Share :

Download PDF :

Politico (28 October 2021)

Who do I call if I want to call Europe? The Continent's startups are asking.

EU tech founders are fuming over what they see as a lack of clarity in Brussels over who is responsible for startup policy, with two senior officials rolling out initiatives that sometimes overlap. 

A coalition of startup associations from at least 10 countries called out the European Commission for the apparent confusion in a letter saying that in order for startups to achieve their full potential, "greater coordination and synchronisation will be needed."  

The letter was addressed to both Internal Market commissioner Thierry Breton and Innovation commissioner Mariya Gabriel, the two EU officials jockeying for position on the startups file. 

"It's not clear who's in charge of this and what mandate they have," said Peter Kofler, who leads the Danish Entrepreneurship Association. "It means that you can have competing initiatives, as we see now, which makes everything more complex and is only benefitting the politicians."

Click for more