What Is EU Inc? The 28th Regime Explained

Bottom line up front: "EU Inc" is the nickname for a proposed EU-wide company form — often called the "28th regime" — that would let a startup incorporate once under a single set of rules and operate across the whole European Union. It does not exist yet. It is a proposal being debated at EU level, not a law, so you cannot register an EU Inc today. This page explains what it is, why people want it, and what you can realistically do right now.

What "EU Inc" actually means

Today, if you start a company in Europe, you incorporate under the national law of one member state — a German GmbH, a French SAS, an Estonian OÜ, and so on. There is no single "European company" a startup can just sign up for. EU Inc is the idea of creating exactly that: one standardised, digital-first legal entity, defined at EU level, that any founder in any member state could use.

The name "EU Inc" is informal. It comes from a founder- and investor-led campaign, not from any official EU document. The European institutions tend to use the more technical phrase "28th regime." Whatever you call it, the goal is the same — a common company form that behaves the same way whether you're operating out of Lisbon, Warsaw or Helsinki.

To be clear about what this site is: euincregistration.com is an independent service. We are not affiliated with the European Union, the European Commission, or any government body, and nothing here is an official EU announcement.

Why it's called the "28th regime"

The EU has 27 member states, each with its own company law — so 27 legal "regimes." The proposed EU-wide form would sit alongside them as an optional, 28th regime. You wouldn't be forced to use it. It would be one more choice on the menu: keep your national company form, or opt into the common European one.

That "optional and additional" design is the whole point. Nobody has to harmonise or scrap their existing company law. The 28th regime is meant to be a parallel track that founders can voluntarily choose when they want something that travels cleanly across borders.

The problem it's trying to solve

Run a startup across several EU countries today and you feel the friction fast: 27 different incorporation processes, 27 approaches to shareholder agreements, and a patchwork of rules on things like employee stock options that can make a standard cross-border cap table genuinely painful. Many European founders end up incorporating a holding company in the US — a Delaware C-Corp — simply because investors understand it and the paperwork is predictable. We cover that trade-off in detail in EU Inc vs a Delaware C-Corp.

This fragmentation has been flagged repeatedly in recent high-profile EU reports. Enrico Letta's 2024 report on the future of the single market, "Much more than a market," argued that the internal market is still incomplete for companies trying to scale. Mario Draghi's September 2024 report on EU competitiveness made a similar case, pointing to the regulatory and structural barriers that hold European firms back relative to US peers. Both feed the same conclusion: it is too hard to build and scale a company across Europe as a single entity.

What EU Inc is expected to include

Because this is a proposal, the details are not settled — treat everything in this section as "as proposed" rather than final. Based on the public campaign and the direction of the reports above, the 28th regime is expected to aim for:

• Fast, fully digital incorporation. Set up online, in one place, reportedly in a matter of days rather than weeks — without a country-by-country process.
• A standardised cap table and shareholding structure. Common rules for equity so investors across the EU are looking at the same familiar structure every time.
• EU-wide employee stock options. A single, workable framework for granting options to employees in different member states — one of the biggest current pain points for European startups.
• Recognition across all member states. One entity that is valid EU-wide, rather than a company that has to re-establish itself each time it crosses a border.

Again, none of this is enacted. The scope, the exact rules, and the timeline are all still under discussion. We track the state of play in where the 28th regime stands.

Who is pushing for it

The momentum comes from two directions. From the grassroots side, there's the "EU Inc" open letter and petition — a campaign backed by a broad group of European founders, operators and venture investors. It's associated with people like Andreas Klinger and initiatives such as "Not Optional," with support from across the European tech and VC community, including funds like Index Ventures. The campaign's core ask is simple: give European startups one pan-EU legal entity.

From the institutional side, the idea has been picked up at the top of the EU. Ursula von der Leyen's political guidelines for the European Commission's 2024–2029 term explicitly reference developing a "28th regime" to make it easier for innovative companies to operate under one set of rules. When a concept appears both in a founder petition and in the Commission president's stated priorities, it stops being a thought experiment — but political intent is still not the same as a law you can use.

How it relates to the existing Societas Europaea (SE)

Europe already has a pan-European company form: the Societas Europaea, or SE, sometimes styled "SE" after the company name. So why not just use that? In practice the SE was designed for large, established businesses. It typically comes with a high minimum share capital requirement and administrative complexity that make it a poor fit for an early-stage startup. It's a real precedent that a European entity is legally possible — but it was never built for a two-founder company raising a seed round.

EU Inc is best understood as an attempt to deliver what the SE promised, but redesigned for startups: lightweight, digital, cheap to set up, and investor-friendly. If you're weighing all your options, it's worth reading how the proposal stacks up when compared with national company forms you can actually register today.

It's not law yet — here's what to do now

Let's be honest about the status: there is no EU Inc register, no application form, and no confirmed date when one will open. Anyone promising to incorporate an EU Inc for you right now is selling something that doesn't exist. If you need a company this quarter, incorporate under a national form or your usual structure — the 28th regime is not an option you can act on today.

What you can do is stay ahead of it. If and when the proposal becomes law, the founders who understand the structure early — and who are ready to move on day one — will have the advantage. That's what this site is for: no cost, no commitment, just a way to be first in line and get a straight update when the picture changes.

If that's you, join the EU Inc waitlist. We'll keep you posted on the real legislative progress and let you know the moment registration actually becomes possible — without the hype.