"The EIC is a success story, but we cannot afford to hit the pause button" (Ekaterina Zaharieva)

"The EIC is a success story we must celebrate, but we cannot afford to hit the pause button. Our competitiveness is on the line, we must close the innovation gap. Still, too many start-ups fail to graduate growth stage. We must stop Europe's innovation drain. Even more, we must make Europe the best destination global innovators choose to go in", states Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation on 03/04/2025, at the second day of the EIC Summit in Brussels.

The same day, the 2025 EIC Impact report is published, which highlights the successes of the EIC since its launch in 2021. But, according to Marc Lemaitre, DGRI, who outlines the key points to remember at the end of the summit, there is still room to progress.

He highlights that, in the context of the development of the Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, which will be presented on 28/05/2025, "we have heard that we need much more public procurement and perhaps a bit less of granting. We also heard an interesting formula about regulation as an enabler, providing a safe, stable, predictable…