EU budget debates, the Industrial Accelerator Act and new international partnerships show how competitiveness is shaping research and education policy.
Just before Brussels shifts into summer mode, the EU held its annual budget conference, is moving forward with the new Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), and advancing its international outreach of research and education collaboration.
The Annual EU Budget Conference on 2 July 2026, held under the title ‘Boost Europe: Leveraging the EU Budget for strategic priorities’, offered a snapshot of how the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) debate is being framed. The next MFF is presented as a strategic tool for competitiveness, resilience, security and global partnerships. Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin stated that the EU budget has to increase policy impact and mobilise additional resources. For research, innovation and education stakeholders, it becomes clear once more, that the EU programmes will have to follow a strong policy-logic, whereby their success will be measured against impact and delivering European added value.
This budget debate is connected to a second major file currently moving through Brussels: the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). It was presented by the European Commission on 4 March 2026 with the aim to strengthen Europe’s industrial base, accelerate decarbonisation in strategic sectors and raise the share of manufacturing in EU GDP to 20% by 2035. It is relevant for Switzerland to follow as it introduces targeted and proportionate ‘Made in EU’ requirements to support EU industry. In that context, the IAA contains the idea of Union-origin equivalence for selected partner countries, notably those with free-trade, customs-union or procurement commitments with the EU. The IAA stems from the same part of the European Commission (DG GROW) that is also responsible for the preparation of the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) which will be tightly linked to FP10; therefore the outcomes of the IAA negotiations could be replicated in the ECF and FP10 preparation.
On 25 June 2026, the European business interest association BusinessEurope has reacted to the IAA proposal. While supporting the overall objective of strengthening Europe’s industrial base, they call for clear criteria when defining “Union origin” and content equivalent to Union origin. BusinessEurope, which counts economiesuisse among its members, says that closely integrated partners should be treated in a way that reflects their degree of integration with the EU. Switzerland as a country which is deeply embedded and linked to European value chains and has close sectoral agreements with the EU Single Market, should be considered a trusted partner for the purpose of the IAA.
The international outreach of Horizon Europe further extended: European Commissioner Zaharieva announced on 15 July 2026 that they will officially launch negotiations with India on association with Horizon Europe in the same week. This would be a significant addition to the weight of associated countries still in the current programme generation. And just a day before, on 14 July, the Commission announced that the accession negotiations with Albania on joining the EU successfully concluded the chapters on education and culture as well as science and research. This step – albeit formal – sends a strong message to European research and education actors that cooperation with Albanian institutions is taking place within a stable EU accession framework.
SwissCore will now follow suit with the EU summer break. Our next Synopsis newsletter will be back in your inboxes in September, with new SwissCore colleagues and fresh energy. Until then, we wish you all a refreshing summer, time to recharge, and to those staying in your offices we wish you quiet moments to follow the files that never really go on holiday.