The new European Competitiveness Fund was released on 17 July 2025. It will draw together investment firepower at EU level to accelerate the scaling-up, manufacturing and deployment of strategic technologies in Europe. It will become a key tool to bolster the competitiveness of European companies and strengthen the EU’s industrial base, including by supporting ‘made in Europe’ technologies, products and services. Replacing the current patchwork of overlapping programmes, the fund, operating under a single rulebook, will greatly simplify and accelerate EU funding, including for small businesses. It will allow the EU to invest where it matters – and to invest with impact. The fund will feature simplified and fast-tracked selection, evaluation and award procedures, and will provide simplified reporting requirements for recipients of EU funding, bringing funding faster to project promoters.

Following the recommendation of the Draghi report, the European Competitiveness Fund will focus on EU public goods. The fund will support areas critical for EU competitiveness: clean transition and decarbonisation; digital leadership; resilience and security, defence industry and space; and health, biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy. It will also offer advisory services for project promoters.

Public investment at European level has a vital role to play as a catalyst for private 
investment. The European Competitiveness Fund will offer a comprehensive funding toolkit for crowding in private investment. This will allow each selected project to access the most appropriate form of support, be that grants or loans, procurement, or financial instruments including equity investments. Crucially, the proven firepower of InvestEU will leveragepublic and private investment towards EU priority sectors, working in close cooperation with its implementing partners – the European Investment Bank and other national promotional banks. The Fund will also support public-private partnerships including Important Projects of Common European Interest.

Text extracted from the Communication “A dynamic EU Budget for the priorities of the future - The Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034”.
 

Further informationon the EC website dedicated to the European Competitiveness Fund: https://commission.europa.eu/publications/european-competitiveness-fund_en