The EU innovation agency wants to be more agile, as it plans to fund dual-use projects and create closer links with other EU funding institutions
Michiel Scheffer, president of the European Innovation Council board. Photo credits: EIC Summit 2025
The European Commission has been touting the success of its European Innovation Council (EIC) so far, but it is already looking for ways to improve it in the coming years. In particular, it wants the EIC to help more start-ups grow and scale-up, and to boost the EU’s economic competitive advantage in critical technology.
Protectionist trade policies rolled out by the Trump administration are sending the US economy into a downward spiral and have shifted the attention of investors to Europe, while restrictive and punitive measures against US universities are also seen as another sign of America’s diminishing role on the global stage.
Meanwhile, the EU seems to be ready to take advantage of this global turmoil and increase its support for researchers, innovators and private capital, which can develop and commercialise new technologies and help Europe become less dependent on unreliable…
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