The EIB Investment Survey for 2026, published by the European Investment Bank Group on 9 November, offers a sober counterweight to the gloom that has dominated Europe’s economic debate this autumn. Based on responses from about 12,000 firms across the European Union, with 800 American companies polled for comparison, it finds that 85% of EU businesses invested over the past year despite high energy prices and political uncertainty.

Forward-looking signals are positive, if modest. According to the EIB Investment Survey, the share of firms expecting to raise investment exceeds the share planning cuts by eight percentage points. That is hardly a boom, yet it suggests companies are holding their nerve while inflation runs near 4% and the Commission prepares its autumn economic forecast.

Technology adoption is the most striking finding of the EIB Investment Survey. Some 67% of EU firms now use artificial intelligence, a level the EIB places broadly in line with the United States, and a further 13% are planning or evaluating it. Around 21% report concrete benefits from generative AI. For a continent often told it is losing the digital race, those figures complicate the narrative.

The gap reappears on innovation, however. Only 20% of EU firms introduced innovations new to the firm, compared with 44% of US companies. That contrast goes to the heart of the competitiveness agenda set out in the Draghi report: European businesses buy and deploy technology readily, but far fewer turn it into new products, processes or business models that change their market position.

Clean energy offers a clearer European advantage. The EIB Investment Survey records that 53% of EU firms use renewable energy, up from 37% in 2022 and well above the 24% reported by US firms. Some 67% invested in energy efficiency, compared with 57% in 2022. High power prices since the 2022 gas shock have clearly pushed companies to cut consumption and secure their own supply.

Economic security has also moved onto boardroom agendas. The EIB Investment Survey shows that around 64% of firms say they are taking action to protect themselves, with 82% of those investing against cyberthreats, 41% adopting new technologies and roughly a third changing partners or suppliers. Supply chain diversification, long a policy slogan in Brussels, is now a measurable business practice.

The policy message from the EIB is that harmonised regulation, better access to finance and stronger skills would help more firms move from adoption to innovation. That aligns with the savings and investments union, the 28th regime for innovative companies and the simplification omnibuses now moving through Parliament and Council. A country-by-country breakdown is due in December, which should show where national obstacles matter most.

For policymakers, the lesson is that resilience is real but not enough. Firms are investing, digitalising and greening at a respectable pace, yet the innovation gap with the United States remains wide. The EIB Investment Survey gives the Commission and member states hard evidence for where the next euro of support should go, and the coming 2028-2034 budget talks will show whether they use it.