European Makers Week - First-Ever EU Institutional

Welcome to the first-ever maker fair organised at an eu institution.

First, i wanted to congratulate start up europe, think young, european commission, committee of the regions and rome maker faire.

europe can´t miss even one of the opportunities given to us to boost growth and job creation.

The maker movement represents a huge opportunity for europe, as it is a very good way to maximise the great potential that we have in terms of knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship.

I want to be positive today.

Currently,the european union has nothing to envy to u.s.a in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship; we are now in the process of connecting the many ecosystems that exists in the eu to create our own virtual "european silicon valley". 

The number of start-ups continues to increase, reflecting the potential of the eu that i already mentioned.

2015 has been a spectacular year in this regard. for example, in the ranking "top 15: europe's biggest startup cities in 2015" madrid has risen from the 15th place in 2014 to the 5th, followed by london, stockholm, berlin and amsterdam.

Now, is time to keep improving these results and to keep growing in international terms as well.

Therefore, the maker movement is a great opportunity, as it shows many tools that can be used to boost innovation and entrepreneurship and, in other words, to revitalize the european manufacturing and keep empowering the eu´s economy.

Moreover, the maker movement can inspire and empower more young people to excel in design and stem (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and to pursue careers making things in manufacturing.

So, don´t forget this:

Today a maker, tomorrow a start up!

Let´s build a maker continent!