How the European Commission turned digital policy into a story for Europe’s startup ecosystem

The PR challenge

When Ursula von der Leyen became President of the European Commission, she made a powerful statement:

“If Europe wants to grow, it must help its startups grow.”

Her message came at a defining moment for European tech. AI, data and sustainability were becoming the foundation of Europe’s digital economy, but the global conversation was still dominated by the US and China.

The European Commission wanted to show that Europe’s innovation strength lies not only in policy or regulation, but in the creativity and ambition of its startups and entrepreneurs. The challenge: make that message resonate with Europe’s innovation community.

The approach

We guided the European Commission’s communications around its new digital strategy, helping translate complex policy goals into human stories about collaboration, innovation and digital confidence with public relations. With a broad network of journalists we covered the right business news outlets.

Starting in the Netherlands, one of Europe’s most vibrant startup ecosystems, the campaign aimed to bridge Brussels and the business community. Through strategic storytelling and targeted media outreach, we helped position the Commission’s message where it mattered most: with founders, innovators and investors driving Europe’s digital transition.

“Startups in Europe must be able to grow and attract investors. We must use our scale and diversity to drive innovation.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commision

The result

The initiative helped position the European Commission not just as a policymaker, but as a partner for innovation and entrepreneurship.

It reached new audiences within the European tech community and helped build trust between Brussels and local ecosystems, showing that Europe’s digital future is already being built by its startups.

This op-ed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, published on the occasion of the presentation of the European Commission’s strategies on data and Artificial Intelligence, appeared across a wide range of leading European media outlets, including Handelsblatt (Germany), Il Sole 24 Ore (Italy), El Mundo (Spain) ,Público (Spain), Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (Poland), Lesoir.be (Belgium), Dagens Industri (Sweden), Dnevnik.bg (Bulgaria), Turun Sanomat (Finland), the Irish Examiner (Ireland), Phileleftheros (Cyprus), Politis (Cyprus), Kathimerini (Greece), L-Orizzont (Vatican City), paperjam.lu (Luxemburg), protothema.gr (Greece), Delano (Luxemburg) DeOndernemer.nl (The Netherlands) and Malta Today (Malta).

The story sparked new conversations around Europe’s digital sovereignty, and inspired other innovation leaders to see themselves as part of a shared European vision.

For innovators, it was a reminder that Europe’s scale, diversity and creativity are its greatest competitive advantages; they just need to be seen and told with confidence.

📊 Impact in numbers

9,300,000+
Readers reached through online, newsletters and print media

1,130,000+
Newspaper distribution