Business Europe letter calls for budget increase for collaborative R&I under next MFF

In a letter to the Cypriot Council Presidency, dated 25 February 2026, Business Europe conveyed some key messages to the Competitiveness Council ahead of its meeting on 26-27 February 2026.

With regard to the European Competitiveness Fund, Business Europe states it strongly supports the creation of the ECF, merging 14 existing programmes related to “competitiveness” areas and organising them under four policy windows. It considers that the ECF, with its reinforced budget of €362 billion, would have the potential to support EU competitiveness by introducing a single rulebook, simplifying procedure for application and disbursement of funding, and sustaining innovation in a “seamless investment journey” from R&I to manufacturing. Business Europe sees the following requirements for the ECF to achieve its objectives:

• ECF funding is maintained and allocated through open competition, following the criteria of excellence and highest relevance for European competitiveness. In limited cases, Business Europe regards exceptions to this principle to be justified, with targeted calls, for example, with capacity building or resilience actions, and synergies with cohesion policy, ensuring a minimum degree of geographical balance.
• The creation of a Strategic Stakeholders Board with strong industry participation is welcome, but its responsibilities and application procedures should be clarified, and a relevant industry representation guaranteed.
• Business Europe welcomes many of the new tools proposed in the single rulebook for the ECF, such as the Accelerated and Targeted Actions for Competitiveness, the EU Tech Frontrunners, and Production Ramp-Up Actions; the possibility to cumulate funding across different programmes and to enable top-ups to IPCEIs; and the strengthened role for InvestEU.
• The association welcomes the support for SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups, and Small MidCaps through dedicated actions, 100% funding rates, advisory services, and simplified access tools to strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem, stating, however, that more information on the implementation details is needed.

In addition to the ECF itself, Business Europe welcomes the strong links between the ECF and FP10. In the R&I context, Business Europe states that the four policy windows of the ECF should be complementary, seamless funding instruments of Horizon Europe that reinforce the innovation–deployment continuum, providing targeted support to accelerate the uptake of research results across sectors.

Business Europe also calls for an increased Horizon Europe budget beyond the MFF proposal, in line with the Draghi report, and for a reinforced Pillar II (public-private partnerships). It sees strengthening collaborative research under Pillar II as essential, with clear links to the ECF and the other pillars of Horizon Europe, particularly with governance structures which reflect the long-term nature of industrial R&I. Business Europe calls on the co-legislators to preserve the budgetary ambition of the proposal, increasing the dedicated budget for collaborative research and innovation activities, and ensure a clearer structure, governance framework, and implementing rules.

For more information:

Business Europe: Key messages to EU Competitiveness Council of 26 February 2026