Pawel Swieboda is president of demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Europe.
"Europeans might think of themselves as entrepreneurial people, but we can argue that the welfare state and over-regulation have made them risk-averse.
Since the beginning of the economic crisis, self-employment has become a less attractive option. Today, as many as 58% of Europeans prefer to work as employees as opposed to 49% three years ago. In line with this, the World Bank has observed that EU citizens are prepared to accept lower, but “better” growth, with strong social security and a high level of public services At the same time, the European youth population is often described as the “good enough” generation which prefers to adapt to the changing circumstances rather than conquer the world. Europe has seen less intensive product competition, greater levels of regulation, difficulty in access to high-risk capital and a lower number of educated workers than the United States.
