11 March 2026
On 3 and 4 March 2026, EARPA held its Annual Spring Meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Brussels.
The two-day event attracted nearly 200 participants, which included EARPA Members and professionals from the European road mobility and R&I automotive sector.
Day 1: Foresight Groups and Collaborative Research Groups. Networking Reception.
The first day of the event was dedicated to EARPA Members, consisting of workshop sessions focused on EARPA position papers and collaboration opportunities for calls related to the Horizon Europe research and innovation framework programme 2026-2027.
The evening reception opened with a speech from Michele De Gennaro, the EARPA President. Michele delivered an inspiring speech, underlining the essential role of collaborative automotive research in strengthening the European Union’s competitiveness. He emphasised how EARPA members are transforming excellent automotive research into real-world impact driving innovation, supporting industry, and reinforcing Europe’s global position. Michele underlined that EARPA’s role of connecting research organisations and different actors across the industry remains essential.
The reception was open to EARPA members and relevant external actors from the automotive sector in Europe.
Day 2: EARPA General Assembly and Plenary Session
Day 2 of the event kicked off with the General Assembly session. At the session, we discussed the work plan for 2026, we welcomed IAAPS – University of Bath as a new EARPA member, and also announced that Barcelona will host the Spring Meeting 2027 event. We would like to sincerely thank all the members who submitted applications to become the host city for next year. A detailed feedback on each application will be provided to everyone very soon.
EARPA hosted two interactive plenary sessions. The first one, Panel discussion on Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), entailed a dynamic discussion on on how collaboration can accelerate AV deployment across Europe. Special thanks for our keynote speakers from the European Commission for taking part in this panel.
The second session Navigating Economic and Political Shifts in the Automotive Sector: Consequences for Research and Innovation, provided valuable insights on how ongoing economic and political changes affect the automotive sector, specifically in the European context. More information on key insights of these discussions can be found on EARPA’s LinkedIn.
The photos from the event can be found here.
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