On 18 March 2026, the European Commission proposed a new harmonised corporate legal form, the “EU Inc.”, intended to remove fragmentation in EU company law and make it significantly easier for innovative businesses to start, operate and scale across the European market.
Previous attempts to create an EU‑wide company form (most notably the Societas Europaea (SE)) failed to gain broad traction due to their complexity and high entry thresholds. By contrast, the EU Inc. proposal – designed as an optional ‘28th regime’ that sits alongside existing national company forms or the SE – combines fully digital procedures, 48‑hour fast‑track incorporation, no minimum capital, flexible governance and capital structures, and a pan‑European alignment of employee stock option taxation, making it one of the most ambitious corporate law reforms in recent years.
The publication of the EU Inc. proposal starts negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, and the draft Regulation will be amended as a result of those discussions. The Commission aims to reach an agreement by the end of 2026 (with entry into force in 2027 or 2028), but given the wide-ranging impact it is likely that the new regime will not be available for use before 2029.
This post outlines what the EU Inc. will look like based on the Commission’s proposal and how it may affect legal structures in the European Tech and Private Capital sectors.
Continue reading “The EU Inc. Proposal: how far does it really go?”
Corporate Finance Lab 