Regulations in Europe don’t leave room for innovation

The Free Market Road Show, the event that travels across Europe with the message of freedom, made its stop in the capital of Slovenia.

Prince Michael of Liechtenstein expressed his views on the present situation of Europe –particularly regarding the issue of the most gifted Europeans leaving the country: “People migrate because they feel frustrated. Our youth thinks they cannot make full use of their talents in Europe anymore”.

Prince Michael is far from Euroskepticism: “I am a friend of the EU, that’s why I am critical. I want it to be a success”. However, he was worried about the consequences of overregulation: “We have national and EU regulations because we want to avoid ‘risks’. This does not leave room for innovation”.

His last remarks were about a widespread European misconception: “We misunderstand competition. We believe that competition can only happen within a common regulatory environment”.

Also on the topic of “brain drain”, former Slovenian minister Žiga Turk warned: “There is a war for talent in the globalized world and Europe is not doing good fighting this war”.

Finally, Tanja Štumberger –who was an emigrant herself – sentenced: “Changing a couple of laws is not going to change our [Slovenian] problems. We need a much deeper transformation. People have to understand that hard workers are a benefit for the whole society and change their attitude towards them”.

The Austrian Economics Center (AEC), in cooperation with the local partner Svetilnik and in association with international partners such as the Liberty Fund, Global Philanthropic Trust, European Students for Liberty, Ruefa and the F.A. v. Hayek Institut, proudly organized this event in Ljubljana. This was the thirteenth stop of the 7th Annual Free Market Road Show® which tours from March 26th to May 12th. 30 cities, hundreds of speakers, thousands of attendees and one message: Freedom.

More photos from Free Market Road Shows 2014