There is significant variation in legal frameworks

High geographical variation in legal frameworks and innovation across the EU. There are significant differences in shareholder rights, legal rights to get credit and insolvency rights in the EU, as well as the time needed to start a business (see Figure 4 and Box 4). Some improvements are likely to have been undertaken since then. For example, Austria has set up a new legal form tailored to start-up companies that has been available since January 2024. Slovenia is currently working on a simplified company form as well. Experts in a horizon scanning workshop have noted that differing regulatory frameworks across regions in terms of data privacy and synthetic data inhibit the development and adoption of emerging technologies.