Europe wants to change how businesses start and grow. On January 20th, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen introduced EU-INC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This new legal form is meant to make it easier to set up companies across the EU.
Right now, starting or growing a startup in the EU means navigating 27 distinct legal systems, covering everything from company formation to shareholder rights and stock options. This slows growth, raises legal costs, and often leads founders to choose countries based on paperwork rather than business needs.
EU-INC wants to fix this. It would allow companies to operate entirely online under a single EU-wide system that all member states would automatically recognise.
Brussels calls it a “28th regime”, optional but designed to help European startups scale faster and compete globally. The European Commission aims for parliamentary approval by the end of March, enabling the first EU-INC companies to launch in 2027.
The proposal won’t change taxes or labour laws. But it targets one of Europe’s biggest obstacles, fragmentation.
