It is expected to be released soon as part of a new so-called Competitiveness Compass to help make the EU economy compete with other world regions but was pushed back last week due to President Ursula von der Leyen’s bout of severe pneumonia.
The text, called the 2025 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report, was first reported by Bloomberg.
The EU executive raised concerns about its tech sector in the draft, flagging that the EU’s share of the global market in tech and digital services has halved over the past decade (to 10.8 percent) while the U.S. share has increased by a third (to 38 percent).
The EU has only 263 unicorns — a company valued at over $1 billion — which is a fraction of the number in the United States (1,539) and also trails China’s number (387).
The figures spell trouble for Europe, as “businesses struggle to scale up” and “the role of venture capital remains far smaller than in competing economies,” the text read, drawing heavily from Mario Draghi’s blueprint to fight Europe’s competitive decline.
Digitalization is progressing “but not yet at sufficient pace,” it warned.
