The EU Commission drives innovation and leadership through massive investments (like €14bn in Horizon Europe 2026-2027) for AI, green tech, and strategic autonomy, fostering startups (EU Startup & Scaleup Strategy), funding research via the European Innovation Council (EIC), and enhancing digital/green transitions to stay globally competitive, focusing on breakthrough deep tech and addressing societal challenges..

Responsibilities

The Directorate-General Research and Innovation develops and carries out the Commission’s policies on research and innovation.

It oversees the current EU research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe, as well as EU Missions.

The Directorate-General supports the Commission’s priorities 2024-2029 by funding and promoting new knowledge and breakthrough innovation and driving the green and digital transformations that are underway in society.

The Directorate-General is leading the Commission’s work to develop an EU start-up and scale-up strategy that will improve the framework conditions for start-ups and scale-ups

Furthermore, the Directorate-General is planning to further expand the European Research Area, develop a long-term strategy to boost European Research Infrastructure and study the role of artificial intelligence in European research.

Finally, the Directorate-General coordinates numerous projects, helps disseminate and exploit their results and partners with industry and EU countries on common research topics and events.

Research and innovation website