The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a new corporate vehicle called "EU Inc" that would let companies register across the 27-nation bloc within 48 hours and operate under harmonised EU rules. The move is presented as a bid to narrow the gap with the United States - where startups can scale within a large, single market governed by uniform corporate law - and to keep more high-growth firms inside Europe.
Under the proposal, any European business could choose to operate as an EU Inc, but the initiative is principally targeted at newly founded companies with innovative technologies that need a straightforward route to scale across multiple EU countries. The Commission highlights that while the EU created more startups per year than the United States between 2018 and 2023, Europe's roster of billion-dollar companies lags behind: at the start of 2025 the EU counted 110 unicorns versus 687 in the United States and 162 in China.
The new entity is intended to function much like a Delaware limited liability company (LLC) in the United States - a single corporate form that provides full access to the EU single market while avoiding the current patchwork of 27 national corporate codes and more than 60 different company forms that can stretch the process of creating a business into months.
Registration mechanics and expected uptake
The Commission says an EU Inc could be registered online within 48 hours for a fee of 100 euros (stated also as $115.22 in the proposal). Officials project that roughly 300,000 firms could adopt the new structure over the first decade.
EU Inc entities would benefit from harmonised EU-wide features intended to ease scaling, including more standardised employee stock option plans and simplified insolvency procedures, which the Commission argues could make the bloc more attractive to investors. However, firms operating as EU Inc would continue to be subject to each member state's national labour standards, tax regimes and other domestic laws while carrying out business inside those countries.
European Commissioner Michael McGrath emphasised the policy's intent to retain and attract entrepreneurial activity, saying: "We need to incentivise companies to stay in Europe and encourage those who once looked elsewhere to return. Europe has the talent, ideas, and ambition - but too often, bureaucracy drives our best entrepreneurs elsewhere."
Limitations and context
Commission officials acknowledge that EU Inc does not solve every regulatory or structural problem facing European businesses. As McGrath noted, "It will not resolve every issue, but it can make a very important contribution. It does need to be implemented and travel alongside all of the other reforms, particularly in the area of addressing fragmentation and removing the barriers in the single market."
The proposal will require the agreement of national governments and the European Parliament before it can take effect. It is not the EU's first attempt to promote cross-border corporate forms: earlier initiatives, including the 2004 creation of the Societas Europaea (SE), had limited success or were primarily used by larger firms. Proponents say the digital-first design of EU Inc and current political recognition of competition challenges may improve uptake this time.
Implications for markets and sectors
EU Inc is presented mainly as a competitiveness measure for the start-up and technology sectors, aimed at easing legal friction that can deter founders from remaining or scaling within Europe. While it targets innovative new companies, its effects would also reach related markets such as venture capital, employee equity compensation practices, insolvency advisors and cross-border legal services that support scaling activity across the single market.
Exchange rate note
The proposal provides a dollar equivalent for the registration fee and includes an exchange rate reference: $1 = 0.8679 euros.