{"id":838820,"date":"2026-03-20T16:50:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/838820\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:50:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:50:22","slug":"eu-proposes-eu-inc-the-eus-28th-regime-techuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/838820\/","title":{"rendered":"EU proposes EU Inc: the EU\u2019s 28th Regime | techUK"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The European Commission\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/commission.europa.eu\/topics\/business-and-industry\/doing-business-eu\/company-law-and-corporate-governance\/eu-inc-new-harmonised-corporate-legal-regime_en?prefLang=es\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(55, 112, 202); text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer;\" target=\"_blank\">published its legislative proposal for EU Inc.<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a018 March 2026. The proposal is a response to\u00a0the Draghi and Letta Reports&#8217; diagnosis that legal fragmentation across 27 national corporate systems\u00a0in the EU\u00a0acts as an &#8220;invisible tariff&#8221; on cross-border growth.\u00a0It\u00a0seeks\u00a0to\u00a0establish\u00a0a new, harmonised corporate legal regime across the European Union.\u00a0While initially believed to be reserved for\u00a0innovative companies and startups, the proposal\u00a0indicates\u00a0that this new legal regime will be made available to any founder who considers it suitable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This\u00a0optional, EU-level corporate framework sitting alongside (not replacing) the 27 national systems,\u00a0aims\u00a0to make it easier to start, scale, and access capital across the\u00a0EU\u00a0Single Market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the 28th\u00a0regime: contents of the proposal\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>EU Inc. is a new optional corporate form,\u00a0established\u00a0by Regulation, open to any company regardless of size or sector. Key features include:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Registration and Digital Operations:<\/strong>\u00a0The legislation proposes incorporation within 48 hours for a maximum of\u00a0\u20ac100 via a new EU Central Interface, with no\u00a0minimum\u00a0share capital requirement.\u00a0All procedures (such as opening another branch, share transfers, dissolution) will be digital by default. One of the most important concepts the legislation seeks to introduce is the\u00a0\u201conce only\u201d principle. This means that company data, once registered on the EU central interface, would be made available to relevant tax authorities, VAT registries, social security bodies, and beneficial ownership registers without needing to separately apply to all of them. Additionally, upon registration, companies would\u00a0immediately\u00a0receive their tax identification number and VAT number.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Financing and Capital:<\/strong>\u00a0The proposal would not seek\u00a0minimum\u00a0share capital requirements. It would\u00a0support multiple share classes, differentiated voting rights, convertible instruments, and warrants. In-kind\u00a0contributions\u00a0\u00a0(including undertakings to perform work or services)\u00a0would be\u00a0permitted\u00a0as share consideration. Notably, the proposal explicitly enables Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs) and other standardised financing instruments favoured by the VC community. Distributions\u00a0would be\u00a0governed by balance sheet and solvency tests rather than traditional capital maintenance rules.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Employee stock options:\u00a0<\/strong>All EU Inc. companies\u00a0would be able to\u00a0opt into a harmonised EU employee stock option\u00a0(EU-ESO)\u00a0scheme. Tax on income derived from warrants\u00a0would be\u00a0deferred until disposal of the resulting shares. By doing\u00a0so the proposal seeks to\u00a0directly address one of the most cited barriers to startup talent retention in Europe. The Commission\u00a0is\u00a0also encouraging EU\u00a0Member States to treat EU-ESO income as capital gains rather than employment income.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Insolvency and Closure:\u00a0The regime would create a simplified\u00a0digital-first winding-up procedure\u00a0for any insolvent EU Inc companies\u00a0that would qualify as innovative startups. It would also provide a framework for electronic auction of assets. By doing so the legislation aims to make it easier for startups to restart faster.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-Discrimination Safeguards:\u00a0<\/strong>The legislation also proposes a list of prohibited\u00a0national practices\u00a0to\u00a0ensure EU Inc.\u00a0companies would\u00a0be\u00a0treated no less favourably than\u00a0other limited liability companies formed\u00a0in accordance with\u00a0their national law in any aspect of their activities and operations.\u00a0Such practices would include things like \u201ccriteria that deny eligibility of those EU Inc. companies to public support in view of their place of headquarters in other Member States\u201d or \u201cthe requirement to have a local representative or a physical presence in that Member State in order to complete a procedure necessary to take up or exercise an economic activity or to obtain an authorisation\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Complementary measures\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The EU Commission is tying this legislative proposal to other suggestions and legislative initiatives. Indeed, part of realising the\u00a0objectives\u00a0set out in the proposal would be intertwined with the setting up of EU Business Wallets which would serve as the main way for EU Inc. companies to manage their\u00a0interactions. An EU Inc. company\u00a0would\u00a0use the Business Wallets to take actions such as\u00a0submitting\u00a0tax returns, applying for permits,\u00a0signing\u00a0and exchanging contracts with public authorities and business partners across the EU\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The proposal\u00a0also\u00a0links to ongoing work under the\u00a0EU\u2019s\u00a0Savings and Investments Union\u00a0plans, the European Competitiveness Fund, and the Scaleup Europe Fund. A revision of pension fund investment rules and an upcoming review of the European Venture Capital Funds Regulation\u00a0which\u00a0are\u00a0all\u00a0intended to deepen capital market access for startups and scaleups.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the talent and skills front, a\u00a0forthcoming Fair Labour Mobility package will explore enabling 100% cross-border teleworking for startups, applying the social security law of the employer&#8217;s Member State. The European Social Security Pass and Skills Portability Initiative aim to reduce mobility obstacles for workers, while the EU Talent Pool Regulation will\u00a0facilitate\u00a0recruitment of non-EU talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Member States are\u00a0also\u00a0encouraged\u00a0(though not required)\u00a0to\u00a0designate\u00a0specialised courts or judicial chambers for EU Inc. company law disputes, improving ruling consistency and investor confidence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s\u00a0next\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The proposal is overall a positive development and would be able to provide simplified procedures and processes for non-EU investors\u00a0seeking\u00a0to be active and scale up in the EU.\u00a0techUK\u00a0will keep a close eye on these developments as they go through the EU legislative process over the coming months to best assess the opportunities that would be made available to members. Should you have any questions do not hesitate to reach out to us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>techUK International Policy and Trade Programme activities<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>techUK supports members with their international trade plans and aspirations. We help members to understand market opportunities, tackle market access barriers, and build partnerships in their target market.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techuk.org\/shaping-policy\/internation-trade.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Visit the programme page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Background The European Commission\u00a0published its legislative proposal for EU Inc.\u00a0on\u00a018 March 2026. The proposal is a response to\u00a0the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[70981,39257,22477,51,13180,27861,26643,2000,299,5187,1699,12496,10435,53389,2443,5199,8183,33476,7922,9892,121950],"class_list":["post-838820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-additionally","tag-agreements","tag-background","tag-business","tag-capital","tag-commission","tag-eso","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-fund","tag-march","tag-member","tag-regulation","tag-state","tag-states","tag-techuk","tag-union","tag-vat","tag-wallets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116262536923757115","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}