Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Berlin (dpa) – In a joint statement on Monday, the German Startups Association and partner organisations from France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania pushed for uniform rules in the European Union and better conditions to boost growth.
“Europe must learn to make its best ideas big together, across borders,” said Verena Pausder, chairwoman of the German organisation. That means more investment in European technologies, fair competition for start-ups and a stronger European single market that accelerates innovation, she argued.
The summit on Tuesday is set to focus on topics such as technological independence, digitalisation and European competitiveness against rivals in the United States and China that are investing massively in artificial intelligence (AI).
Participants – including politicians from several EU member states as well as representatives from business and research – are due to discuss how Europe can prevent sensitive company data from having to be stored in clouds belonging to non-European companies.
Common capital market, legal framework needed
A common European capital market is seen as crucial for mobilizing capital for growth. The prevailing fragmentation has led to “many promising but isolated start-ups existing side by side”, Pausder said.
The EU’s digital autonomy also depends on a legal framework that promotes innovation, the groups argued. Currently, different regulatory systems in all 27 member states create high barriers to entry, especially for small businesses.
“Europe has the potential to be the world’s biggest innovation engine. but we are making life difficult for ourselves,” said Pausder. “Twenty-seven forms of company law, 35 stock exchanges, 200 trading venues: that’s not a single market, that’s a patchwork quilt.”
The associations are also calling for public authorities to be allowed to give preference to European digital solutions in future tenders. At the same time, achievements such as the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act should not be weakened, the groups said.
German industry pushing for political reforms
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) is also calling for political reforms to enable European companies to catch up with competitors overseas. Europe faces technological dependencies in AI, microelectronics and solutions for cybersecurity and digital infrastructure, BDI President Peter Leibinger told dpa.
In order to increase the speed of new technology development and keep promising start-ups in Europe during their growth phase, faster approvals and a fundamental reduction in “overregulation” around AI and data are needed, the BDI president demanded.
Industry was ready to invest and to develop innovative technologies, “now politicians must remove the obstacles” he said. (November 17)
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