Securing Europe’s Technological Leadership: The Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe’s Next Chapter.

This seminar is hosted by Member of European Parliament Ms. Sofie Eriksson (S&D/Sweden)  
Date: 18 mars 2026
Time: 08:00–09:00 (breakfast served from 07:45)
Venue: European Parliament, Brussels

Europe’s ability to secure technological leadership will define its future competitiveness, resilience and security. As global competition intensifies, the European Union must ensure that its research excellence translates into industrial strength, strategic autonomy and sustainable growth. 
Following the first discussions in the ITRE Committee of the European Parliament, there is an increased concern about the lack of focus on one of Europe’s strongest assets in its innovation ecosystem: pre-competitive collaboration. For decades, collaborative R&I under Pillar II has been a cornerstone of the European way to innovate, enabling industry, research organisations, universities, and SMEs to jointly develop technologies, de-risk innovation, and build strategic value chains across borders. 
We are pleased to invite you to a breakfast seminar at the European Parliament to discuss how the upcoming Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) can better support Europe’s industrial scale-up and innovation capacity.
This event is a joint initiative by partners representing the full innovation and industrial value chain - Technology Industries of Sweden, RISE, FAM, Stockholm Region EU-office and University Alliance Stockholm Trio - from leading research institutions and universities to industry, investors and innovation actors. Together, we reflect the broad stakeholder ecosystem essential to ensuring that Horizon Europe and the future Competitiveness Fund deliver real impact focusing on:•    Strengthen Europe’s capacity to scale up new technologies
•    Mobilise private investment and reinforce industrial engagement
•    Create stronger synergies between national and EU-level innovation ecosystems
•    Ensure that new EU structures maximise impact and competitiveness