The geopolitical context is slowing down investment expectations on both sides of the Atlantic. In a challenging global environment, EU firms continue to invest, but are revising expectations downward from recent years. The share of firms investing remainsroughly stable (86% in EIBIS 2025, consistent with 87% in EIBIS 2024). A marginally higher share of firms expects to increase rather than decrease investment in 2025, but that share has declined compared to past years. Across companies, large firms and firms in manufacturing are more likely to invest. In the European Union, firms devote a significant portion of their investments (35%) to intangible assets (research and development, training, software, etc.), focusing less on land, buildings and infrastructure than US firms do (17% vs. 22%). EU firms focus 13% of their investment on the development of new products and services. Regarding future investment priorities, EU firms continue to prioritise replacement investments over capacity expansion in the next three years: The share of firms investing to expand operations is 11 percentage points below that of the United States (26% of EU firms, vs. 37% of US firms). Numerous sources of uncertainty weigh on firms’ sentiment. EU firms have a negative outlook on the political and regulatory environment and the overall economic climate, with more firms expecting a deterioration rather than an improvement in the next 12 months. EU firms have a balanced view in terms of the business prospects in their sector and access to external finance, while they tend to be positive in net terms with respect to internal finance.