European Startups Demand Reforms to Boost Digital Sovereignty

European Startups Push for Digital Sovereignty Reforms

As European leaders gather in Berlin for the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty, startup associations from across the continent are demanding concrete reforms to strengthen Europe's position in the global digital economy. The German Startups Association, alongside partners from France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania, issued a joint statement calling for unified rules and better conditions to foster growth in the homegrown digital sector.

'Europe must learn to make its best ideas big together, across borders,' said Verena Pausder, chairwoman of the German Startups Association. 'That means more investment in European technologies, fair competition for start-ups and a stronger European single market that accelerates innovation.'

The Urgent Need for Digital Independence

The Berlin summit, scheduled for Tuesday, focuses on critical topics including technological independence, digitalization, and European competitiveness against global rivals like the United States and China, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI). Participants—including politicians from EU member states, business leaders, and researchers—will discuss strategies to prevent sensitive company data from being stored in non-European cloud services, a key concern for digital sovereignty.

Europe's digital autonomy hinges on a cohesive legal framework that promotes innovation. Currently, the fragmented regulatory systems across all 27 EU member states create high barriers, particularly for small businesses. 'Europe has the potential to be the world's biggest innovation engine, but we are making life difficult for ourselves,' Pausder emphasized. 'Twenty-seven forms of company law, 35 stock exchanges, 200 trading venues: that's not a single market, that's a patchwork quilt.'

Call for a Common Capital Market and Legal Framework

A common European capital market is seen as essential for mobilizing capital to support growth. The current fragmentation has led to 'many promising but isolated start-ups existing side by side,' Pausder noted. The associations are advocating for public authorities to prioritize European digital solutions in future tenders, while ensuring that landmark EU regulations like the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act are not weakened.

German industry is also pushing for political reforms. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) highlights Europe's technological dependencies in AI, microelectronics, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure. '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,' BDI President Peter Leibinger told dpa. 'Industry was ready to invest and to develop innovative technologies, now politicians must remove the obstacles.'

Initiatives like Gaia-X, a European project for federated data infrastructure, aim to bolster digital sovereignty by ensuring data control aligns with European values. However, stakeholders argue that broader reforms are necessary to create a truly integrated digital single market. As the summit unfolds, the calls for action grow louder, with startups urging policymakers to translate words into deeds for a competitive and sovereign European digital future.