How do you make Europe the best place in the world to start and grow a business? That’s precisely what the European Commission today looked to answer as they unveiled a new strategy for fostering a thriving startup landscape across the continent.
The newly launched EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, titled ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale’, looks to redefine Europe’s place in the global innovation arena by eliminating longstanding barriers that have kept too many startups from scaling successfully within the EU.
While the European startup ecosystem has never lacked ambition or brainpower, issues around fragmented regulations, underdeveloped capital markets, and access to talent have hindered the continent’s potential to create global champions.
This new Strategy, embedded within the wider Choose Europe initiative introduced by President Ursula von der Leyen, tackles those challenges head-on. Its core objective is simple: to make Europe the ideal base to start, grow, and keep a global tech company.
The is strategy structured around five priority areas
- Innovation-friendly regulation
- Better finance
- Fast market uptake and expansion
- Support for the best talent
- Access to infrastructure, networks and services
Through these, it aims to address the entire lifecycle of a startup. Among the most anticipated changes is the introduction of a ‘European 28th regime’, which will serve to harmonise key legal areas including insolvency, labour, and taxation. Click here to read EU-Startups’ coverage of the 28th regime proposal.
Accompanying this is the launch of a European Business Wallet, designed to give startups a digital identity that facilitates seamless interaction with public administrations across the bloc.
On the financing front, the Commission is moving to close a deep-rooted funding gap with several new instruments. These include a more expansive and simplified European Innovation Council (EIC) and a newly proposed Scaleup Europe Fund, targeted at DeepTech companies. The Strategy also paves the way for a European Innovation Investment Pact to encourage large institutional investors to commit to EU-based venture capital and unlisted scaleups.
To find out more, EU-Startups spoke with panelist at the 2025 EU-Startups Summit Dimitar Vassilev, Board Member at the EIC & SMEs Executive Agency, who offered insight into the current atmosphere.
“The new EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy is a strong signal that Europe is ready to take bold steps to become the most attractive place for Founders to build global tech companies. The expansion of the European Innovation Council (EIC) is particularly encouraging – not just in terms of funding, but in its ambition to bridge the gap between cutting-edge science and market-driven innovation.
“What stands out to me is the strategic shift from merely financing startups to actually shaping markets – through better procurement, regulatory sandboxes, and incentives for institutional capital. This could be a game changer for the European startup ecosystem, especially if execution follows intent,” shared Vassilev.
Commercialisation of academic and public research is also being prioritised through the Lab to Unicorn initiative. This programme will support the development of European Startup and Scaleup Hubs, designed to bridge the academic-industrial divide by connecting universities and public research organisations with market opportunities.
A standardised blueprint for intellectual property licensing and equity participation aims to incentivise researchers and institutions to pursue commercial spinouts.
“The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy is a clear statement of purpose: to make Europe the best place in the world to start and grow a business. The Strategy will enable us to turn Europe’s wealth of creativity, research and ambition into thriving new companies, quality jobs and real-world impacts. With the five concrete actions, we are removing the barriers that hold our entrepreneurs back. Europe is ready to scale up.” shared Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, in a public statement.
As startups everywhere compete for high-skilled talent, the EU is rolling out its Blue Carpet initiative. The move includes reforms to employee stock option taxation, support for entrepreneurial education, and fast-track visa routes for non-EU founders. Combined, these actions are designed to stop the brain drain and position Europe as a magnet for entrepreneurial talent.
The Strategy will also facilitate quicker time-to-market by simplifying access to research and industrial infrastructure. A Charter of Access is expected to standardise conditions for usage across member states, and the forthcoming European Innovation Act will add further support through regulatory sandboxes.
Tracking the Strategy’s progress will be the Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard and an annual survey, with a formal implementation review slated for the end of 2027.
“Businesses that are born in Europe must grow in Europe. With the launch of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, we unlock growth drivers for Europe’s most innovative and promising companies. We cut red tape, we facilitate their access to financing, we improve their ability to do business across our Single Market. In other words, we want to put Europe right in the middle of the global innovation map, for companies and investors. Europe we can lead on its own terms and be the place where innovation thrives,” added Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, in a public statement.
In a continent rich with innovation but historically restrained by internal barriers, today’s Strategy looks to leap forward and close the gap between the EU and countries like the US and China. Whether it leads to Europe becoming a global startup powerhouse will now depend on how effectively these promises translate into practice.
Vassilev said it best: “Europe’s future as a global innovation leader depends on our ability to act together – not just as nations, but as one united startup ecosystem.”
