On May 28, the European Commission unveiled the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, part of Commission President von der Leyen’s broader Choose Europe agenda which seeks to enhance the EU's competitiveness and innovation capacity by creating an enabling environment for businesses to start, grow and thrive across the continent as well as compete in the global market.

The Startup and Scaleup Strategy aims to tackle persistent barriers faced by European businesses, including fragmented regulations, administrative burdens, limited access to finance and talent shortages. The Strategy outlines a set of actions across five key areas, combining new legal proposals, non-legislative measures and financial instruments to strengthen Europe’s startup and scaleup ecosystems.

1. Fostering innovation-friendly regulation

At the core of the Commission's ambition to simplify the regulatory landscape is the European 28th Regime (Q1 2026), aiming to streamline regulation in areas like insolvency, labour and tax law. The Commission will also introduce the European Innovation Act (Q1 2026), aiming to support innovation by promoting regulatory sandboxes that will allow innovators to develop and test new ideas under real-world conditions. These sandboxes are highlighted as tools that not only support innovation at the EU level but also can be applied to place-based innovation, helping drive local development at a territorial scale. Notably, regulatory sandboxes are also a feature of the EU Preparatory Action 'Innovation for Place-Based Transformation', led by the Joint Research Centre in partnership with ERRIN, where participating territories will test novel policy tools and co-develop solutions tailored to regional challenges.

2. Better financing for startups and scaleups

To bridge the financing gap of deep tech scale-up companies, the Commission will collaborate with private investors to establish a market-based, privately managed and privately co-financed Scaleup Europe Fund (2026). This new instrument is intended to support high-growth startups operating so called strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, cleantech and dual-use technologies. In parallel, the Commission will expand the European Innovation Council and simplify its rules, increasing its focus on challenge-driven, staged funding for high-risk innovations.

3. Fast market uptake and expansion

To accelerate market uptake, the Strategy includes actions such as the Lab to Unicorn Initiative (2026) which aims to connect university ecosystems across the EU. The Commission will also revise and propose pro-innovation procurement measures (2025-2026) to better support startups and scaleups by reducing possible barriers and encouraging innovation. Under this pillar, Cohesion Policy is identified as a key mechanism to connect regional and national actors, foster territorial connectivity and help startups scale and enter new markets.

4. Support for the best talent in Europe

To facilitate better access to highly skilled individuals, the Strategy includes actions such as the Blue Carpet Initiative (2025-2026). The Commission will also present a Fair Labour Mobility Package (2026), including clarification of social security coordination rules in case of cross-border remote work and a Skills Portability Initiative to further facilitate and simplify the recognition of qualifications, including for third country nationals.

5. Access to infrastructure, networks and services

To ensure shorter time-to-market and quicker commercialisation, the Strategy includes actions such as the Charter of Access (2025) for industrial users to research and technology infrastructures. 

Stronger interconnected territorial ecosystems to foster a competitive, innovative Europe

While the Commission notes the importance of territorial connectivity for helping startups scale, the place-based dimension remains largely overlooked in the actions of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy. In its response to the Commission's call for evidence informing the Startup and Scaleup Strategy, ERRIN underscored the essential role of regions and cities in mobilising key stakeholders and building strong territorial innovation ecosystems. Well-functioning territorial ecosystems fosters and environment where startups and scaleups to thrive and strengthen Europe’s research and innovation ecosystem as a whole. The hurdles these businesses face in scaling cannot only be addressed at the EU and national levels with 'top-down' measures. Being closest to the startups and scaleups, the local and regional level has the best understanding of their needs as well as their challenges. Therefore, EU support to the place-based R&I ecosystem is essential, combined with a framework supporting further connectivity between those ecosystems across Europe.

Next steps

Most of the proposals outlined in the Strategy are scheduled for adoption in 2026, with the European Commission expected to report on their implementation by the end of 2027. As the Strategy enters its implementation phase, and new initiatives are rolled out, continued advocacy will be essential to ensure strong support for connecting and reinforcing territorial R&I ecosystems. ERRIN’s Policy Working Group and its Competitiveness Workstream will continue to monitor key EU policy developments under the EU competitiveness agenda and actively facilitate dialogue between members and EU institutions to highlight the territorial dimension of these initiatives. As part of these efforts, a Policy Working Group meeting will be organised in October 2025, focusing on the forthcoming European Innovation Act.