La futura política de Investigación e Innovación de la UE tendrá un impacto profundo y duradero en la competitividad y el liderazgo tecnológico de Europa. Para construir un futuro sólido para nuestra sociedad y nuestra economía, necesitamos hacer de Europa el lugar más atractivo para la Investigación, el Desarrollo y la Innovación (I+D+i), donde se crean las nuevas tecnologías punteras y se realizan las inversiones. El progreso tecnológico no sólo es clave para el crecimiento económico y el desarrollo, sino que es un factor geopolítico: dominar las tecnologías esenciales del futuro será crucial para controlar los nodos estratégicos y crear dependencias estratégicas mutuas dentro de las cadenas de valor internacionales. En esencia, es necesaria una política integrada de investigación, innovación e industria para que el futuro de Europa siga estando en nuestras manos.
Orgalim, que representa a las industrias tecnológicas europeas, aboga por duplicar el presupuesto del próximo Programa Marco de Investigación e Innovación (PM10) de la UE hasta los 200.000 millones de euros para igualar las crecientes inversiones en I+D de Estados Unidos y China. El PM10 debe dar prioridad a atraer inversiones en I+D impulsadas por la industria, proporcionando estabilidad de financiación a largo plazo, previsibilidad y apoyo tanto a las grandes empresas como a las PYME.
Recomendaciones de Orgalim:
- FP10 must include a strong, dedicated scheme for technological leadership – which is needed both for economic growth and the transition towards a net-zero and circular industry. Research projects need to align with industry needs to be relevant and to be eventually taken up in value chains. To ensure this, industry must be involved in strategies, roadmaps, and priority definition
- Streamline project application processes, reduce administrative bottlenecks, and adopt flexible funding structures. Simplifying access for businesses, especially SMEs, will encourage broader participation and innovation across different technology readiness levels.
- Strengthen Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) by giving companies a leading role in setting agendas. If we better align research projects with industry needs, their impact on European competitiveness will be maximised.
- Prioritize excellence-based project selection, leveraging objective criteria to ensure high-quality outcomes. This focus on research excellence will enhance the EU’s ability to compete globally and support long-term, impactful innovation.
- Continue efforts to enhance technology infrastructures that bridge R&D policy with industrial policy, enabling efficient testing, validation, and scaling of new technologies.
- Adopt a balanced approach to research security. Measures must be pragmatic, not lead to a further bureaucratic burden and should be limited to clearly defined technological areas which are considered critical.
- Promote and protect intellectual property rights and trade secrets as part of the innovation policy.
- Technical standards play a critical role in translating research into market-ready innovations. The EU should enhance support for companies participating in international standardization bodies, which will facilitate the adoption of European technologies globally.
- Orgalim recommends strengthening collaborations with Switzerland, the UK and other trusted international partners to drive research excellence and innovation
