Davos (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – EU Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen said that the Commission will introduce a single set of regulations under which innovative firms would function across the EU to make startups stay in Europe, rather than shift to the U.S.
In an address at the Davos economic summit in Switzerland, Ursula von der Leyen expressed this step would present companies with the scope of the European Union’s single market of 450 million consumers, which is now scattered by additional national regulations.
Ursula von der Leyen is currently attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, where she also emphasized the need for collaboration to avoid a “global race to the bottom” amid rising geostrategic competition.
How will a single regulatory framework boost European innovative companies?
“Today, the European Single Market still has too many national barriers,”
Von der Leyen stated.
“Sometimes companies are dealing with 27 national legislations. We will offer instead to innovative companies to operate all across our Union under one single set of rules. We call it the 28th regime. Corporate law, insolvency, labor law, taxation – one single and simple framework across our Union,”
She expressed.
How does Von der Leyen advocate for European startups?
Ursula von der Leyen has continually insisted that a unified regulatory framework must be provided for innovative firms and startups within the European Union. In July 2024, she made the call for a “28th Regime” in support of standardizing legal status for innovative companies in the European Union member states.
The idea is to operationalize it in a way that reduces the bureaucratic burden on them and increases competitiveness, which often prevents startups from scaling up smoothly across Europe. Von der Leyen mentioned how
“a startup from California can expand and raise money all across the United States,”
in contrast with European startups that face national bottlenecks.
