ITRE Rapporteurs Present Draft Report on the Regulation for the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) 2027–2034

With 354 amendments to the Commission’s proposal, the rapporteurs are aiming for a fund that is more closely aligned with the research and innovation chain and offers greater predictability. Europe, they argue, needs a competitiveness fund that is firmly anchored in the real economy and capable of promoting innovation, industrial implementation and scale-up, thus strengthening the ability of European industry to compete globally while also driving ecological and digital transformation. 

Connections between ECF and Horizon Europe 

The proposal follows months of debate on how “Horizon Europe” and the ECF should be connected – an aspect that ranks among the most controversial points of the Commission’s proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), due to start in 2028. 

According to the draft report, in order for the Union to effectively translate its research excellence into global economic leadership, a close connection between the ECF and “Horizon Europe” is essential, with clear pathways from innovation to the real economy. They claim for the introduction of “Pathway Actions” – bridging funding between the two funds, designed to establish clear routes for the introduction, commercialisation, scaling, licensing, standardisation, application or other forms of implementation of world-leading innovations from the framework programme into practice. These grants, to be financed through the ECF, are intended to help close the gap between the programmes, without binding “Horizon Europe” to the policy-driven ECF. 

Acccording to the rapporteurs, the implementation of Pillar II of “Horizon Europe” should not fall under ECF governance, but should instead be independent and guided by experts. They thus reject the Commission’s proposal to create a single work programme to steer both the ECF and Pillar 2 of “Horizon Europe” for collaborative research. At the same time, it should be structurally aligned with the ECF by mirroring the structure of the so-called policy windows.

Skills in all ECF Policy Windows 

The draft report also emphasises that competitiveness cannot be restored unless the workforce is equipped to adapt to industrial change and technological progress, thus calling for skills be embedded in all policy windows and not be treated as a secondary objective. 

The rapporteurs propose, as suggested by the Commission, that the ECF should operate via four policy windows reflecting the Union’s main political priorities. The policy windows called for by them are: energy infrastructure, industrial decarbonisation and clean technologies (replacing the Commission’s proposal of “energy transition and industrial decarbonisation”); digital infrastructure and agile digital leadership (replacing “digital leadership”); health, biotechnology and sustainable prosperity (replacing “health, biotechnology, agriculture and bioeconomy”); and critical resources, security, defence industry and space (replacing “defence industry and space”). 

By integrating skills as a cross-cutting objective, opportunities for synergies with the Erasmus+ programme could arise. Moreover, this could create expanded opportunities for higher education institutions and stakeholder organisations such as the DAAD, enabling them to attract funding from the ECF and to develop innovative projects focused on skills developing. 

Budget Increase to €234.3 Billion 

The rapporteurs also propose increasing the ECF budget from €234.3 billion, as suggested by the Commission, to €257.7 billion. However, this amount still falls short of the €264.4 billion proposed by the Parliament’s Budget Committee in its draft report on the overall EU budget on 15. April.