Commission postpones European Innovation Act as further work is needed, Zaharieva says

Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, has said that the proposal for a European Innovation Act (EIA) will be delayed as it needs further work.

Speaking at the European Parliament's Committee for Industry, Technology and Research (ITRE) on 23/03/2026, Zaharieva said: "We decided to postpone [the presentation of the Innovation Act] because we want to get it right. In a nutshell, additional work is needed to strengthen its substance and ensure coherence with other proposals". The EIA was supposed to be adopted on the same day as the proposal for the 28^th regime company law, which was presented on 18/03/2026.

Zaharieva said the Innovation Act aimed to address market demand, particularly through pre-commercial public procurement, but added there was a need to align it with the upcoming revision of public procurement directives in the autumn to ensure policy coherence. She said that public procurement in the EU is below 1%, compared to around 7% in the United States.

She said that while the 28^th regime will make it easier for all entrepreneurs…