procurement more supportive of novel solutions, (v) improve commercialisation of publicly funded R&I (i.e. IP, standardisation, certification), (vi) enable talent attraction/retention (e.g. employee ownership schemes), and (vii) establish EU–Member State coordination of innovation policy, helping to close the EU’s innovation gap.

European Innovation Council Reform

To be initiated with the Work Programme 2026, planned to be adopted in November 2025.

The council will be reformed to operate more strategically and ambitiously, inspired by the US ARPA model. It will shift towards challenge-driven, staged funding for breakthrough, high-risk technologies, focusing on strategic EU priorities and research excellence. The reform will simplify procedures, strengthen the Trusted Investor Network, and build closer ties with Europe’s unicorns to improve policy feedback loops. By combining public and private capital, the EIC will accelerate the scale-up of deep-tech companies in critical sectors and better align innovation funding with Europe’s competitiveness, technological sovereignty, and security objectives.

European Life Sciences R&I Data Assembly

Planned for 2026.

The assembly will be a key governance instrument under the EU’s new Life Sciences Strategy. It will bring together Member State authorities responsible for data, AI, and R&I with relevant EU bodies to tackle fragmentation, support consistent interpretation of legal data frameworks, and improve cross-regulatory coordination. By aligning approaches across domains such as the EHDS, Data Governance Act, and AI Act, the Assembly will create a more coherent data environment for life science research and innovation, enabling breakthroughs in genomics, personalised medicine, One Health, and biodiversity through shared, interoperable datasets and harmonised rules.

European Research Area Act

Planned for Q3 2026.

The Act Act will realise a “fifth freedom” by enabling the free movement of researchers, knowledge and technology across a single EU R&I market, anchored in TFEU Articles 179 and 182(5). It will (1) secure national commitments and new mechanisms to reach the 3% of GDP R&D target; (2) align EU–national investments and priorities around strategic technologies; and (3) upgrade framework conditions—attractive careers and mobility, open science and data access, a stronger legal basis for research infrastructures, and better knowledge valorisation. The Act will safeguard fundamental values, bolster research security, and clarify cooperation with third countries.

Framework for IP Valuation

Planned for Q2 2027.

The Commission will establish a common EU framework for intellectual property valuation to unlock the potential of intangible assets for financing innovation. Developed with the EU Intellectual Property Office, the framework will set shared standards and methodologies to build trust and transparency in IP-backed lending and investment. It will expand the evidence base needed to design tailored IP finance instruments, enabling innovators and scaleups to leverage patents, trademarks, and other IP as collateral more effectively. By facilitating access to finance for knowledge-intensive companies, the initiative strengthens Europe’s innovation ecosystem and supports the scaling of strategic technologies.

Horizon Europe 2026-2027

The next work programme will channel major investments into Europe’s industrial and scientific transformation. A €600 million flagship call under the Clean Industrial Deal will bridge R&I and deployment, fostering synergies with the Innovation Fund and supporting fusion through new PPPs. In life sciences, the Commission will establish a network of ATMP Centres of Excellence (€4 million), pilot stepwise collaborative health research funding, and invest €50 million in multi-modal genAI for biomedical research. €170 million will support a new health–climate agenda, complemented by global research collaboration and foresight on life sciences skills.

Quantum Act

Planned for Q2 2026.

The Act will make the Quantum Europe Strategy operational, fixing fragmentation by aligning EU and national programmes around a shared RTI agenda and targets. It sets EU-level governance and extends the Chips Joint Undertaking’s remit to quantum technologies, coordinating investments across EU programmes. It anchors a three-stage pipeline—Discover; Lab-to-fab via pilot lines, design tools and standards; Apply & use in lead sectors, while scaling pan-European infrastructures in quantum computing, secure communication (EuroQCI) and sensing. The Act backs skills and industrialisation, strengthens supply chains. It also drives standardisation and interoperability and fosters talent attraction.

Virtual Human Twins Incubator

Planned until 2027.

The incubator will accelerate market uptake and clinical use of next-generation “virtual human” models. Backed by €8 million under the Digital Europe Work Programme 2025–2027, it will fund testbeds, validation studies and pilots, helping innovators demonstrate safety, effectiveness and regulatory readiness for use in clinical trials and investigations. The incubator will convene regulators, HTA bodies, hospitals and SMEs to align evidence requirements, foster interoperability and ethics-by-design, and de-risk adoption across Member States. Complementary €25 million investment in European genomic data infrastructure in 2026, aligned with the EHDS, will strengthen the data backbone powering virtual twins.