The Lisbon S9+ Declaration: Making Europe the AI and Startup Continent

The S9+ Coalition – representing startup organisations from 11 of Europe’s most innovative nations – published the S9+ Lisbon Declaration ahead of today’s D9+ Ministerial Meeting in Lisbon.

Our message to ministers is simple but urgent: Europe must act boldly to stay globally competitive. To win the future, we must simplify to scale, invest to grow, and innovate to include.

The S9+ Lisbon Declaration calls on the D9+ to:

• Launch a Digital Simplification Agenda under the D9+ to streamline EU digital rules through the Digital Omnibus, harmonising obligations, removing outdated overlaps, and cutting compliance costs.
• Create a formal startup impact check for new digital laws, such as in the upcoming Digital Fairness Act, where the effect on startups and their ability to use targeted advertising seems to be ignored.
• Deliver a Regulation-based 28th regime – one company form, one EU-wide registry, and once-only onboarding for startups across borders.
• Negotiate the next EU Budget (MFF 2028–2034) with startups in mind – directing funding to innovation and growth, not bureaucracy.
• Empower citizens through digital inclusion and skills initiatives led in partnership with startups.

Members of the S9+ Coalition: Startup Portugal, Allied For Startups, Adigital & EsTech, Scale-Ups.eu & Startup SuperNova, Dutch Startup Association, Startup Poland, Estonian Founders Society, SISP – Swedish Incubators & Science Parks, Danske Iværksættere – Danish Entrepreneurs, Finnish Startup Community (FSC) / Suomen Startup-yhteisö, Czech Startup Association.