EEA EFTA States underline potential of European Competitiveness Fund to strengthen Europe’s digital growth

In a context of geopolitical uncertainty, the EEA EFTA States emphasise that targeted investments in advanced digital technologies are essential to reinforce competitiveness and resilience across the Internal Market of 30 States. They emphasise their strong competitive advantages in key strategic sectors, including ocean and maritime industries, renewable and reliable energy systems, operational technology security, Arctic and maritime connectivity, and sustainable data infrastructure. These strengths position them as valuable partners in advancing Europe's digital and industrial ambitions, and they remain committed to contributing to Europe's tech-driven industrial renewal.

The proposed European Competitiveness Fund is a EUR 409 billion EU funding programme under the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework designed to streamline investments in advanced technologies and strengthen Europe's digital autonomy. It consolidates 14 existing EU programmes to support research, scaling and deployment of innovative technologies through four specific policy windows.

In their comment, the EEA EFTA States emphasise the importance of ensuring their full participation in the implementation of the Digital Leadership window in accordance with the EEA Agreement. This includes involvement in all governing bodies and decision making on funding priorities. They also call for strong coordination between the ECF and existing EU programmes and initiatives, such as Horizon Europe, EuroHPC and the Chips Act, to avoid fragmentation and support the establishment of shared European digital infrastructures.

To enable broad and balanced value creation across the Internal Market of 30 States, the EEA EFTA States highlight that the Digital Leadership window should be tailored to the needs of innovative startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

They also stress the need to strengthen Europe's digital autonomy through support for open-source software and open hardware, as well as demand-side measures to help bring new technologies to market, such as pre-commercial procurement and cross-border deployment initiatives.

The EEA EFTA States call for the integration of trustworthy and responsible artificial intelligence, including robust testing, certification and standards frameworks. They note that the EEA EFTA States could serve as effective test environments for such initiatives.

Finally, they underline the importance of ensuring that EU preference criteria - where applied - cover the entire European Economic Area, in order to avoid distortions within the Internal Market.

EEA EFTA Comments are one of the tools used by the EEA EFTA States to actively participate in shaping EU policies, programmes and legislation.  

Read the EEA EFTA Comment here

Trond Helge Baardsen