EPP Group presents new action plan on innovation for a competitive Europe

Innovation is the cornerstone of Europe’s ambition to remain competitive, resilient, and prosperous. Last week in Heidelberg, the EPP Group came together to discuss a new action plan to boost innovation in the EU. The Heidelberg Declaration, which has been formally adopted tonight, sets out concrete steps to reinforce Europe’s research and production capacity and ensure that European knowledge, ideas and quality turns into real market success.

"Innovation is the only plausible route for Europe to sustainable growth and maintaining our prosperity. This needs to be reflected in our regulatory agenda by making Europe more innovation-friendly, and in the next MFF with at least 200 billion EUR for the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation", says Christian Ehler MEP, EPP Group spokesman for Industry, Research and Energy.

"To keep Europe at the forefront of innovation and turn academic excellence into market success, we need to tackle the chronic scale gap that holds back our most promising innovators. Introducing instruments, such as the Scaleup Europe Fund, is essential to give deep‑tech companies the late‑stage capital they need to grow and stay in the EU. Innovation and scale are at the heart of our strategic relevance, as EPP Group, we are committed to deliver on them", adds Eva Maydell MEP, EPP Group deputy spokeswoman for Industry, Research and Energy. 

The EPP Group calls for increased funding for defence research and development from both public and private sources – not only to strengthen European security and markets, but also to deliver tangible benefits for the people who live and work here. We urge continued reinforcement of key EU programmes such as Horizon Europe, and we seek to expand the capacity of the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank to channel resources into innovative businesses. Reducing administrative burdens remains a priority: we will continue to push for simplification and for the completion of the Single Market by removing excessive and fragmented bureaucracy. Only then can Europe’s innovative companies truly thrive.

The full text of the "Heidelberg Declaration" is available here.