EU advances European Innovation Act to strengthen tech market and retain quantum breakthroughs

The European Union is promoting the European Innovation Act (EIA) as a central element of its new competitiveness agenda. The proposal seeks to bridge the gap between world‑class research and marketable products by simplifying regulations, harmonising procurement rules, improving access to finance and reducing cross‑border fragmentation for startups and scale‑ups. The act has been postponed to allow coordination with other policy dossiers, including a revision of public‑procurement rules, underscoring the EU’s intent to address innovation barriers system‑wide.

At the World Tech Conference 2026 in Milan, Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice‑President for technological sovereignty, warned that Europe must keep promising innovations, such as quantum technology, within its own markets. She urged the EU to create conditions that enable European companies to expand domestically rather than see their breakthroughs commercialised elsewhere, linking the policy push to concrete sectors like quantum computing.