EU and Portugal team up to keep brightest tech talents at home

The European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, concluded a high-level country visit to Portugal yesterday, reinforcing the joint commitment to accelerate competitiveness, close the innovation gap, and establish Europe as a global tech powerhouse.

The visit featured bilateral meetings with the Portugese Minister for Education, Science, and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Secretary of State for the Budget, José Maria Brandão de Brito, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas and alongside addresses to national business leaders and academics at the 1st National Science and Innovation Conference (Encontro Ciência e Inovação 2026).

With Portugal leading the EU's "Widening" member states under Horizon Europe - having secured €1.3 billion in funding already - the discussions focused on a shared roadmap for the upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act, the €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund and the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

Commissioner Zaharieva said:

"Europe is incredible at inventing things, but sometimes brilliant students who build amazing tech, are forced to watch Silicon Valley or Asian investors buy them out. We must stop being the world's incubator. By launching our €5 billion fund this autumn and stripping away regulatory headaches, we are giving our innovators a home-team advantage. Portugal is already proving what's possible, now we need to back them up with investments and fewer bureaucratic hurdles."

Key milestones on the Horizon

During the visit, the Commission highlighted four major initiatives designed to transform how Europe supports its tech sector:

• In alignment with the 2026 European Semester Country-Specific Recommendations, the Commission emphasised the critical need for Member States to transition from temporary recovery funding (RRF) into stable, long-term national public R&I budgets to hit the Union's 3% GDP target. Every euro invested via Horizon Europe is projected to generate up to €11 in GDP gains by 2045
• Slated for adoption in the second half of 2026, the ERA Act will turn voluntary commitments into European law. It will legally safeguard the freedom of scientific research, make it easier for talent to move across borders, establish a standard EU-level contract for researchers, and automatically recognize doctoral degrees
• To dismantle the regulatory fragmentation across 27 distinct national corporate legal systems, the Commission highlighted the newly proposed 'EU Inc.' framework. This optional 28th regime will allow tech founders to incorporate a truly pan-European company in under 48 hours via a unified EU register with simplified digital procedures
• Addressing Europe's systemic venture capital shortage, the Commission detailed the upcoming launch of its €5 billion fund. Managed by EQT, the fund will become operational in autumn 2026, targeting deep-tech scale-ups with massive late-stage funding rounds averaging above €100 million

Portuguese local innovation and research initiatives

During the visit, the Commissioner met with local stakeholders and engaged with Lisbon's innovation initiatives and research projects:

• Zaharieva met with Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas (former Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation). Under Moedas's first mayoral mandate, Lisbon established the Unicorn Factory Lisbon - which now supports 17 operating unicorns in the city - and was awarded the title of European Capital of Innovation in 2023. The visit included a tour of the Beato Innovation District
• At the Unicorn Factory, the Commissioner held targeted discussions with startup founders specialising in AI, health, and cybersecurity. The talks focused on the EU innovation ecosystem, regulatory fragmentation, bureaucratic obstacles, access to capital, and initiatives to support women founders. Among the participating companies was Delox, a university spin-off that recently secured a €1.6 million European Innovation Council (EIC) support
• The visit concluded at the Champalimaud Foundation, focusing on the institution's success in securing competitive European Research Council (ERC) grants and its ongoing project to reduce the carbon footprint of medical imaging by 2028

More information

EU Research and innovation

Press contact:

EC Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation