The European Commission has put start-ups, research and innovation among the key priorities of this mandate, recognising their importance in closing the innovation gap between the EU and its global competitors and in boosting competitiveness.

Building on insights from the Letta and Draghi Reports, the forthcoming Start-up and Scale-up Strategy seeks to address the persistent challenges that European businesses face in scaling to a global level, such as fragmented financial ecosystems, limited access to late-stage funding and regulatory hurdles.

A core objective of the Strategy is to create an environment where innovative companies can more easily access capital, markets, infrastructure and talent. By simplifying and accelerating growth within the Single Market, the Commission hopes to bridge the scale-up gap that continues to hamper Europe’s global competitiveness.

As a flagship action of the Competitiveness Compass, launched in January 2025, the Startup and Scaleup Strategy will be among the first measures implemented to help close the innovation gap. Planned for adoption in the second quarter of 2025, the Strategy will include concrete legislative proposals, such as the European Innovation Act and a new EU-wide legal status, the ‘28th regime,’ designed to harmonise rules and support innovative companies' growth journey.

Contribute to shaping the forthcoming Strategy

On 17 February, the Commission launched a call for evidence, inviting all interested stakeholders to share ideas, proposals and knowledge to help design the future EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy.

ERRIN members are encouraged to contribute their perspectives, ensuring that the final strategy reflects the diverse realities and ambitions of Europe’s regions.

For more information and to participate in the consultation, visit the "Have Your Say" portal by 17 March 2025 here.

ERRIN plans to submit a network input to the consultation. We invite members to share their comments to the call for evidence by 12 March EOB – learn more on how to contribute in this Noticeboard post.

We also plan to discuss the topic of the strategy and gather feedback for the ERRIN input during the upcoming Policy Working Group internal meeting on FP10 and MFF on 12 March from 14:00-16:00. All interested ERRIN members are invited to learn more and register here.