European Sovereignty Monitor

Industry, investment and R&D

European Commission opens EIC Fund investment guidelines to defence and larger tickets

The European Commission revised EIC Fund investment guidelines for the EIC Accelerator and STEP Scaleup schemes, explicitly making defence related activities eligible and allowing larger ticket sizes for scaleups; no new budget envelope was announced.

Verified European Innovation Council news page, 27 August 2026

What it does not test. This does not establish that any defence company has yet received EIC Fund money under the revised rules.

How this item counts. No movement: no answer to who owns, who operates, whose law governs or who made the parts changes. Weight 0. EU-wide rule change opens EIC funding to defence, but no firm funded yet, no tech shifts. European Sovereignty Index

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