President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary: “We will put research and innovation, science and technology at the heart of our economy”

Following her re-election as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has committed to placing "research and innovation, science, and technology at the heart of our economy" during her upcoming five-year term.

She referred to the first pillar as "closing the innovation gap," highlighting that while Europe's global share of patent applications matches that of the US and China, only one-third of these are commercially exploited. She noted that Europe performs comparably to the US in creating start-ups but lags significantly in scaling them up. Therefore "We have to close that gap. We will invest more and focus better. And we will ensure that our small companies, our start-ups and scale-ups, can thrive here in Europe." she emphasized.

The urgency to act has been underscored by flagship reports from Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, as well as the recent recommendations from the independent expert group led by Manuel Heitor. Each puts emphasis on the need for substantial increases in research and innovation financing to meet long-term policy objectives, all while navigating the challenges of national economic limitations and political divides across Europe.