ERU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 338: Notat samt regeringens høringsvar til EU-kommissionen vedr. iværksætterinitiativer, fra erhvervs- og vækstministeren

Erhvervs-, Vækst- og Eksportudvalget 2015-16
ERU Alm.del Bilag 338
Offentligt

NOTAT

21. June 2016

16/03645-12

ikr-dep

Danish Government’s response to the Commission’s ‘Start-up Initia-

tive’

The Danish Government welcomes the start-up initiative launched by the

European Commission. There should be a strong focus on improving the

conditions for starting a company in order to increase the number of

scale-ups (high growth companies) which also should be the primary aim

for the Commission’s start-up initiative.

Scale-ups vs. start-ups

Scale-ups are an important leaver for growth creation in the European

economy – hence specific attention should be payed to scale-ups. Evi-

dence suggests that an increase in the numbers of start-ups will not neces-

sarily automatically result in an increase in the numbers of scale-ups. Pol-

icies on start-up companies and scale-up companies are thus de-linked,

and specific attention should be payed to framework conditions promot-

ing start-ups that turn into scale-ups.

Single Market and Digital Single Market

The Danish Government fully supports the Commission’s Single Market

Strategy and look forward to seeing the initiatives being launched – in-

cluding the actions in the realm of intellectual property rights.

A well-functioning Single Market is crucial for the well-being of ecosys-

tems and scale-up companies and should continually be developed with a

reinforced focus on consistent enforcement and implementation of com-

mon rules. Poor or divergent enforcement and implementation hampers

cross-border trade and creates an uneven playing field for businesses.

The Digital Single Market should likewise be simple, transparent, and

have a stable regulatory environment that stimulates digital entrepreneur-

ship and spurs digitalisation. The market should be characterised by

openness towards innovation and new business models, by stronger com-

petition, low barriers, and a favourable environment for new entrants. A

market-based approach where businesses do not face unjustified burdens

and can operate freely across borders is equally essential. We emphasise

the importance of taking an evidence-based approach, where new legisla-

ERU, Alm.del - 2015-16 - Bilag 338: Notat samt regeringens høringsvar til EU-kommissionen vedr. iværksætterinitiativer, fra erhvervs- og vækstministeren

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tion is based on the Better Regulation principles - especially conducting

sound and thorough impact assessments to ensure a balanced and propor-

tional level of regulation. We encourage the Commission to move ambi-

tiously forward in its efforts to remove regulatory and non-regulatory

barriers in the Digital Single Market.

Access to finance

Access to finance remains a challenge for many start-ups and particularly

scale-ups. We support the Capital Markets Union and the renewed focus

in Horizon2020 and COSME on facilitating access to venture capital and

business angel financing.

It is important that the efforts to supply the member states with financial

solutions are continued. The European Institutions should seek to simplify

their products as much as possible and continuously work to secure that

the products complement each other. Furthermore, both the national con-

text the national promotional banks and the private financial intermediar-

ies operate in should be taken into account when products are modified or

new products introduced.

Boosting entrepreneurial culture is important – but in the hands of

private actors

Following the rapid development within tech and many new successful

companies “disrupting” the old industrial world, entrepreneurs attract a

lot of attention, with most countries having events promoting the start-up

culture.

Therefore, the public sector should be cautious not to inflate or over-

stimulate the ongoing trend. Stimulation of the entrepreneurial culture

must be grounded on national analysis of the state of health of the overall

local ecosystems and the needs will probably differ across member states.

Therefore, the Danish Government does not see a need for schemes to

promote entrepreneurial culture on a European level.