BEDA Position on Including Design in the European Competitiveness Fund
03/07/26Brussels is rewriting the rules of who counts as a strategic industry for the next seven years, and design is not included in any operative sense. The European Competitiveness Fund (2028 to 2034) defines which sectors qualify as strategic industries with access to funding, governance, and policy influence for the next funding period. The Council has set its position, and the European Parliament will vote in October. Thereafter, the trilogue procedure will begin, locking the text for the full seven-year cycle.
The European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) is the EU’s primary instrument for industrial deployment and scale-up under the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). It sits alongside other standalone programmes under the same MFF heading and rulebook, including FP10 (Horizon Europe) and AgoraEU. The ECF will determine which sectors receive dedicated budgets, governance seats and increased relevance. Once the Regulation text is locked, it remains in effect for the full seven-year cycle.
At this decisive moment, the design sector—despite its cross-sectoral role in innovation and its position within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs)—is not included in any operative capacity in the proposed framework.
Without inclusion, design is excluded from key decision-making processes, dedicated funding, and structural support—despite being a core driver of innovation across all major policy areas.
BEDA’s Core Demands:
- An explicit design representation in FP10 (Horizon Europe) is essential. Guarantee a governance seat for design stakeholders.
- Name design activities explicitly, or the wider field of CCIs, as a strategic sector in the ECF Regulation.
- Establish a dedicated budget line for design research and deployment and application in science-based innovation, not subsumed into a generic creative economy category.
Read the full Statement in the file below.