La research cooperation, development e innovation becomes one of the pillars of the relaunch of the strategic axis between Italy and Germany. During the intergovernmental summit held on Friday 23 January at Villa Doria Pamphilj, the two countries signed a Declaration of Intent on bilateral cooperation in R&D and innovation, with the aim of strengthening the dialogue between innovation ecosystems and supporting the growth of high-tech startups and SMEs.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, from the CEO of Invitalia Bernardo Mattarella and by the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Rich, and is part of the initiatives launched by Rome and Berlin to strengthen economic, industrial and technological cooperation between the two countries.
A bridge between innovation ecosystems
The Declaration aims to promote structured research and development partnerships between innovative Italian startups and SMEs and German research institutes and companies, encouraging the exchange of expertise, joint access to funding programs, and faster industrial translation of projects.
For Italian entities, support will come through the Smart&Start Italia incentive, promoted by Mimit and managed by Invitalia, while for German partners the reference will be the Innovation Programme for SMEs of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy.
The Rome Summit and the New Course of Bilateral Cooperation
The research and innovation agreement is part of a broader package of agreements signed at the Italy-Germany Summit in Rome, which involved eleven Italian and ten German ministers. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni He spoke of a "qualitative leap" in bilateral relations, underlining how the two countries are "closer than ever" in defining common strategies on competitiveness, industry, and security.
During the summit, Meloni and the Chancellor Friedrich Merz have signed a Protocol for enhanced strategic cooperation, supported by agreements on competitiveness European, defense e resilienceThe agreements are part of an already solid economic relationship—with Germany being Italy's largest trading partner—and include cooperation in digital, space, critical raw materials, research, and universities, with the aim of strengthening Europe's long-term competitiveness.
