The European Commission launched on 28 May 2025 its new EU Startup and Scale-up Strategy, “Choose Europe to Start and Scale”, which forms part of the broader ‘Choose Europe’ initiative aimed at attracting and retaining talents.
Startups and scaleups are essential for improving the European competitiveness, and driving innovation and sustainable growth. Nevertheless, a significant gap remains with the main international competitors with regard to the interest of investors in supporting the growth of startups and scaleups in the EU.
The Strategy aims to support these companies throughout their lifecycle. To reach the ambitious target, it is essential to create an innovation-friendly environment, characterised by lower fragmentation and administrative burdens. A key measure proposed by the Commission is the introduction of a European 28th regime to simplify rules and reduce the cost of failure, together with the creation of a larger and more integrated EU venture capital (VC) market and greater involvement of European institutional investors. The Lab to Unicorn initiative will support the creation of the European Startup and Scaleup Hubs to help connect university ecosystems across the EU. The Blue Carpet initiative will promote entrepreneurial education and other factors that encourage talent attractivenes