On November 3, 2021, 27 countries (26 EU member states and Iceland) and the European Commission jointly announced the establishment of the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA), with the goal of doubling the number of unicorn enterprises in the EU by 2030. These countries signed the EU Startup Nations Standard (EU SNS) Declaration issued in March 2021, promising to ensure that their startups have the best development conditions and environment at every stage of their life cycle, aiming at promoting EU entrepreneurship and accelerating the growth of startups. ESNA will support these countries in their efforts to become “entrepreneurial countries” by: sharing the best practices stipulated in the EU SNS, and providing technical support for countries to implement changes and monitor progress. ESNA will work closely with 27 European countries that have signed the EU SNS and support them in implementing eight basic standards:

1. Starting a business quickly and entering the market successfully: 1) realizing the establishment of a business within one day, and the total cost is controlled below 100 euros; 2) creating an entrepreneurial service platform to provide one-stop information services for potential entrepreneurs, helping them understand all the policy and institutional requirements involved in starting a business, and how to complete the relevant procedures for starting a business; and 3) realizing the universality of compliance documents for starting enterprises among EU member states. 

2. Attracting and retaining talents: Accelerating the visa process for technical talents from countries outside the EU, and providing preferential policies for technical talents returning to the EU.

3. Stock options: There is no tax on stock options before they are cashed, allowing startups to issue stock options to employees. 

4. Innovation on regulations: Paying attention to the development of small enterprises in the top-level design of national policies, improving and update the Company Law, and making it more beneficial to the development of startup enterprises; a regulatory sandbox that allows startups to experiment.

5. Innovative procurement: Removing administrative obstacles that will put startups at a disadvantage; providing special policy support for technological transformation of universities or research institutions; and encouraging startups to participate in and benefit from open source assets. 

6. Financing channels: In terms of direct financing, financial support for venture capital is increased through policy banks such as the European Union Investment Bank (for example); in the aspect of indirect financing, policies are introduced to increase the quantity and diversity of private capital; providing tax breaks for angel investment. 

7. Values of social inclusion, diversity and protection: Introducing incentives for recruitment of diverse groups of gender, race, age and religion; supporting the entrepreneurial needs of some specific groups in society; calling on startup enterprises to solve problems such as social marginalization. 

8. Digital priority: All interactions between policies and startups are realized through digital platforms; typical startups that seek and widely publicize digital best practices. 

In March 2021, the European Commission, the executive department of the European Union, put forward a new set of national standards for entrepreneurship for use by member states. The EU SNS reads: “Europe needs more startups to grow rapidly into innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), and then eventually develop into large enterprises, contributing to the digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy of Europe. ”. “To do this, every startup in the EU needs an enabling and equitable environment to grow at every stage of its life cycle. ”