Priorities for European startups and scaleups – a BusinessEurope position paper

Key messages

• Startups and scaleups are indispensable drivers of Europe’s economic future. However, despite the remarkable transformation of Europe’s deep tech ecosystem over the past decade, starting and scaling companies in Europe remains far harder than it should be.
• Europe must create the conditions under which private capital flows towards European startups and scaleups at the volume and stage where it is most needed. A stronger venture capital ecosystem is one of the prerequisites for retaining and scaling Europe’s most innovative firms. Creating conditions for a better IPO system in Europe is also fundamental.
• EU instruments need to ensure openness, transparency and technological neutrality while facilitating coordination between EU and national instruments, as well as international cooperation to ensure strong support for startups and scaleups.
• While public procurement should be used strategically as one of the instruments to grow innovative European startups and scaleups, the EU framework should focus on streamlining and ensuring their access, not adding new criteria.
• Identifying, filtering and supporting innovations that are entirely new to the market requires a more agile and open approach than the current European ecosystem provides for. A European agency responsible for supporting disruptive innovation and coordinating actions across Member States could be considered.
• Regulatory fragmentation and remaining barriers to cross-border business operations in the Single Market must be decisively addressed. The swift adoption of an effective EU Inc. Regulation is critical to reduce some of the challenges relating to company law.
• The establishment of large-scale European centres of excellence, that are strategically built around Europe’s existing technological and academic strengths, will help startups and scaleups to access infrastructures, networks and services they need to grow.
• Introducing entrepreneurial education and engagement with enterprises at an early stage is key to developing an entrepreneurial mindset among young people. Beyond education, Europe needs to attract and retain world-class talent.
• Reliable and structured access to intellectual property rights is a prerequisite to allowing startups and scaleups to grow, as for many it is their most valuable asset and therefore a strong precondition for securing financing.