Financing Innovative Ventures in Europe: closing the scale-up gap

What are the policy solutions to help new European companies thrive?

Time and location: 24 February 2026 09:30-10:45 Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, 4th floor, 1210 Brussels
Format: Public, Hybrid, On the record, Livestreamed
Contact: Katja Knežević

Speakers

Petra Hielkema

Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority

Jörg Kukies

Former Federal Minister of Finance, Germany

Agenda

Check-in & breakfast

9:00-9:30

Agenda

Presentation

9:30-9:50

Jörg Kukies, Former Federal Minister of Finance, Germany;

Agenda

Discussion

9:50-10:30

Chair: Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Bruegel Director
Petra Hielkema, Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Jörg Kukies, Former Federal Minister of Finance, Germany;
Nicolas Véron, Bruegel Senior Fellow

Agenda

Q&A

10:30-10:45

Europe excels at creating startups but struggles to scale them into global leaders. A persistent lack of late-stage financing, fragmented capital markets and regulatory barriers continue to hold back European scaleups.

At this event, Jörg Kukies presented the key findings of the Franco-German FIVE (Financing Innovative Ventures in Europe) initiative. Following that, the panellist engaged in a discussion on concrete policy options to close the scale-up financing gap through a multi-thronged approach: deepening the Savings and Investments Union, bolstering growth and reforming the pension systems, among other factors.

Theme: Microeconomic policies
Keyword: capital markets competition policy digital economy financial regulation
Language: English