ŠAVŠ/TAČR Digital Czechia in a Digital Europe

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• European SME Week – It is a pan-European campaign to promote entrepreneurship in Europe. It helps startups find available business support at local, national and European level. It tries to encourage new entrepreneurs to start their own business. The coordinator of this campaign is the European Commission. 7 As can be seen from the above, there is considerable support for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in the European Union. The aim of this effort is to ensure economic growth in individual member states of the European Union, increase employment and minimize the effects of economic crises, which will certainly affect the economies of individual member states of the European Union in the future. The presented comparative study is based on an analysis that was focused on identifying the possibilities and ways in which selected EU member states support startups at the government level and based on best practices to propose recommendations that would enable more effective development of successful startups in the Czech Republic. The research that formed the foundation of the presented comparative analysis is based on the analysis of secondary data and information concerning the support of startups in selected member states of the European Union. The information and documents obtained through the Embassy of the Czech Republic in selected member states of the European Union is also a source of information for the processing of this comparative analysis. The research team asked the following five questions, looking for available answers: 1) Does the given EU Member State support the creation of startups on its territory? 2) What is the income tax rate for business corporations as a percentage for 2019? 3) What is the average time needed to set up a business corporation in the EU Member State in question? 4) What was the unemployment rate in 2018 in the EU Member State in question? 5) What was the average wage in each EU Member State in question in 2018? Table 1 was created in order to show comprehensive data used for analysis focused on startups in individual member states of the European Union. It shows that all EU Member States have signed up to support startups on their territory, but there are significant differences between them in the quality of support provided, not only in financial terms but also in terms of legislation. 7 EU funding programs, European Commission, 12/2018, see https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/