Europe is losing ground fast. Since 2000, productivity growth has lagged 30 percent behind the U.S. The same trend holds for venture capital (VC). Over the past decade, the European Union (EU) has averaged just 0.3 percent of GDP in VC funding, less than one-third of American levels. Beneath these numbers lies a structural failure I've witnessed up close: Europe's inability to transform promising startups into category-defining leaders.

As the U.K. strikes a trade deal with the U.S. this week and the May 19 U.K.-EU summit approaches, Brussels continues to signal hesitation: even a modest British request for mutual recognition of product certifications—a technical step that would ease trade and reduce friction—was recently rejected by key EU member states, including France. If we can't align on something as basic as product standards, we shouldn't harbor an illusion that a deeper economic partnership is within reach.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer played the royal card well, tiptoeing around President

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