On 28 May, the European Commission launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale', to attract start-ups to Europe and support their growth. The Strategy aligns with the broader ‘Choose Europe' initiative, launched by European Commission President von der Leyen.

The Startup and Scaleup Strategy’s goal is to make it fast, easy and affordable to start and scale a business in Europe. The strategy addresses the challenges that too many startups face to take ideas from lab to market or grow at scale within the EU. The strategy identifies the key needs of startups and scaleups and puts forward a set of actions in five main areas: fostering an innovation-friendly environment; driving better financing; supporting market update and expansion; attracting and retaining top talent; facilitating access to infrastructure, networks and service.

On 5 May, President von der Leyen announced a Choose Europe initiative to attract researchers to the EU. The first priority of this initiative is to ensure that science in Europe remains open and free. The second element is financing. The third part is the need to fast-track the pathway from breakthrough science to transformative innovation and business opportunities. Finally, the initiative will make it easier and more attractive to come to Europe for research.

On 1 January 2024, the UK associated to the EU’s science programme: Horizon Europe. Horizon Europe is the biggest international research and innovation programme in the world with more than £82 billion (€95.5 billion) of funding available over seven years (2021 to 2027) from the EU budget, to which all associated countries are adding further contributions. It is open to the world, which means that participants can participate in most calls, regardless of where they are based. Researchers from associated countries have even greater access, they can lead projects and receive direct funding from the programme. The programme supports major research and innovation projects and international partnerships helping to tackle global challenges.

The UK’s association to Horizon Europe has considerably strengthened the EU-UK partnership in the research and innovation sector. Overall, UK participation in the programme is on a good track and is already delivering concrete results.