Nikolina Brnjac· PPE

Confirmed

The European Union currently invests approximately 2.2% of GDP in research and development

Omissions

• The most recent available data is from 2024, not from 2025 or 2026. The Eurostat data was published in December 2025, after the speech date.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat - R&D expenditure Statistics ExplainedR&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP stood at 2.24% in 2024
• PrimaryEurostat - R&D expenditure news articleEU spent €403.1 billion on R&D in 2024; R&D intensity at 2.24% of GDP