The European Commission has proposed a new optional EU-wide corporate structure aimed at making it easier for startups to register, expand and remain in Europe, as Brussels tries to address the bloc’s weaker record in producing large-scale technology firms.
The European Commission has presented a proposal for “EU Inc”, a new optional company regime intended to make it simpler for startups and other innovative firms to establish themselves and scale across the European Union. The initiative forms part of Brussels’ wider effort to improve the bloc’s competitiveness and respond to persistent concerns that promising European companies often choose to grow elsewhere, particularly in the United States.
According to the Commission, EU Inc would create a single set of corporate rules applying across the bloc for companies that choose to use the new framework. The system would be fully digital and is designed to reduce the administrative burden on founders seeking to operate in more than one member state. Commission material says the new regime would allow innovative companies to register within 48 hours at a cost of €100.
The proposal is explicitly modelled on the idea that entrepreneurs in Europe should not have to navigate 27 separate national company-law environments when building a business for the single market. Commission drew inspiration from the simplicity associated with incorporation in the U.S. state of Delaware, although the EU plan would remain an optional regime operating alongside national company forms rather than replacing them.
The Commission’s case is that Europe is not short of entrepreneurial activity but has struggled to translate that into companies of global scale. From 2018 to 2023 the EU created more startups each year than the United States, yet by early 2025 the bloc had produced only 110 unicorns, compared with 687 in the United States and 162 in China. Brussels argues that fragmentation in legal and administrative systems is one reason why firms often find it harder to scale inside the EU than in rival markets.
Commissioner Michael McGrath said the proposal would not solve every obstacle facing European startups, but presented it as a practical step towards a more coherent business environment. The Commission also said EU Inc would sit within a broader “28th regime” approach, under which businesses could opt into a harmonised EU framework rather than rely entirely on national systems when operating across borders.
Under the proposal, EU Inc would not displace all national rules. Reuters reported that member-state laws on matters such as labour and tax would still apply. That means the scheme is better understood as a simplification of company formation and governance rather than a complete unification of the business environment. In practice, its success is likely to depend on whether founders and investors judge the reduction in corporate-law complexity to be significant enough to outweigh the continued presence of national differences in other areas.
The Commission has also linked the plan to other longstanding complaints from startups and investors, including the complexity of employee stock-option rules and the handling of insolvency. The proposal is intended to make these areas more predictable for innovative firms seeking capital and trying to retain talent. Brussels’ argument is that reducing friction at an early stage may make it less likely that successful companies move their centre of gravity outside Europe as they grow.
The legislative path, however, is unlikely to be straightforward. The proposal still requires approval from both member states and the European Parliament. Previous attempts to offer EU-level corporate forms, such as the Societas Europaea, have existed for years without transforming Europe’s startup environment. Reuters noted that Brussels is betting EU Inc will prove more attractive because it is digital by design and aimed more directly at younger, high-growth companies.
For Brussels, the political significance of the proposal goes beyond company law. It is part of a wider competitiveness agenda shaped by concern over Europe’s investment gap, weaker productivity growth and dependence on non-European capital markets and technology ecosystems. In that sense, EU Inc is not only a business-administration file but also a policy signal: the Commission wants to show that the single market can be made easier to use for firms that need to operate quickly across borders.
Whether the proposal becomes a meaningful tool for founders or remains a well-intentioned but limited reform will depend on the negotiations ahead. For now, the Commission has set out a clear proposition: if Europe wants more firms to start, stay and scale within the single market, it must make the legal mechanics of doing so less cumbersome than they are today.
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