The European Commission has proposed an optional new EU-wide company structure, called “EU Inc.”, designed to let businesses set up and operate across the bloc under a single set of corporate rules.
Entrepreneurs expanding across borders currently face 27 national legal systems and more than 60 company legal forms, which can delay setting up a company for weeks or months, the Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
Under the proposal, businesses would be able to register an EU Inc. company within 48 hours, for less than €100, with no minimum share capital requirement.
Companies would submit core company information once through an EU-level interface linking national business registers, and would receive tax identification and VAT numbers without having to resubmit paperwork. VAT is a consumption tax known in the UK as Value Added Tax.
EU Inc. would be “digital by default” across a company’s lifecycle, including fully digital liquidation procedures, the Commission added.
It also set out simplified insolvency procedures for innovative start-ups to wind down operations.
On 19 November 2025, European Commissioners Henna Virkkunen, Valdis Dombrovskis, Michael McGrath give a press conference on the digital simplification package. Credit: EU
How share transfers and staff options would work
The plan would remove in-person formalities for financing operations and simplify share transfers, including by removing mandatory involvement of intermediaries for share transfers, according to the Commission.
Member States would also be able to give EU Inc. companies access to the stock exchange.
EU Inc. companies would be able to set up EU-wide employee stock option plans, with the stock option taxed only when income is generated once it is sold. Stock options give employees the right to buy shares later, often at a pre-set price.
The Commission said national employment and social laws would not be affected, and would apply to EU Inc. in the same way they apply to other businesses under national company law.
It also said the safeguards of the member state where a company is registered would apply in full, including rules on co-determination, where employees can have a role in company governance.
The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and EU governments in the Council, and the Commission called for an agreement by the end of 2026.
Critics
Many have welcomed the announcement, but there have also been calls for a greater inclusion of social policies in the new European corporate legal framework.
"European Commission cannot cherry-pick; market liberalisation must go hand in hand with coherent social safeguards," said European Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in response to the much-anticipated presentation today of the ‘28th Regime’ proposal by the European Commission.
There are also fears it could weaken inspections relating to labour law, social security contributions and the protection of employees’ rights, and would undermine worker representation and collective bargaining within companies.
"We cannot accept further deregulation that would allow companies to shop around and choose to register in countries with more lenient regulations, whilst carrying out their activities elsewhere," said Belgian MEP Estelle Ceulemans (S&D).
"This would lead to a new form of social dumping, allowing certain social obligations to be circumvented: digital advances must under no circumstances constitute a step backwards in terms of workers’ social rights."
