Senior French and German finance figures set out reform strategy to close EU's innovation funding gap

A former Finance Minister of Germany and the Honorary Governor of the Banque de France have proposed "a comprehensive reform strategy" to close the innovation funding gap in Europe.

Jörg Kukies, former German Finance Minister, and Christian Noyer, Honorary Governor of the Banque de France, have presented a strategy based on five structural recommendations in a report published in January 2026. Commissioned in July 2025 by the German and French finance ministers, Lars Klingbeil and Éric Lombard, the two authors steered the Franco-German FIVE (Financing Innovative Ventures in Europe) Initiative.

The recommendations include: undertaking an ambitious reform of supplementary pension schemes in Europe, increasing the attractiveness of initial public offerings and creating a "28^th regime" for company law, i.e. a single legislative regime that applies in all 27 EU member states.

In the experts' report, these measures are deemed necessary at a time when "European companies are struggling to scale up and cross the 'scale-up gap', the critical stage in their development when they need to move…