New European Innovation Agenda to spearhead the new innovation wave
The New European Innovation Agenda (NEIA), adopted by the European Commission on 5 July 2022, aims at positioning Europe at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation through 25 dedicated actions gathered under five flagships: (1) Funding scale-ups; (2) Enabling innovation through experimentation spaces and public procurement; (3) Accelerating and strengthening innovation in European Innovation Ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation divide; (4) Fostering, attracting and retaining talents; and (5) Improving policy-making tools.
On 20 March 2024, the Commission adopted the first NEIA implementation report New European Innovation Agenda on the move, taking stock and presenting progress on the 25 actions, marking 13 of them as completed and the other 12 as ongoing.
ERRIN contribution to the call for evidence for the NEIA
May 2022
ERRIN's work on NEIA
ERRIN has been engaged in the NEIA since before its launch, welcoming it as an initiative to strengthen the innovation dimension of the European R&I policy, and providing input to the call for evidence in May 2022. The network has been focusing in particular on flagship three, which puts an emphasis on strengthening and connecting regional innovation ecosystems across Europe, creating closer links between policies and tackling the innovation gap, including via the creation of 100 Regional Innovation Valleys. We have been actively endorsing the Regional Innovation Valleys initiative, and supporting ERRIN members in applying to related calls via tailored activities.
Linking to the NEIA, ERRIN is also involved in the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRI) initiative of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions. PRI aims to build on regional smart specialisation strategies, expanding their scope to sustainable transition and broadening stakeholder engagement. In 2022-2023, the first PRI Pilot took place, with participation of 48 ERRIN members. Second PRI Pilot will launch in 2024. The network remains engaged in fostering and steering PRI through members and direct cooperation with the JRC and CoR.
ERRIN's policy messages
To enhance the impact of the New European Innovation Agenda and related initiatives, the following points should be considered:
- Emphasising and fostering opportunities for multi-stakeholder, place-based ecosystems
- Addressing the innovation divide by including specific provisions for higher engagement of widening countries in related calls’ conditions
- Improving coherence of public funding and funding synergies by providing support to regions and member states on achieving them in practice
- Fostering a mission-oriented approach in Partnerships for Regional Innovation
