This flagship event brought together policymakers, innovators and investors to discuss Europe's innovation landscape and the future of European Tech and Competitiveness during multiple insightful panel discussions. Additionally, the Summit featured workshops and exhibitions showcasing EIC-funded projects.
The 2025 edition of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Summit kicked off with a bold call to action: to transform Europe into the world’s top destination for innovative companies that wish to scale-up.
During their welcoming speeches, Marc Lemaître (Director-General for Research and Innovation) and Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva set the tone for the remainder of the Summit, stressing the need to make Europe the primary destination for innovative SMEs in order to close the innovationgap between Europe and its fierce international competition, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of the continent. In this regard, Commissioner Zaharieva pointed to upcoming plans to make the EIC “bigger, simpler, and more impactful,” with a focus on cutting red tape and boosting investment.
During the Fireside Chat, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta argued that the main reason behind Europe’s struggle to impose itself as a Global Tech Leader at an international scale is regulatory fragmentation. Indeed, within Europe, entrepreneurs are faced with 27 different applicable regulations regarding entrepreneurial funding, start-up and scale-up rules, etc. This multiplicity of applicable provisions makes it especially difficult for SMEs to successfully achieve a cross-border scale-up, hampering overall innovation within the EU. For this reason, he stressed the importance of creating a harmonised set of rules applicable to entrepreneurs. He specifically advocated for the creation of a so-called ‘28th regime’ at EU level ––an optional, harmonisedregulatory framework for businesses that would help overcome regulatory complexity and burdensome bureaucracy without completely cancelling out national regulations.
Throughout the summit, panellists repeatedly stressed urgency in the adoption of measures. Panel discussions mentioned core issues to be tackled such as limited access to finance for innovative SMEs, persisting talent gaps, and Europe’s conservative investment culture. Speakers advocated for more high-risk funding, smarter regulation that does not unnecessarily burden entrepreneurs, and greater involvement from regions and cities in the innovation ecosystem.
In the digital field, discussions focused on the need to alleviate the regulatory burden imposed on entrepreneurs, enhance investment oninfrastructure to increase Europe’s computing capacity, and foster amore competitive startup landscape that concentrates all investment, talent and resources on themain SMEs operating in the market. The EU’s latest simplification efforts (i.e. the Omnibus Simplification Regulation on Sustainability Reporting, published by the EC in February 2025) as well as the AI Continent Action Plan were highlighted as key steps forward in this regard.
The summit closed on an optimistic note, with speeches from Marc Lemaître (Director-General, Directorate General for Research and Innovation) and Michiel Scheffer (EIC Board President). While challenges persist, the EIC pledged to further build on its success and evolve, taking more risks, boosting public-private collaboration, and continuing to push Europe toward global innovation leadership.
The EIC Summit 2025 proved highly relevant and insightful for EURADA and its Members for several reasons: Firstly, the Summit showcased funding opportunities (i.e. €1.4 billion in EIC support available). These funding opportunities are highly relevant for RDAs, given their crucial role in guiding local innovators, SMEs, and startups to access these resources to stimulate regional growth and innovation. Secondly, all throughout the Summit, the EIC emphasised the need for greater inclusivity and outreach to "Widening Countries" and regions with traditionally lower innovation performance, a principle which closely aligns with EURADA's focus. This commitment to increase inclusivity and outreach offers a valuable opportunity to enhance capacity building and ensure a more equitable access to European innovation support across all regions. Lastly, taking part in the EIC summit allowed EURADA to stay informed on EU innovation policy trends in order to better advocate for the interests of its Members in this field and develop potential partnerships for future joint projects or EU initiatives.
