02-07-2025
Paving the Way for Europe's competitive green future
The 'R&I for a competitive green transition' event in Brussels on 23-24 June highlighted why investing in green research and innovation is an essential driver of E urope's sustainable prosperity.
The event was a satellite event of the EU Research and Innovation (R&I) Days 2025 of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. It brought together policymakers, researchers, investors, industry and civil society actors to explore how green transition-related R&I can drive a fair, sustainable, and competitive future for Europe.
At the Euractiv policy dialogue of 23 June as well as the full-day conference on 24 June, speakers aligned on the enabling role of R&I in transforming a green necessity into a green opportunity. Clean and green technologies help reduce emissions and heal our planet, but they also boost our global leadership in new markets. Cleaner business models reduce our companies' environmental footprint, but they also create better jobs and they build stronger and more resilient supply chains.
The closing remarks at the conference were delivered by Director-General Marc Lemaître, who reflected on the outcomes of the event and the role of R&I in providing tangible solutions for Europe's green transition and competitiveness.
The text below is a lightly edited and shorter version of his closing remarks.
The European Union's green transition is no longer an abstract concept. Across Europe, research and innovation are already delivering tangible results — from transforming food systems and restoring biodiversity, to building circular economies and advancing climate adaptation. These achievements reflect the collective efforts of scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs working for a more sustainable, competitive, and resilient Europe.
Yet we find ourselves in a world increasingly defined by geopolitical instability, climate disruption, and economic uncertainty. Europe must double down, accelerate its transition and scale up investments in research and innovation. To do so effectively, we must ensure that the brightest minds and boldest ideas can thrive within Europe's borders.
Three pillars — delivering real results, urgency for acceleration, and unlocking Europe's potential — must guide our work going forward.
Research and innovation are already delivering
Since the launch of the European Green Deal in 2019, the EU has placed R&I at the heart of its policy agenda. The climate contribution of Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research programme, will reach 35%, or more than €30 billion by 2027. Spending on biodiversity-related R&I has increased to 8.7% and will reach 10% by 2027. Over €3 million contributed to improving air quality.
This funding is translating into real-world impact. R&I projects are actively piloting net-zero farming, restoring ecosystems, and developing real-time digital tools for climate adaptation. Full-scale demonstrators are showing how circular production can be applied to materials and textiles. In the bioeconomy, European startups are generating more sustainable alternatives to intensively-farmed food, and fossil fuel-based plastics, chemicals and fuels — helping build new industrial value chains, technologies and jobs. In water-related cleantech, Europe leads the world, accounting for approximately 40% of water-related technology patents. In addition to underpinning Europe's frontier businesses in water technologies and services, EU R&I funding helps find solutions that make our farms more resilient to drought, our energy, mining and agrifood business more water-smart, and our rivers, lakes and groundwater resources less impacted.
These initiatives demonstrate that the green transition is already underway!
Changing context, changing needs
At the same time, the context in which we operate has changed dramatically. In the six years since the European Green Deal was announced, the EU has faced multiple overlapping crises — from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine to devastating floods and fires, conflicts, humanitarian and environmental crises that are shaking our world. Alarmingly, 2024 was the first on record to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures.
This evolving context calls for a new level of ambition. To safeguard Europe's resilience and the well-being of EU citizens, we must become more competitive and resource-efficient, strengthen our supply chains, and reduce dependencies. Moreover, the EU has a political, moral and legal commitment to reach climate neutrality by 2050.
To stay on track, the EU must accelerate the implementation of the European Green Deal and leverage new initiatives such as the Clean Industrial Deal and the Competitiveness Compass. EU R&I Missions and Partnerships are already fostering collaboration across all levels of governance and helping engage citizens and industry in transformative change. Overall, however, progress remains partial. More ambition is needed to achieve our 2030 climate and environmental objectives.
The message is clear: R&I works. R&I delivers. And it must be scaled up to meet the urgency of the moment.
Creating the conditions for innovation to thrive
Delivering a competitive green transition requires more than funding. It demands a thriving research and innovation ecosystem that attracts and retains talent, supports startups, and protects scientific freedom.
To make Europe a destination of choice for researchers worldwide, structural improvements are necessary. Challenges such as limited job security, uncompetitive salaries, and mobility barriers must be addressed. The Choose Europe initiative is an important step in this direction. Through the ERA Act, we intend to improve working conditions for researchers and address administrative hurdles including visa processes. We will propose to enshrine scientific freedom in law. And provide €500 million in funding for the period 2025–2027 through the European Research Council, Horizon Europe, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
The EU must live up to its commitment to investing 3% of GDP in research and development. At the same time, we must create the right framework conditions to support the scale-up of green and clean technologies. While Europe leads globally in clean tech patents — accounting for 22% of the total — we must build on this advantage. In 2023, green tech was the only area where EU venture capital investment levels matched those of the US.
To maintain this momentum, the recently announced EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy will help clean and green innovators grow faster and further by cutting red tape, improving access to financing, and facilitating market access across the Single Market.
Conclusion
Europe has the tools, the talent, and the technological edge to lead the global green transition. The progress we've seen so far shows what is possible when research and innovation are placed at the heart of our policy agenda. To fully deliver on this promise — and to ensure the benefits reach all corners of our society — we must scale up our efforts.
Only by harnessing the full power of research and innovation can we deliver a competitive green transition and a better future for EU citizens.
Let's continue working together to make it happen.
Marc Lemaître is the Director-General at DG for Research and Innovation, European Commission.
