Today, the European Commission has launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale’, to make Europe a great place to start and grow global technology-driven companies. The Strategy aligns with the broader ‘Choose Europe’ initiative, launched by President von der Leyen. This initiative focused first on the science component promoting a unified European approach to attract and retain talent, thereby strengthening Europe’s competitiveness.
Startups and scaleups are essential to Europe’s future, driving innovation and sustainable growth, creating high-quality jobs, attracting investment and reducing strategic dependencies. Yet, despite strong foundations, too many still struggle to take ideas from lab to market or grow at scale within the EU.
The Strategy addresses these challenges by supporting them throughout their lifecycle, from starting up to scaling up to maturing and succeeding here in the EU.
It identifies the key needs of startups and scaleups and is putting forward a set of actions in five main areas:
- Fostering innovation-friendly environment: As outlined in the Single Market Strategy, startups and scaleups need less fragmentation, fewer administrative burdens, as well as rules that are simpler and more supportive across the Single Market. The Commission will propose a European 28th regime to simplify rules and reduce the cost of failure by addressing critical aspects in areas like insolvency, labour and tax law. The European Business Wallet will enable seamless digital interactions with public administrations across the Union through a unified digital identity for all economic operators. The forthcoming European Innovation Act will further support innovation by promoting regulatory sandboxes.
- Driving better financing: Startups and scaleups need better funding, a larger and more integrated EU venture capital (VC) market and greater involvement of European institutional investors. The Savings and Investments Union initiative will be key to unlocking more financing and investment opportunities in the EU. To complement this initiative, the Strategy aims to expand and simplify the European Innovation Council, deploy a Scaleup Europe Fund to help bridge the financing gap of deep tech scale-up companies, and develop a voluntary European Innovation Investment Pact to mobilise large institutional investors to invest in EU funds, venture capital funds and unlisted scaleups.
- Supporting market uptake and expansion: Startups and scaleups need a quicker journey from lab to market. The Strategy introduces a Lab to Unicorn initiative, which includes the European Startup and Scaleup Hubs to help connect university ecosystems across the EU. This includes a blueprint for licensing, royalty and revenue-sharing and equity participation for academic institutions and their inventors when commercialising intellectual property (IP) and creating spinoffs, along with guidance on State aid IP-related rules.
- Attracting and retaining top talent: To keep and attract top talent, startups and scaleups need better access to highly skilled individuals. The Strategy introduces the Blue Carpet initiative, notably focusing on entrepreneurial education, tax-related aspects of employee stock options and cross-border employment. The Commission will also promote the Blue Card Directive and encourage Member States to put in place a fast-track schemes for non-EU founders.
- Facilitating access to infrastructure, networks and service: Startups and scaleups need a shorter time-to-market and quicker commercialisation. The Strategy proposes to simplify and harmonise diverging access and contractual conditions for startups and scaleups to technology and research infrastructures through a Charter of Access for industrial users.
Next Steps
The progress will be monitored using global key performance indicators.
The Commission will report on the Strategy’s implementation by the end of 2027.
