Start-up Initiative: Commission launches consultation on how to improve the environment for start-ups in Europe

What obstacles do entrepreneurs face when they try to start up and expand their businesses in the Single Market? What actions are needed at EU level to facilitate the creation of start-ups? The Commission is today launching a public consultation to hear the views of entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as all other stakeholders, on how to improve the environment for start-ups in the EU. The consultation launches the Start-up Initiative announced in the Single Market Strategy which aims at creating favourable conditions for entrepreneurs to start up and scale up their businesses in the EU. Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness said: “Start-ups and scale-ups should exploit the full potential of the Single Market. We want to collect as much as possible new ideas from stakeholders on how to improve the environment for innovative start-ups throughout their lifecycle. We need to create the best conditions for European entrepreneurs to take risks, invest, grow and become competitive on a global scale.” Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, also EU’s SME Envoy, will launch the Start-up Initiative with a TEDxBinnenhof Talk in the Hague in the afternoon: “While Europe can already rely on a strong and dynamic start-up ecosystem, many of these start-ups are facing obstacles when scaling up across Europe and beyond. It is a matter of competitiveness and innovative capacity for Europe to make sure that the Single Market is the launch base of our start-ups into the global competition. We are interested in the views of all, and in particular the start-up community, to achieve this and break down these barriers within the Single Market.” The consultation will help to identify possible solutions and, if needed, design new policies to help businesses grow. The goal is to create serial entrepreneurs who will reinvest when they succeed, try again when they fail, and support a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout. As foreseen in the Single Market Strategy, the Commission will also take action to sim­plify VAT requirements and put forward a proposal on business insolvency, to give honest entrepreneurs who fail a sec­ond chance as well as to facilitate early restructuring – a public consultation on insolvency frameworks is currently ongoing. The consultation on the Start-up Initiative will be open until 30 June.