Opinion: 'There's no coming back for entrepreneurship in Europe'

A few weeks ago, circular plastics company and 'National Icon' Ioniqa went bankrupt. This week, we're discussing support for Tata Steel and new permit applications from Chemours. This tells you everything you need to know about the Dutch and European business climate. The US has Tesla, China has BYD, while we're looking at subsidies for Volkswagen and Stellantis. Old, dirty, sluggish companies that we keep supporting. We want to achieve energy transition with Shell and Total. We're channeling billions in tax money their way.

Young entrepreneurs

Companies like Ioniqa or Lightyear can't count on anything. Young, stubborn entrepreneurs don't know what they're talking about, right? We should turn to the top executives of old, large corporations. That's where the knowledge is, that's where the future lies. But it's not like this everywhere. Look at Amazon. Years of losses, billions invested in growth and innovation. That's possible in America. Here, you need to show profits every quarter, or the bank pulls the plug. Our 'venture capitalists' want returns within three years. Real innovation? We don't have the patience for that.

We don't want to change. You can see it in voting patterns across Europe. Close the borders! Higher dikes! Less innovation, more subsidies for old interests. Maintain what we have and especially avoid seeking new paths.

Downfall creates opportunities

Nokia was once Europe's pride. Market leader in mobile phones. They held onto their success until it was too late. Now Finland's tech sector is more vibrant than ever, precisely because Nokia's downfall made room for new ideas and companies. But we don't want to learn that lesson.

This is an attitude we can't maintain for long. We're falling behind, and it's only getting worse. We won't solve this with a small innovation fund or startup subsidy. Things need to break. Companies need to fail. Organizations need to be cut down to size.

The lessons from Brainport

Brainport Eindhoven is often cited as a success story - isn't there innovation there? Isn't there a future? True, things are going very well in Brainport now. But was that policy or vision? Not really, at least not at The Hague or Brussels level, but through a beautiful accident. DAF went bankrupt, Philips nearly went bankrupt and had to pledge its crown jewels, its IP, to Rabobank to survive. The Eindhoven region was really struggling in the early '90s. Things broke down, it hurt, it hurt a lot.

Local good governance and entrepreneurship, belief in the capabilities of local people, ensured that Eindhoven became Brainport and not Detroit. But it was a close call. The creative destruction happened by accident.

No future without pain

Europe needs creative destruction. There's knowledge and talent at Tata, Shell, Chemours, but that talent is locked up because these companies don't need to change. There's no pressure, no necessity. Every greening initiative they propose is mainly about continuing what they do with a green coating.

Europe won't improve without pain. Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies. Europe and European member states shouldn't just help and subsidize startups; they should stop distorting the market by keeping zombie companies alive. While Lightyear was struggling, Volkswagen complained they 'only' received €400 million from the Spanish government.

But real change in Europe is unlikely. What's Plan B? Invest in culture and theme parks and turn Europe into a museum for rich Americans, Chinese, Indians, and other tourists. European culture sells well, and soon that's all we'll have to offer.