On 13 July 2026, ERRIN submitted its input to the call for evidence on the future Single Basic Act for Joint Undertakings, welcoming the European Commission's intention to review the governance, architecture, accessibility and strategic orientation of Joint Undertakings.

Joint Undertakings should become central instruments for delivering long-term, mission-oriented research and innovation in strategic industrial sectors. In Horizon Europe 2021-2027, they have demonstrated their capacity to support the mobilisation of public and private investment, facilitate the creation of European value chains and accelerate technological development. As Europe faces growing geopolitical competition and the need to reinforce its technological sovereignty, the role of Joint Undertakings will become even more important.

ERRIN believes the future Joint Undertakings should evolve beyond their current model. They should become more open, more connected to regional innovation ecosystems and more closely integrated with broader EU policy objectives and funding instruments. Europe will only maximise the impact of its research and innovation investments if regional and local authorities, innovation ecosystems and place-based actors are recognised as strategic partners rather than simply implementers.

Our input - co-created with some of the 130 regions and their innovation ecosystems among the ERRIN membership - focuses on four key cross-cutting areas where improvements are needed to maximise the impact of future institutionalised partnerships:

• Strengthening policy coherence: connecting Joint Undertakings with Europe’s strategic priorities
• Shaping a governance model that recognises regions as strategic partners 
• Improving accessibility and openness of Joint Undertakings 
• Building stronger links between Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund, and other programmes 

In addition, the contribution also proposes a number of Partnership-specific recommendations, linking to insights from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, Innovative Health Initiative or the future Automotive Partnership.

Read the full ERRIN input in the attachment.

ERRIN has been actively engaged in discussions about the state of play and future of European Partnerships. Previously, we have e.g. developed a paper on European Partnerships back in March 2025 as part of the ERRIN paper series "Towards the 10th Framework Programme".