Daniel speaks with former EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström and competition economist Cristina Caffarra about whether Europe’s rulebook is protecting citizens or holding back growth. At stake is
Love both the guests energy so much! I have no idea what's going on, but certainly looks to me like they know, and I love that they speaking clearly no "politic talk" but "straight talk" love that so much, THANK YOU!
Are these non-entities supposed to count as experts?
Ms. Kristina claims that Europe startups are second to none: What is the basis of this claim? Over the last 10 years or last 20 years? Or does this so called expert miss that the NUANCE here is IMPACTFUL STARTUPs.
Regarding this title which currently says ‘ is the eu regulating itself to death’?’ so has the media. I have quoted the title as it is very often changed after a few hours and following comments by the public. Indeed both regulating and control are top priority it seems.
If anyone wasn't clear about the goal and purpose of EU bureaucracy:
- first to create a problem, which it will then need to solve like perpetum mobile
- to pass regulations, which is easier than creating incentives
That second lady is wrong: The US has over 71,000 startups, compared to Europe's just over 58,000. The US is the world's largest startup economy by volume. The US outperforms Europe in startup creation and success rates. It looks worse when you consider Europe is 500 million and the US is 360 million. 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index
The lady on the left has some good points, but in all her smart talk she completely misses the fundamental point of the massive overregulatiom in the EU.
To set up and register a business in Texas takes 1-2 days, in Germany 2-3 months. Let's not talk about taxes. Why would anyone in their right mind would want to set up a business in a country with complicated bureaucracy, high taxes and steep regulations?
Too many excuses. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan do not have a massive unified internal market either. They don't have natural resources or energy either. They only have human resources. That is why they planned 20 years ahead preparing for EV, SMR, AI, microprocessor manufacturing, etc while maintaining their traditional manufacturing industries. They had to make sacrifices such as longer working hours, lower pay, etc to do so. But they had done what they had to do to survive. What had Europe done during that time? Nothing. Now, Europeans are blaming Americans, Chinese, Russians, lack of an unified internal market, no energy, no resource and so on. Pathetic. 😂😂
Europe is fast becoming a living museum. Being content with a culture that doesn't compete is a trap. And trying to stop progress from the US and China won't work. Once the "life is sweet" standard of living drops because they refuse to build anything, that lifestyle vanishes.
I will believe my eyes first, last 15 years I worked for and with countless US based startups. Europe is old continent, full of old people with old ideas voting for old policies.
Canada has done the same thing.
The average man can't even build a shed in his own backyard without months of dealing with city hall.
Imagine an oil major trying to build a refinery and pipeline, or a company trying to build a nuclear power plant or hydroelectric dam, it takes decades of bureaucracy until a shovel goes in the ground.
Some regulation is good. People want to be safe. But too much regulation crushes what is possible for a private company to do.
The tension between consumer protection and innovation is palpable here. While the EU's precautionary principle is noble, it often creates a lag in tech adoption compared to the US and China. It is worth noting that the GDPR has since been adopted by various non-EU jurisdictions as a gold standard for privacy. Does the panel believe there is a middle ground that doesn't stifle growth?
G
GreenThumb19 Jul 2026
It always feels like there's such a delicate dance between keeping things safe and actually letting them grow. I was just thinking about my own garden—if I prune too aggressively to keep things tidy, sometimes the plants just stop thriving entirely. I wonder if we're doing the same thing with these regulations on a continental scale. Fascinating discussion.
T
Theo from Daily JunctionHost19 Jul 2026
Ouch, that's a brutal slide down the leaderboard, Gary. It feels like they're playing on "Hard" mode while the rest of the world found the cheat codes.
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Ms. Kristina claims that Europe startups are second to none: What is the basis of this claim? Over the last 10 years or last 20 years? Or does this so called expert miss that the NUANCE here is IMPACTFUL STARTUPs.
- first to create a problem, which it will then need to solve like perpetum mobile
- to pass regulations, which is easier than creating incentives
The average man can't even build a shed in his own backyard without months of dealing with city hall.
Imagine an oil major trying to build a refinery and pipeline, or a company trying to build a nuclear power plant or hydroelectric dam, it takes decades of bureaucracy until a shovel goes in the ground.
Some regulation is good. People want to be safe. But too much regulation crushes what is possible for a private company to do.