At the European sovereignty summit in Berlin, leading tech associations from across Europe presented a joint declaration adopted. Its goal: to strengthen Europe's digital competitiveness and secure the continent's technological independence. Signatories include the Startup Association, the German AI Association and 12 other partner organizations from across Europe.
Verena Pausder, Chairwoman of the Startup Association, emphasizes:
"If we want to remain technologically relevant, we must make our digital sovereignty a reality now. Europe must learn to scale up its best ideas together – across borders."
They are calling for more investment in European technologies, fair competition for startups and scaleups, and a stronger European single market that fosters innovation. Europe has enormous potential, they argue: a single market with 450 million people, 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises, and 17 percent of global private wealth. At the same time, 27 different regulatory systems are hindering growth. The associations are therefore demanding, among other things, uniform rules that strengthen trust and innovation.
Uniform rules and fair competitive conditions
Tech associations are advocating for a so-called "28th Regime," a unified European legal framework for startups. This would make it easier for young companies to scale across all EU member states. At the same time, they warn against weakening existing European laws such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Pausder commented:
"DMA and DSA were not negotiated as symbolic gestures. They are Europe's strongest instrument for fair competition in a digital world – but only if we use them decisively."
Another key focus is strengthening the European capital market. Calls are growing for a "Savings and Investments Union" to mobilize growth capital for European tech companies.
Pausder criticized:
"Europe has the potential to be the world's greatest innovation engine – but we are making life difficult for ourselves. 27 different legal forms of company law, 35 stock exchanges, 200 trading venues – that's not a single market, that's a patchwork quilt."
Public procurement as a lever for innovation
The associations also see a need for improvement in the area of public procurement. European digital solutions should be given preference, even if not explicitly mandated. This is intended to strengthen trust in European technologies and support domestic innovation. According to Pausder, public procurement accounts for 14 percent of the EU's GDP. Therefore, the state strengthens innovation and resilience when it adopts a European perspective on future technologies.
With their joint statement, the European tech associations are sending a clear signal to politicians: Europe must move from ambition to action.
