14 October 2021
Virtual campus
The disparities in innovation performance and the shortcomings of different national systems are very diverse around the EU. This is why the European Commission is working on a new innovation strategy to tackle the fragmentation of existing start-up ecosystems along the following four lines of action:
1. convincing member states to boost national investment in research and development;
2. making it easier for less innovative regions to access the EU research programme Horizon Europe;
3. developing a pan-European innovation ecosystem;
4. supporting universities to become engines of regional innovation.
Innovation cohesion is one of the main issues to be addressed in the plan as Europe has a very fragmented innovation landscape, with some regions producing far more start-ups and attracting more investments than others. The differences are especially stark between western Europe and the EU’s newer member states in the east as outlined in 2021 Commission’s Innovation Scoreboard.
