The Süddeutsche Zeitung features Sebastian Mack, who warns in his new policy brief that Europe’s fragmented capital markets and lack of funding for scaleups risk stalling the continent’s lead in clean tech innovation.
Süddeutsche Zeitung features Sebastian Mack, Senior Policy Fellow for European Financial Markets at the Jacques Delors Centre, in the article titled Kein Geld für den grünen Traum (“no money for the green dream”). In his newly released policy brief “Europe ventures forward: Getting the scaleup of cleantech right”, Mack warns that Europe is at risk of losing its competitive edge in clean technology innovation due to a financing shortfall for growth-stage firms, or “scaleups.” He highlights that Europe’s fragmented capital markets make it challenging for scaleups to obtain the substantial investment required for swift expansion.
According to Mack, insufficient domestic capital has already driven many innovative companies to seek funding abroad, often leading them to eventually relocate outside Europe. In his analysis, Mack stresses that providing local growth capital is "essential for Europe’s prosperity," especially in strategic green sectors. His recommendations call for the European Investment Fund (EIF) to impose stricter sustainability requirements on its investments and for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to play a more direct role in financing cleantech companies, proposing that the EIB could become a central investor in underserved EU-based scaleups.
The article underscores the urgency of Mack’s message: Europe must act swiftly to establish a genuine single capital market and ensure robust, homegrown support for green innovation.
Read the online version of the print article (in German) here.