INESC TEC – Response to the European Commission Consultation on a European Strategy for Research and Technology Infrastructures

Policy Paper

INESC Brussels HUB, the central HUB of Portugal’s leading research and technology organizations have issued a position paper-response to the European commission’s call for evidence for the single basic act for European partnerships implemented as joint undertakings under Horizon Europe 2028-2034

Executive summary

INESC TEC welcomes the European Commission’s consultation on a European strategy for Research and Technology Infrastructures (RTIs) and calls for a cohesive ecosystem approach. RTIs should be treated as enablers across the whole research and innovation chain, from advanced training and frontier research to technology validation and deployment. INESC TEC agrees with the Commission’s diagnosis of fragmented governance, inadequate lifecycle funding, regional asymmetries and weak policy coherence, and points to three remaining gaps in the proposed actions: no permanent monitoring mechanism for Technology Infrastructures, no integrated lifecycle financing, and limited links to mission-oriented industrial policy. It proposes six recommendations covering governance, investment, interoperability, access, widening and mission alignment.

Key takeaways

  • A unified European framework should bring together Research and Technology Infrastructures, including an EU Observatory for Technology Infrastructures aligned with ESFRI.
  • EU funding should support RTIs across their whole lifecycle, from construction to operation, upgrading and repurposing, through blended EU, national and private funding.
  • Common access standards, interoperable services and a European voucher scheme would open RTIs to SMEs, start-ups and under-represented users.
  • Targeted support for infrastructures in Widening Countries and less-developed regions is essential to reduce Europe's R&I divide.
  • RTIs should be treated as tools for technological sovereignty, crisis-readiness and mission-oriented policy, to keep up with global competitors such as the US and China.

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