European founders are launching AI, health‑tech, fintech and deep‑tech firms that rival global rivals, but Brussels lags behind. The EU’s “Digital Omnibus” aims to streamline overlapping rules, yet the proposed amendment to GDPR falls short, offering only technical tweaks while the regulatory maze remains. Investors warn the gap threatens capital and talent flow out of Europe, as investors label uncertainty a deal‑breaker.

The core issue is the stretched definition of personal data, now covering any conceivable link to an individual. That breadth forces startups to treat almost every dataset as regulated, inflating compliance costs that U.S. and Asian peers avoid. A truly risk‑based approach, as originally intended, would align burdens with actual harm and free data for AI training, making seed rounds harder to close.

Beyond GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive’s cookie‑consent regime adds another layer of friction; the draft browser‑level consent tool would deepen fragmentation rather than simplify. Policymakers must match the ambition of European entrepreneurs by cutting redundant rules, not piling on new ones. Failure to do so will channel future unicorns and venture dollars to jurisdictions with clearer digital rules, risking Europe’s competitive edge.