Europe has to give companies a reason to stay

I refuse to move Simplifyer's headquarters to the United States, but I understand why so many European companies do. Europe has to give companies incentives so their head offices stay here, and pay their taxes here.

The gap is real, and it's widening. Europe spends roughly €270 billion a year less on research than the United States. Only four of the world's fifty largest technology companies are European, and just 7% of new AI patents come from here. In the US it's easier to enter and easier to sell; in Europe, an excess of regulation pushes investors away.

Founding a company is hard for anyone, and much harder without wealthy parents behind you. Too much of today's entrepreneurship is built for the children of rich parents who can bankroll them. The hardest part isn't the idea; it's the running costs in your head. You start paying the day you open the door, before you've invoiced a single euro. There should be more support at exactly that moment.

Our labour law is completely out of step with reality and needs a structural change, not another patch. And in politics, I'm a municipal councillor in Loures, we govern in four-year cycles with our eyes on the next election, when what we owe people is a plan for the future.

None of this is a reason to give up. It's a reason to build here, on purpose. My advice to anyone younger is simple: dream, but make it real. Don't just wait for someone else to do it for you.