5 ways the EU’s bold new startup plan could boost its tech ecosystem

The European Commission has unveiled ambitious plans to cut red tape and make the EU a more attractive place for tech businesses to scale. 

Launched today, the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy comes as the bloc scrambles to attract and retain tech startups amid stiff competition from the US and Asia. 

Under the new initiative, the EU has laid out a five-point plan to close the gap with its rivals. It’s also in talks to deploy a public-private fund of at least €10bn under the new strategy, Reuters reports. 

Here’s the lowdown:

1. Making rules less painful

European startups regularly express frustrations that EU regulation holds them back.

To ease that, the EU wants to create a “28th regime” — essentially a simplified legal framework for companies to operate under a single set of rules across the 27 member states. It’s meant to reduce headaches around things like ...