  We present a new picture of the early universe in finite nonlocal quantum
gravity, which is conformally invariant at the classical and quantum levels.
The high-energy regime of the theory consists of two phases, a conformally
invariant trans-Planckian phase and a post-Planckian or Higgs phase described
by an action quadratic in the Ricci tensor and where the cosmos evolves
according to the standard radiation-dominated model. In the first phase, all
the issues of the hot big bang such as the singularity, flatness, and horizon
problems find a universal and simple non-inflationary solution by means of Weyl
(or scale, or conformal) invariance, regardless of the microscopic details of
the theory. In the second phase, once conformal symmetry is spontaneously
broken, primordial perturbations are generated around a background that
asymptotically evolves as a radiation-dominated flat
Friedmann--Lema\^{i}tre--Robertson--Walker universe.
