Overview
Europe has always been a continent of industry, enterprise and innovation – reinventing itself through industrial and tech revolutions, global competition and changing societies.
We emerged stronger from the shock of lockdowns and overcame an unprecedented energy crisis, achieving this together with resilience and determination. However, our competitiveness now needs a major boost. The global economy is changing rapidly.
To safeguard and boost Europe’s competitiveness, also vis-à-vis other global actors, prosperity, and fairness, we must take decisive action. This starts with making business easier and faster, and deepening our single market across all sectors. The competitiveness compass, as the first major initiative of the new Commission, will frame our future work building on the Draghi report.
Key figures
Objectives
Making business easierto foster economic growth
- A Clean Industrial Deal
to support EU’s competitive industries and create quality jobs
- A more circular and resilient economy
to transition to more sustainable production and consumption practices
- Boosting productivity with digital tech diffusion
to strengthen EU's competitiveness and become a leader in AI innovation
- Putting research and innovation
at the heart of our economy
- Turbo charging investment
to accelerate green, digital and social transition
- Tackling the skills and labour gaps
to improve people’s careers and economic competitiveness
How we will achieve our objectives
Over the next few years, to ensure Europe’s competitiveness and prosperity, we will
Make business easier and faster
To enhance our competitiveness, we will
- introduce a competitiveness compass to close the innovation gap, decarbonise and increase security
- complete the single market in key sectors to allow companies to scale up
- implement a new approach to competition policy
- reduce administrative burden and reduce reporting obligations by at least 25% and at least 35% for SMEs
- stress-test the EU acquis and make proposals to simplify and codify legislation to eliminate overlaps and contradictions, while maintaining high standards
- propose a new EU-wide legal status to help innovative companies grow
- have a new SME and competitiveness check to help avoid unnecessary administrative burden
- propose to renew the Interinstitutional agreement on simplification and better law-making
To stay the course on the goals set out in the European Green Deal, decarbonise our economy and bring down energy prices, we will
- present a Clean Industrial Deal to make our industry competitive and create quality jobs
- propose to set out a 90% emission-reduction target for 2040 in the European Climate Law
- support industries and companies through the transition by launching an industrial decarbonisation accelerator act, helping to speed up related planning, tendering and permitting
- reduce energy costs for households and businesses by completing the energy union
- invest in clean energy infrastructure and technologies
- activate and extend our aggregate demand mechanism to go beyond gas and include hydrogen and critical raw materials
- secure supplies of raw materials, clean energy and clean tech with the development of clean trade and investment partnerships
- continue to be a leader in international climate negotiations
- encourage rail travel and propose a single digital booking and ticketing regulation, to ensure that Europeans can buy one single ticket on one single platform and get passengers’ rights for their whole trip
To shift to a more sustainable pattern of production and consumption, retaining the value of resources in our economy for longer, we will
- help to create market demand for secondary materials and a single market for waste through a new circular economy act
- put forward a new chemicals industry package, providing clarity on ‘forever chemicals’, or PFAS
- work to complete the European health union, diversifying supply chains, fostering access to most advanced treatments, making the health and pharmaceutical sector more resilient
- work on reducing dependencies on critical medicines and ingredients by putting forward a critical medicines act
- step up our work on preventive health, in particular for mental health, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, as well on treatments for degenerative illnesses and research on autism
- safeguard the security of our healthcare systems by proposing a European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers
To increase productivity through diffusion of digital technologies, we will
- encourage investments in digital infrastructures to improve access to secure, fast and reliable connectivity
- continue to step up our enforcement of the EU digital laws
- tackle challenges with e-commerce platforms
- step up investment in supercomputing, semiconductors, the Internet of Things, genomics, quantum computing, and space tech
- ensure access to supercomputing capacity for AI startups and industry via an AI continent action plan
- boost new industrial uses of AI and improve public services with an apply AI strategy
- pool all our resources through a new European AI Research Council
- ensure seamless and at-scale data sharing with a European data union strategy
To enhance Europe’s competitiveness and drive it towards a new age of invention and ingenuity, we will place research, innovation, science and technology at the centre of our economy. We will
- increase research spending to focus more on strategic priorities
- expand the European Research Council and the European Innovation Council
- make it easier and faster to bring biotech from the laboratory to the market with a European biotech act
- support green and digital transitions and develop high-value technologies through a strategy for European life sciences
- enhance collaboration between research departments, higher education and business by strengthening university alliances
We will invest massively in our sustainable competitiveness, by using public investment to leverage and de-risk private capital. We will
- put forward risk-absorbing measures to make it easier for commercial banks, investors and venture capital to finance fast-growing companies
- review our rules to address barriers that restrict the amount of European capital available to finance innovation
- leverage private savings to invest in innovation and the clean and digital transitions with the establishment of a European savings and investments union
- revise public procurement rules to enable preference to be given to European products for certain strategic sectors
- develop strategic technologies and manufacture them in Europe by establishing a European competitiveness fund that will also support Important Projects of Common Interest
To improve people’s careers and our competitiveness, we will
- establish a union of skills which will focus on investment, lifelong learning and skill retention
- work to improve basic skills
- propose a STEM education strategic plan to address decline in performance, the lack of qualified teachers in areas linked to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and bring more girls into STEM education and careers
- promote vocational education and training (VET) with a European strategy for VET
- boost and refocus skills funding in the EU budget
- ensure cross-country skill recognition by putting forward a skills portability initiative and continue to work towards a European degree
Progress to date
Monitor, follow, and stay updated on the progress of new initiatives, proposed laws and legislative changes under this priority
- January 2026
Presentation of the digital networks act to update and simplify EU rules on digital connectivity
- December 2025
Presentation of the new biotech act and of the revised Medical Devices Regulation to improve health and the healthcare sector
Proposal of new rules to upgrade the EU's energy infrastructure
The EU sets a new legally binding climate target of 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions for 2040
Launch of new measures to fully integrate EU financial markets
Presentation of a strategic approach to strengthen EU’s economic security and an action plan to secure raw materials
In the spotlight
EU Inc., a new single set of corporate rules, will make it easier for businesses to start, operate and grow across the EU. Its optional, fully digital procedures would enable innovative companies to scale up and incentivise them to stay in Europe and encourage those who once looked elsewhere to return.
It is part of the new broader 28th regime that offers businesses the chance to seize the benefits of the single market. EU inc. will allow faster registration and simpler procedures, enabling a company to set up within 48 hours, for less than €100, and only requiring them to submit their company information once, via an EU-level interface.
The Commission is calling on the European Parliament and the Council to reach an agreement on the EU Inc. proposal by the end of 2026.
Who is in charge
Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition
Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy
Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness
Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security
Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification
Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth
Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union
Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation
Commissioner for Energy and Housing
Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism