BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – ACT | The App Association welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s emphasis on startups and competitiveness in her 2025 State of the Union speech. Her recognition of the role of Europe’s innovators sends an important signal at a critical moment for the EU’s digital future.
Startups and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Europe’s economy and the drivers of digital transformation. The App Association shares the Commission’s view that empowering startups and SMEs is central to building a stronger, more resilient, and more innovative Europe.
At the same time, much remains to be done to turn ambition into reality. Persistent gaps in access to finance, regulatory complexity, and uneven digital adoption still hold Europe’s innovators back. Delivering on the vision outlined today requires concrete measures that respond to the challenges identified in the Draghi report on European competitiveness.
‘Today’s speech rightly highlights startups and scale-ups as engines of Europe’s growth,’ said Mike Sax, Founder and Chairperson of ACT | The App Association. ‘But Europe will only achieve that vision if those SMEs have the tools, capital, and regulatory clarity they need to scale. Implementing the Draghi and Letta reports’ recommendations must now be an urgent priority. Recent initiatives such as the Startup and Scale-up Strategy and the forthcoming 28th regime point in the right direction. Europe must now turn these roadmaps into tangible results addressing fragmentation in the Single Market.’
‘We’re ready to engage, ready to help, and ready to build an innovation friendly Europe,’ Sax concluded. ‘The App Association will continue working towards a more competitive Europe that supports all innovators. We urge the Commission to empower the thousands of European startups, scale-ups, and SMEs that are building innovative solutions.’
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