Ursula von der Leyen prioritises research as MEPs approve new Commission

Returning European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has given research and innovation top billing as her picks for commissioner were approved by MEPs in Strasbourg today. 

In a speech to the Parliament this morning, von der Leyen said her new Commission’s first task would be to create a “Competitiveness Compass” to guide its work over the next five years. The first plank of this plan is to close the EU’s innovation gap with the US and China. 

“We will put research and innovation, science and technology at the heart of our economy,” she said. “We will invest more and focus better.” 

Europe’s share of global patents is on a par with the US and China, she said, but only one third are commercially exploited. The continent is “roughly” as good as the US at creating startups, but much worse at scaling them up. “We have to close that gap,” she told MEPs. 

Ekaterina Zaharieva, the new commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation, was the first to be namechecked by von der Leyen during her speech. 

“Her leadership and experience will be invaluable to get more breakthrough tech from the lab to the market,” she said.

The returning president also promised to break down national barriers across the EU to allow start-ups to better win financing and expand across borders. 

“A start-up from California can expand and raise money all across the United States. But a start-up in Europe has to deal with 27 different national barriers,” she said. 

European leaders increasingly see the long-mooted capital markets union as a way of giving EU companies the same access to finance as their US rivals. 

Von der Leyen also said she would prioritise competitiveness, decarbonisation, and security during her speech. 

Welcome, but few details

Her focus on research and innovation won applause from MEPs. “I very much welcome that we finally have a Commission President again that understand the value of science, research and innovation for the European project,” said German MEP Christian Ehler in a statement posted to X.

But despite research and innovation winning pride of place in von der Leyen’s speech, she didn’t yet flesh out any policy details. 

Ehler, and various other lobbyists and reports, want the next EU research and innovation framework programme, due to start in 2028, to double its budget to at least €200 billion. 

In her political guidelines for this term, von der Leyen has promised to “increase” research spending and expand the European Research Council (ERC) and European Innovation Council (EIC). But it’s unclear what budget the Commission will shoot for when haggling with member states begins in earnest next year. 

In a report published this week, MEPs in the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy (ITRE) say half of the FP10 budget should go to the ERC and EIC. MEPs are also backing the creation of a European Technology and Industrial Competitiveness Council to enhance private sector participation, and a European Societal Challenges Council to manage research and innovation activities addressing societal challenges.

In her speech on Wednesday, von der Leyen did not mention several policy ideas in the recent report from former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi – even though the Competitiveness Compass is set to be based on his report. 

The report, for example, wants the EU to set up its own breakthrough innovation agency, modelled on the US’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It also wants the ERC to fund EU chairs for “top researchers”. 

Ehler, meanwhile, wants von der Leyen to set up a “Choose Europe” programme to lure scientists to Europe from the US, “at a time that many excellent researchers will question whether the United States will stay a place for science”. 

Following her speech, MEPs approved von der Leyen’s picks for commissioner, as expected following weeks of haggling among the parliament’s political groups. 370 voted for, 282 against, and 36 abstained. They will take office on 1 December.