Germany's second Enhanced Dialogue with Commission on national and European R&I policy and strategy

Germany hosted its second Enhanced Dialogue with the European Commission in Berlin on 02-03/03/2026, bringing together Secretary of State Marcus Pleyer of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and Marc Lemaître, Director-General for Research and Innovation.

This Enhanced Dialogue, a new channel of cooperation with the European Commission to create a country-tailored approach to foster research and innovation (R&I), focused on Germany’s R&I policy, priorities under the European Research Area (ERA) and the future direction of European R&I funding in the run-up to the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

The two highlighted the strengths (strong industrial leadership, world-class research institutions and sustained public investment) and challenges (scaling up breakthrough innovation and accelerating technology transfer) of the German R&I system.

"The exchange highlighted how Germany’s ambitious High-Tech Agenda is addressing these gaps by aligning research excellence with industrial competitiveness in key enabling technologies," noted the European Commission…