EU Commission Offers Strategy to Boost Entrepreneurship Across Europe
The European Commission unveiled a strategy on Tuesday aimed at enhancing conditions for start-ups and small, high-growth potential businesses in the European Union. This initiative seeks to encourage these companies to remain in Europe, as they are considered crucial for the continent's future.
According to the Brussels authority, these businesses, often referred to as 'scale-ups', drive innovation, sustainable growth, and job creation while attracting investments. However, they still encounter numerous obstacles in transforming their ideas from the lab to the market within the EU, or in scaling up their operations.
The Commission outlined several key challenges and proposed solutions to alleviate these issues. One significant challenge is the regulatory hurdles posed by complex rules and legal frameworks that vary across EU member states. To address this issue, the Commission plans to introduce a unified set of rules, the "European 28th regime", aimed at simplifying labor and tax laws. Additionally, a European Innovation Act is proposed to establish regulatory sandboxes for testing new ideas.
Another challenge faced by start-ups is accessing financing, particularly for high-risk technologies. The strategy includes expanding the European Innovation Council to provide better funding access and proposes the creation of a privately managed European Innovation Fund to increase the availability of venture capital.
The Commission also aims to help start-ups overcome obstacles to scaling their innovations and reaching the market. This will be achieved through a "Lab to Unicorn" initiative, which aims to increase access to services and infrastructure across borders. Additionally, this initiative will facilitate collaboration between early-stage companies and provide blueprints for licensing and equity participation.
Attracting and retaining talented personnel is vital for the growth of start-ups and scale-ups. The strategy includes simplifying employee stock options, promoting fast-track schemes for non-EU founders, and improving access to the necessary skills.
Finally, the strategy aims to harmonize conditions for the use of technology and research networks to facilitate better access to necessary infrastructure.
These measures are part of a broader "Choose Europe" initiative, which seeks to make Europe a leading destination for technology-driven start-ups and scale-ups.
- The Commission's strategy for start-ups and small, high-growth potential businesses includes the creation of a European Innovation Fund, aiming to increase the availability of venture capital for accessing financing, particularly for high-risk technologies.
- The "Lab to Unicorn" initiative, part of the strategy, focuses on helping start-ups overcome obstacles to scaling their innovations and reaching the market by increasing access to services and infrastructure across borders, as well as facilitating collaboration between early-stage companies.
- In an effort to attract and retain talented personnel, the strategy includes measures such as simplifying employee stock options, promoting fast-track schemes for non-EU founders, and improving access to the necessary skills within small and medium-sized undertakings.
