Andrus Ansip, EC’s vice-president for the digital single market, warned Europe faces a talent migration, as he battles to make his case for regulatory change within the hierarchy of the European Union.

Ansip is arguing for greater consistency of rules and regulations across member states, or Europe will suffer the consequences.

“We have to create a really good environment for our companies to scale up here in Europe. We have to keep our brains here in the EU. And we have to make the opportunity for our telecoms businesses to make a profitable business here. And once again I have to say we have to create digital single market in EU.”

But Ansip is struggling to make these arguments stick with those that matter — the member states whose backing he needs to push through legislative change.

Shortly after the interview, Ansip admitted in a speech that the campaign for a single digital market was “an uphill struggle”.

Separately, he attacked Europe’s national governments for not fully accepting the commission’s position on roaming. The member states are also cold on greater pan-European spectrum allocation and lukewarm on net neutrality  — two other key Ansip proposals for enabling the digital single market.

The commission will deliver its single-market proposal in May. In the meantime, Ansip will continue to wrangle with the member states to get more of what he wants into the final package.

“In the European Union we have huge potential, because in our continent there are 500 million people living here. We have to deal with fragmentation of market, and now we can just ask why our smart start-ups are leaving the continent for the US to scale up?” he said in the Mobile World Live interview.