The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) has recently published two reports examining the EU’s relative competitiveness in emerging and complex technologies, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and quantum computing, compared to major global players, notably the United States and China. 

The first report, “Divided we fall behind – Why a fragmented EU cannot compete in complex technologies”, investigates the extent to which Europe’s leading research and innovation hubs collaborate and share knowledge. Drawing on a connectivity index ranging from 0 to 1, it assesses interconnection using indicators such as co-authored scientific publications and joint patent filings between 2000 and 2023. The findings show that Europe’s collaborative links remain comparatively weak, particularly in technology fields that require multidisciplinary expertise rarely found in a single location. 

On patent collaboration, Europe scores just 0.4, compared with 0.68 for the United States. The difference is narrower in academic cooperation, where joint publication scores are 0.76 for the EU and 0.81 for the US. This suggests that while academic research is relatively well integrated, industrial innovation continues to face barriers due to fragmented regulatory frameworks, diverging national priorities and structural challenges such as inconsistent intellectual property regimes, differing tax systems and limited access to cross-border capital. 

The report also notes that cooperation between member states is hindered by elements such as labour legislation, visa procedures and the absence of a fully developed capital markets union. Furthermore, a large share of research and innovation funding continues to be allocated at national or regional level, limiting the EU’s ability to align priorities and pursue a more strategic and coordinated approach 

To address these structural challenges, the report echoes recommendations from the Draghi and Letta reports, particularly Letta’s proposal for a new "fifth freedom" focused on research, innovation and education. It calls for increased investment in cross-border, multi-hub collaborative projects in complex technology domains, as well as better access to shared research infrastructure. The forthcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act, expected in the second half of 2026, could, it says, mark a turning point by introducing binding mechanisms to reduce fragmentation. Until now, the ERA has relied primarily on voluntary national commitments. 

These conclusions are reinforced by a second DG RTD publication, “A comparative analysis of public R&I funding in the EU, US, and China”. This report finds that both the United States and China are more effective in leveraging public research funding to attract private investment, leaving the EU more dependent on public sources. In absolute terms, the EU invests less in public research and development than the US, while China has shown the fastest growth in public spending. The analysis also notes that the EU tends to focus on early-stage research, whereas the US and China direct more resources to projects with higher technology readiness levels. Despite these differences, it underlines, all three economies maintain strong research and innovation ecosystems supported by similar instruments, including dedicated agencies and public–private partnerships. 

Together, the two reports reaffirm the urgent need to reduce fragmentation and promote a more integrated European research and innovation landscape as essential to strengthening the EU’s global competitiveness in critical technologies.