European Commission adopts charter to speed firm access to research labs

The European Commission has adopted a new Charter of Access for Industrial Users to Research and Technology Infrastructures, aimed at making it faster and easier for companies—especially startups, scale‑ups and small‑ and medium‑sized enterprises—to use Europe’s world‑class research facilities. The charter sets out six voluntary principles that focus on boosting visibility, ensuring transparent and high‑quality services, simplifying contracts, safeguarding intellectual property, providing tailored support and encouraging data‑sharing cooperation among research infrastructures.

Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva said innovative firms need cutting‑edge infrastructure to develop and test ideas and bring innovations to market more quickly. The initiative is part of the EU’s Startup and Scale‑up Strategy and the broader EU research‑technology infrastructure agenda, intended to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness against the United States and China. An outreach campaign including webinars, events and an open repository of best practices will support implementation.