Promoting the development and deployment of innovations for European sovereignty and competitiveness – interfaces and synergies between national and European instruments

• Project description       

The overall objective of the project is to develop, accompany and evaluate proposals for research and innovation policy instruments in Germany for the negotiations on the design of the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. New requirements for the selection and design of research, technology and innovation policy instruments arise from a wide range of challenges, including digital transformation, global crises and societal change. New political priorities, such as increasing competitiveness and addressing security interests, also raise the coordination requirements of the instrument mix. To formulate adequate proposals for the design and interlinkage of instruments within the multi-level governance system, existing, planned and potential instruments at both the European and national levels will be identified and systematically compiled in the form of a toolbox. Interfaces between instruments at the EU and national levels, as well as across different policy areas, such as research and innovation policy and industrial policy, will be conceptualized. Recommendations will also be formulated on when national instruments should be preferred over European instruments and vice versa. Interviews with policy actors from Germany and the EU will ensure the practical relevance of the proposed instruments and the identified interfaces. Furthermore, interviews with policy actors from other EU Member States will be used to transfer lessons learned on the design and implementation of policy instruments to the German context, with the aim of identifying policy options and improving the design of suitable measures.

• Funding Authority: Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space
• Project Promotion: EU Bureau of the BMFTR
• Project Duration: 01.01.2026 - 30.09.2028
• Scientific Coordinator: Prof. Carsten Dreher / Julia Simper

Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Economics, Professorship of Innovation Management (Prof. Carsten Dreher, Julia Simper, Alexandra Witt, Linus Kühn)