Paolo Pasimeni, Chief Economist at the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (European Commission) and lead author of the 2026 Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU (SRIP) report, discusses some of its key findings and their implications for Europe's productivity growth.

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How is Europe's science, research and innovation performance assessed? Why is it important to analyse this?

Paolo Pasimeni: The two-yearly SRIP report comprises a collection of analyses that attempt to capture every aspect of Europe's complex research and innovation ecosystem. It aims to draw a complete picture of the multifaceted nature of research and innovation systems, that cannot be captured by a single indicator.

In this sense, it differs from another product we publish, the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), which measures and compares research and innovation in EU member states every year.

For example, a prominent topic in this year's SRIP report was R&D investment, we examined the European public and private sector, as well as the world's largest corporate R&D investors to create a comprehensive picture. We also examined the capacity of the EU to attract talent.

The importance of this report is underscored by the idea that for the EU to have a credible, sustainable and sustained growth strategy - it must rely on science, research, technology, and innovation.

Since 2019, Europe's economy has grown 7%, while the Unites States and Chinese economies have grown 15% and 33%, respectively. The SRIP report shows that the main driver of Europe's slower economic growth is a widening productivity gap. The only way to address this gap without undermining our environment or social model, is to invest in science, research, technology and innovation.

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What findings in the 2026 SRIP report did you find the most interesting and why?

Paolo Pasimeni: The report contains many important findings. Specifically, it includes evidence that Europe has a world-class scientific base, strong public research institutions and significant industrial capability that can innovate in the sectors in which we are established. Moreover, we have distinctive, open and diverse research models compared to other countries.

However, we are lacking the capacity to translate our scientific excellence into marketable innovations, leading to faster growth, scale up of profitable companies and new jobs.

The report identifies a lack of investment in research and innovation, both from the public and private sector, compared to other major economies. There are several reasons why the private sector is not investing enough, including framework conditions that are not ideal and market fragmentation.

In addition, the current economic uncertainty is reducing the willingness of the private sector to take risks. There is a need for the public sector to 'de-risk' private sector investment in research and innovation [this means using public funds and policies to absorb possible early-stage financial and technical failures that make private investors hesitant to fund radical research and innovation].

Interestingly, for the first time, the SRIP report shows that more established scientists have been coming to Europe than leaving, suggesting that initiatives such as Choose Europe are helping to attract talent.

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How do the findings in the report align with current European Commission initiatives?

Paolo Pasimeni: Recent proposals by the European Commission are consistent with findings in the report, particularly those aimed at strengthening the European Research Area and increasing investment in research and innovation.

Similarly, the report's analysis supports the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, which aims to improve conditions for businesses by focusing on framework conditions, access to funding, de-risking, and mitigating the costs associated with failure.

The report highlights ways in which the public sector can help the private sector to better target their investments by strengthening technological capabilities and identifying the most promising emerging technologies in which to invest. The European Commission has implemented and proposed several initiatives to address this need.

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What further measures are required to improve Europe's Science, Research and Innovation performance?

Paolo Pasimeni: We are not doing enough to address the chronic lack of investment in science, research and innovation. Because EU funds are much less than national budgets, what we can do at EU level is limited. Thus, vertical coherence between regional, national and EU funding and policy initiatives is critical.

We were very pleased to show in the report that EU funds are not crowding out national efforts in in science, research and innovation. We actually see synergies between national fund spending and a country's capacity to attract EU funds. For example, the report shows that allocating a larger share of cohesion policy funds to research and innovation correlates with a higher capacity to win competitive Horizon Europe grants.

This demonstrates that EU and national instruments financing research and innovation, are vertically aligned and reinforcing each other, which is very positive.

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What would you like to see in the next 2028 SRIP report?

Paolo Pasimeni: I hope that in two years from now we won't have to re-state the findings, but that will require policy makers to act decisively.

If policymakers accept that science, research and innovation are central to Europe's economic strategy, we should really see a change in speed in investment and reforms to shift the capacity of our economy towards higher intensity research and innovation.

We need to both step up productivity in sectors that we are already strong in, such as advanced manufacturing and green technologies, and better target our efforts in frontier technologies, where we are losing ground to the US and China.

Our global competitors are focussing on strategic technology sectors that they want to excel in and lead in globally, we should be matching their level of focus and commitment.

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