EC Have Your Say

EC_HYS

Medium Impact

European Commission opens call for evidence on revision of the EIT Regulation and Strategic Innovation Agenda 2028-2034

Published

Aug 12, 2026

Topics

Business and industry, Education and training, Research and innovation, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Innovation funding, EU legislative proposal

Executive Summary

The European Commission has opened a call for evidence on a planned legislative initiative to revise the Regulation governing the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and to prepare a new Strategic Innovation Agenda for 2028-2034. The initiative is still in preparation and does not itself impose new legal obligations or change existing EIT funding rules. It is, however, an important early-stage policy signal for organisations that participate in, fund, advise, or partner with EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, higher education innovation projects, start-up support programmes, and related EU research and innovation activities. The feedback window runs from 12 August 2026 until 23 September 2026 at midnight Brussels time. The Commission states that feedback will be taken into account as it develops and fine-tunes the initiative, and that adoption is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Businesses, universities, research bodies and public authorities should treat this as a consultation and positioning opportunity rather than an implementation trigger.

What Changed

newCall for evidence opened

No open feedback window for this initiative was identified in the supplied source before 12 August 2026.

New

Feedback is open from 12 August 2026 to 23 September 2026 at midnight Brussels time.

modifiedEIT legal framework under review

The EIT is currently governed by Regulation (EU) 2021/819 of 20 May 2021 on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

New

The Commission is preparing a proposal for a regulation to revise the EIT Regulation.

modifiedNew Strategic Innovation Agenda period

The current Strategic Innovation Agenda is set by Decision (EU) 2021/820 for 2021-2027.

New

The Commission initiative concerns a Strategic Innovation Agenda for 2028-2034.

newExpected Commission adoption timing

No adopted Commission proposal for the 2028-2034 EIT framework is reported in the supplied source.

New

Commission adoption is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.

newFeedback publication and access process

Not applicable for this new consultation step.

New

Feedback can be submitted through the Commission’s Have Your Say portal and will be published on the site.

Business Impact

Who is affected

Directly affected

organisations participating in or seeking EIT funding, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, higher education institutions, research organisations, start-ups and scale-ups supported through EIT activities, public authorities involved in innovation policy, and businesses active in EIT innovation ecosystems.

Indirectly affected

advisers, grant consultants, legal teams, industry associations, investors, regional innovation agencies and vendors supporting EIT-funded programmes or reporting workflows.

Jurisdictions

European Union, European Economic Area and other countries participating in EIT or Horizon Europe-related cooperation where applicable

Business processes

EU policy monitoring and consultation response management, EIT and Horizon Europe funding strategy, Innovation partnership and consortium planning, Public affairs and stakeholder engagement, Grant pipeline monitoring and opportunity assessment, Internal governance for submission of public consultation responses

Estimated effort

Medium

Compliance risk

Low

Affected Reports

Consultation response to the Commission call for evidenceInternal EIT/Horizon Europe policy impact assessmentInnovation funding opportunity pipeline trackerPublic affairs stakeholder position paperGrant and consortium strategy brief for 2028-2034

Field	Validation rule
Consultation response submission date	Use the Commission feedback period: 12 August 2026 to 23 September 2026, midnight Brussels time.
Initiative scope	Classify the initiative as covering revision of the EIT Regulation and a Strategic Innovation Agenda for 2028-2034.
Legislative status	Record status as 'in preparation' and not as adopted legislation.
Expected Commission adoption timing	Record only as 'planned for fourth quarter 2026'; do not convert to a specific date.
Submission channel	Feedback must be submitted through the Commission Have Your Say portal using registration or login.

Recommended Actions

7 suggested next steps· derived from source analysis

1
AI generatedStep 1 of 7
Treat the initiative as a consultation opportunity, not an implementation obligation; flag that no effective date or final legal requirements have been set yet.
2
AI generatedStep 2 of 7
Assign ownership across public affairs, research and innovation, grants, legal, and business units involved in EIT or Horizon Europe programmes.
3
AI generatedStep 3 of 7
Prepare a concise response by 23 September 2026 addressing operational experience with the current EIT Regulation and priorities for the 2028-2034 Strategic Innovation Agenda.
4
AI generatedStep 4 of 7
Map current exposure to EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, EIT-funded education, business creation and innovation projects to identify issues worth raising.
5
AI generatedStep 5 of 7
Update regulatory and grants trackers with the Q4 2026 planned Commission adoption milestone and monitor for the proposed regulation and decision.
6
AI generatedStep 6 of 7
Align industry association or consortium submissions where a coordinated position would carry more weight, while ensuring any company-specific feedback is separately captured.
7
AI generatedStep 7 of 7
After Commission adoption, reassess obligations, eligibility criteria, governance requirements, funding priorities and reporting impacts against the actual proposal text.

Timeline

publication

Aug 12, 2026

Commission call for evidence feedback period opened for the initiative.

consultation deadline

Sep 23, 2026

Deadline for feedback, midnight Brussels time.

implementation

Date not specified

Commission adoption of the proposal is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.

other

Date not specified

The planned Strategic Innovation Agenda is intended to cover the 2028-2034 seven-year period.

Sources

AI-generated analysis is based on the following primary sources. Always verify against the official publication.

Official consultation webpageEuropean Commission, Have Your SayAug 12, 2026
Revision of the EIT Regulation and of the Strategic Innovation Agenda ↗
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/18892-Revision-of-the-EIT-Regulation-and-of-the-Strategic-Innovation-Agenda_en
Official agency news releaseEuropean Institute of Innovation and TechnologyDate not specified
Call for evidence now open: contribute to the future EIT Regulation ↗
https://www.eit.europa.eu/news-events/news/call-evidence-now-open-contribute-future-eit-regulation
Primary legal textEUR-LexMay 20, 2021
Regulation (EU) 2021/819 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology ↗
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/819/oj
Primary legal textEUR-LexMay 20, 2021
Decision (EU) 2021/820 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology 2021-2027 ↗
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/820/oj
Official press releaseEuropean CommissionJul 11, 2019
European Institute of Innovation and Technology: Commission proposes strategy for 2021-2027 ↗
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_3849

Related Evidence

Verified source support for this analysis

The evidence agent checks whether the drafted finding is supported by official publications and relevant public source material.

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