According to Ron Boschma, Professor in Regional Economics at Utrecht University, a place-based approach in future European R&I policy is important. He authored a chapter on this topic in the biennial 2026 Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU (SRIP) report. At the report's launch event in Brussels on 1 October 2026, he took part in a roundtable discussion on leveraging the EU's assets to boost competitiveness.

In this interview, he shares his thoughts on Europe's science, research and innovation ecosystem and ways to improve it.

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How would you describe Europe's science, research and innovation ecosystem?

Ron Boschma: Europe's science, research and innovation ecosystem is robust and features some of the world's finest universities. However, it does not always lead globally, and European universities are not at the top of international rankings.

This situation is partly due to the fragmentation of research and innovation efforts. Science policies are predominantly set and funded at a national level, leading to a spread of resources across many countries rather than concentrating them in a few elite institutions, as in the United States.

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What are the key challenges affecting Europe's performance in science, research and innovation?

Ron Boschma: A longstanding issue is the limited transfer of knowledge from research institutions to industry and society. This disconnect hinders the ability of scientific advancements to contribute to economic productivity and tackle societal challenges, as new knowledge and ideas in academia are not always efficiently translated into commercially viable products and processes.

As the 2026 SRIP report notes, Europe also struggles with scaling up companies. Start-ups often find it challenging to secure the necessary finance for expansion. Many promising European start-ups end up going to the United States to seek capital, leading to a significant drain of talent and potential economic growth from Europe.

Europe's fragmented capital market doesn't help. While some countries like Sweden have relatively good access to venture capital, many others do not. Europe doesn't lack capital; it holds very large pension funds, but they are restricted to invest in a very risk averse way and often invest in the United States rather than in Europe.

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Why is Europe lagging behind the US in productivity growth?

Ron Boschma: As identified in the 2024 Draghi Report on EU Competitiveness, Europe is in a 'mid-tech trap', as investment tends to flow into established sectors, like automotive, leaving only small pockets of high-tech activity in chip production and pharmaceuticals. Transitioning to high-tech sectors requires a very active industrial policy and billions of euros in targeted investment.

To close the productivity gap with the United States, we need to improve connectedness between scientific research and industry and stimulate the adoption of technology within European companies. It is still unclear how adoption of AI will increase productivity in Europe; we aren't seeing it yet, but we also don't have good data to measure this accurately.

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Why are place-based approaches indispensable to boost Europe's competitiveness?

Ron Boschma: I emphasise in the report that an active industrial policy must consider capabilities at a subnational level. All regions should contribute to innovation, but will do so in different ways. A top-down, one-size-fits all policy will not make best use of Europe's diversity in skills and capabilities.

We need to target and promote investment in regions based on their strengths and potential to develop competitiveness. Not every region can or should develop the same activities, as capabilities differ widely across regions.

Since 2014, the Smart Specialisation policy has successfully guided EU innovation spending towards regional development. While more measures are needed to encourage collaboration between regions, it would be a mistake to abolish this policy in favour of centralisation as proposed in the draft for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

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