EU 2026 Spring Package: Commission sounds alarm on R&D investment gap and STEM shortages

The European Commission’s 2026 European Semester Spring Package has issued a warning regarding the Union’s standing in the global innovation race, calling for an urgent intensification of research and development (R&D) investment and a transformation of the higher education landscape to meet strategic technological needs.

This annual package, which provides country-specific recommendations on economic and social policies to EU member states, was published on 03/06/2026. It highlighted a deepening "innovation gap" between the EU and its global competitors, positioning education and research as the primary pillars for future economic resilience.

A central takeaway is the stagnation of European research funding: in 2024, EU R&D spending remained at 2.2% of GDP, a figure that significantly trails other major economies. The Commission noted that the EU had now been overtaken by China (2.6%) and continued to lag far behind the United States and Japan (3.4%) and South Korea (5%).

To address this, the 2026 Country-Specific Recommendations prioritise closing the innovation gap by fostering…