Three years ago, Index partnered with 30 founders across Europe, urging governments “to fix the patchy, inconsistent and often punitive rules that govern employee ownership.” Within weeks, 500 founders and CEOs joined the campaign as signatories, and hundreds more have signed up since.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and to update you on the growing momentum of Not Optional – helping European companies to attract and retain the very best in global talent.
While policy wheels turn at much slower pace than startup ones, the results of the past two years have moved us closer to our goal.
Here's how you've helped us bring about concrete changes and put stock options on the map:
🇪🇺 27 European countries have signed the Startup Nations Standard, committing to improve national stock option rules and other policies that inhibit startups. This is the first time a declaration like this has been adopted for startups. Not Optional alongside Allied for Startups and other partners provided input throughout the drafting process, arguing for options to be included as a key policy area.
🇵🇹 Earlier this month, the European Commission and the Portuguese launched the Europe Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA) to support the implementation of the Standard. ESNA will be a permanent agency with the mission of helping national governments improve the climate for startups.
🇫🇷 France reformed BSPCE rules, allowing international companies to gain access to the popular stock options scheme that Not Optional successfully campaigned to reform.
France is set to take over the EU Council Presidency in January, and Not Optional has been working with the French as part of the ScaleUp Europe programme to make sure options are on the agenda. A lot of credit goes to France Digitale and La French Tech, helping to turn France into a startup nation.
🇬🇧 UK launched a consultation on the reform of its popular EMI scheme, with an ambition to make more companies and their employees eligible. In a conversation with UK's startup association Coadec, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, highlighted the work of Not Optional and research from Index Ventures as the reason for launching the consultation.
🇱🇻 🇱�� Latvia and Lithuania have updated their stock option policies, putting them at the top of our rankings of European schemes. The latest reform in Latvia lets startups choose the strike price of their stock options, without valuation or tax liability; a 20% tax rate is applied at the point of sale on the difference between the strike and sale price; the minimum vesting period was cut from three years to one; and stock options don’t automatically come with voting rights.
🇳🇱 The Netherlands moved taxation from the point at which the options are exercised to when shares become tradable, and further changes are being mooted. Working closely with Techleap, Not Optional has been actively engaged in discussions with several ministries.
🇦🇹 Austria is planning to bring in a new company structure for startups – one with a more favourable stock option scheme. Not Optional is working with the Finance and Digital Ministries on finding the best approach that works within the constraints of local laws.
🇧🇪 Belgium is reviewing its policy. Having shared Not Optional’s proposals with Belgium’s Secretary of State for Digital in June, the Digital and Finance Ministries are now in discussions to reform the country’s employee ownership framework. We’re working with the Belgian startup association Startups.be to drive the talks forward.
🇪🇸 Spain's Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy now includes stock options tax reforms. There's a lot to like, but we believe Spain could be bolder. Not Optional has already fed into a public consultation in July and held an introductory conversation with the Spanish Digital/AI Ministry to push for broader reform.
As our ranking shows, there's still much more work to do. For example:
🇩🇰 Disappointing news landed during Denmark’s Digital Day, when Minister Dan Jørgensen spoke out against stock options. So far our letters sent pre-and post-Digital Day went unanswered.
🇩🇪 In Germany, all eyes are on the recent elections, and Not Optional is working closely with Deutsche Startups to bring about much-needed changes. A 2020 reform, promised to us “within a matter of days” during our Not Optional event last October, came in the form of the Fund Location Act – but unfortunately, it represented no real change for German entrepreneurs. Watch out for the new coalition, and particularly who will hold the powerful post of the Minister of Finance.
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