5 Mar 2025 / 342 Pages (PDF/EN) / ISBN: 978-92-861-5902-2 (PDF/EN)
The report’s executive summary is available here.
The European Union is a technology leader, but it needs to shore up its position if it is to face down increasingly fierce global competition. Three areas could help Europe to maintain its lead: large-scale investment in innovation and better financial support for young firms producing cutting-edge technologies; better integration of its diverse and somewhat fragmented single market; and simplified procedures and lighter bureaucracy.
Europe has enormous strengths: a strong industrial, research and trade base; its climate leadership; and a social model that protects people while helping them develop their skills. Europe is a trade and research powerhouse, with a solid industrial foundation. The rise of advanced digital technologies like artificial intelligence and big data analytics could be a boon for productivity. At the same time, Europe’s climate leadership is paying off through progress on the energy transition and its prominent position in the innovation and trade of green technologies.
To take advantage of these and other opportunities, the European Union needs significant and consistent investment. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis, strong public support lifted private investment. Maintaining that support, however, will be difficult as individual countries feel pressure to pare debt and as EU fiscal rules come back into force. Maximising the impact of public funds will be crucial. Effectively using targeted instruments to attract private investment will also be important, as will coordinating efforts at the EU level. Only then, will the European economy pull in the investment needed to realise its enormous potential. Read online
