Developed: EU – An Open Letter to Policymakers

Dear Members of the European Parliament, European Commission, European Council, and Member States,

With Europe having entered into a new mandate with competitiveness high on the agenda, ACT | The App Association launched the Developed: EU tour, bringing Europe’s innovation ecosystem together for a series of frank conversations. Over five weeks and across nine cities, founders, policymakers, and investors shared their concerns, their opportunities, and their support for building a more SME-friendly policy environment in Europe.

As you continue your crucial consideration of the Startup and Scaleup Strategy and other policy adjustments to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the EU, we are providing the below summary of our discussions with businesses across the bloc.

Developed: EU provided an unfiltered look at how EU policy directly affects the ability of SMEs, startups, and scaleups to innovate and commercialise new products and services. From compliance headaches to funding gaps, from community building to cross-border ambitions, these lessons from the trenches are instructive for any policymakers looking to drive economic growth, boost European global competitiveness, and create jobs.

Sincerely,

Mike Sax
Founder
ACT | The App Association

Lessons from the trenches

Regulations must make sense together

In Bari, Rome, and Copenhagen, we heard one word over and over: simplify. Founders are facing overlapping and inconsistent policies from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the AI Act to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Not only that, the inconsistent interpretation of EU regulations at national levels adds to the uncertainty founders are struggling with. This creates friction instead of clarity. Entrepreneurs expressed an interest in engaging with regulators to urge them to ensure coherence and flexibility in implementation, especially as fragmented or rigid rules disproportionately burden SMEs.

Community matters

Our events in Amsterdam and Berlin underscored the power of community support to startup success. Founders repeatedly pointed to community-driven knowledge sharing and peer support as critical to scaling their businesses. They highlighted that it is critical to encourage EU policymakers to invest in practical, accessible ways to foster founder-to-founder connections, and that the App Association could continue to play a central role in helping to nurture that community.

Funding culture needs a reset

In conversations in Milan and Madrid, entrepreneurs pointed to Europe’s risk-averse investment climate as a serious hurdle. Unlike the United States, where failure is seen as a learning step, European investors often seek perfection before backing an idea. The SMEs and investors we met with made clear that policy support must include incentives for early-stage risk and mechanisms to make capital more accessible across borders. This also requires accelerating the creation of a genuine European Savings and Investment Union, which would help pool financial resources and improve cross-border capital flows. SMEs, in particular, need simpler, more harmonised access to funding instruments that can support innovation beyond national boundaries.

Global reach is crucial but can be hard to achieve

Across stops, especially in Bari and Vienna, startups and scaleups expressed strong interest in expanding globally to other markets. While app stores provide seamless and instant access to a global marketplace, in other areas of industry it can be difficult to navigate the complexity. More is needed to ensure Europe’s best can scale globally, and the advantages of app stores need to be preserved.

DMA workshops coming up

Platforms are essential to SME growth. Platforms enable global reach, reduce complexity, and provide trusted tools that level the playing field for SMEs competing with large, dominant brands. Unlike dominant brands, small companies lack built-in loyalty and network effects, so we depend on platform services, curation, and consumer trust to compete and thrive. However, regulatory changes like the DMA risk undermining this trust and introducing uncertainty, especially if influenced by the interests of a handful of billionaire app brands rather than thousands of startups and scaleups.

The Standard-Essential Patent (SEP) Regulation matters more than ever

While simplifying is good, the EU institutions must avoid scrapping what just needs fixing. European innovators are driving Europe’s future economy, particularly in cutting-edge sectors such as the internet of things (IoT), healthcare, sustainability, and safety. However, abusive standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing practices are hindering their growth. A small number of large SEP holders exploit ambiguities and information asymmetries, forcing SMEs to accept unfair terms or get out of the market entirely. The proposed SEP Regulation should be refined, not withdrawn. Pulling it won’t make SEP abuse disappear—it will only deepen the harm to SMEs and innovation.

Brussels as the culmination of a European dialogue

The final stop of the tour, Developed: Brussels, brought everything together. During a collection of in-depth conversations, founders, policymakers, and EU leaders explored what it means to make Europe truly competitive—through the lens of the innovators who power its digital economy.

The capstone event featured a standout lineup of decision-makers and insiders with a front-row seat to Europe’s next chapter in tech policy.

EU leaders including MEP Niels Flemming Hansen, Seán O’Reagain and Elena Kostadinova from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Simone Skovshoved of Danish Entrepreneurs, and Ayesha Bhatti of the Center for Data Innovation provided fresh insights and forward-looking plans from those shaping the digital competitiveness agenda.

Alongside them, App Association members Jonas Almeling (Ecosystem Entrepreneur), Jason Culloty (Skillsvista), and Federico Roviglioni (Bufaga) brought the perspective from Europe’s startup frontlines.

From the SEP regulation and AI Act implementation to SME access to infrastructure and capital, conversation at Developed: Brussels covered what’s next for the EU digital economy—directly from the people making it happen.

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ACT | The App Association is a global trade association representing app makers and connected device companies. Our members are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, and scaleups innovating across sectors, from healthcare and education to agriculture and AI. We champion their priorities in global tech policy and ensure their voices are heard.