INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Startups have welcomed proposals from the European Commission aimed at cutting red tape and shrinking cross-border barriers for small
businesses as part of a new EU industrial strategy plan with a twin focus on digital and green transitions unveiled today.Among the package
would aim to promote best practices to support startups and scale-ups, such as one-stop shops, favourable employee stock-options
arrangements and visa processing to reduce cross-border friction for entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses in the bloc.In recent
including TransferWise, GetYourGuide, Revolut, Delivery Hero, TypeForm and Supercell (to name a few) signing an open letter to policymakers
Margrethe Vestager, laying out an industrial strategy package with a big focus on smaller companies, including those with big ambitions to
highlighted by more than 500 leading European entrepreneurs who joined the Not Optional campaign, the inability of startups to use stock
Van de Maele, CEO - Founder, CollibraJean-Charles Samuelian, CEO - Founder, AlanJohannes Reck, CEO - Co-Founder of GetYourGuideJohannes
Schildt, CEO - Founder, KRY / LIVIJohn Collison, Co-Founder and President, StripeJuan de Antonio, CEO - Co-Founder, CabifyMarkus Villig, CEO
TrustpilotSebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO - Founder, KlarnaTaavet Hinrikus, Founder - Chairman, TransferWiseTamaz Georgadze, CEO - Founder,
is another signatory to the letter
measures such as better startup visas and improved employee stock options on the table
Specific measures that work for SMES, for instance a regulatory exemption, might not work for startups
On the contrary, it could incentivise a startup to stay small
To account for these differences, the European Commission should consider a startup strategy that focuses on scalability, complementing the
an SME Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) Fund under the InvestEU SME window, which will aim to make IPOs more accessible to local small
businesses.Another push aims to reduce late payments for SMEs, with the Commission noting today that one in four regional small businesses
digital and green transitions are posing both opportunities and challenges for the industry in general and for small and medium sized
Business models are changing
Fortunately, the European industry is coming to this reality from a strong position
we have to bring these on board
already, locally in fact, but we do hope it is going to be done in an even more horizontal manner across the EU and within the internal
region in Europe to help small businesses plug in cutting edge tech, with expanded options for volunteering and training on digital
technologies.Helping SMEs find the skills they need to shift to sustainable ways of working is another stated aim.The Commission has
published a Q-A on the industrial strategy here.Last month the executive body also set out proposals aimed at encouraging industrial data
sharing and reuse, along with proposals for regulating high-risk uses of artificial intelligence.A further major piece of EU digital policy
including toward smaller businesses that rely on them as a marketplace.
