Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) – a BusinessEurope discussion paper

Introduction

BusinessEurope would like to contribute to discussions on how to improve the design of IPCEIs and develop the conditions for a more streamlined assessment. As set out in the Competitiveness Compass, the European Commission intends to promote a wider use of IPCEIs for innovative sectors and engaged in implementation dialogues to assess IPCEIs together with companies and national authorities. BusinessEurope collected input among its members (by means of a targeted questionnaire) throughout 2025 to provide it with analytical data to provide an informed contribution to the review of the framework and gain more insights into the current process.

The questionnaire was targeted to companies having experience with IPCEI processes or that are considering to participate in this scheme. BusinessEurope received more than 50 responses. The responses came from a diverse set of companies, from multiple sectors, ranging from SMEs to large companies.