The EU–INC campaign, which advocates for a common European company framework, has urged European leaders to protect the proposed reform, warning that negotiations risk reducing it to a faster registration process with limited benefits for businesses expanding across borders.
In an appeal published on 15 October, the campaign said freedom to choose where to register a company and a common employee stock-option framework were among the provisions being weakened. It argues that losing these features would undermine the reform’s ability to help businesses attract talent, raise investment and expand across the EU.
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The warning comes as European leaders meet in Brussels. In its account of the summit’s first day, the European Council identified EU Inc among the competitiveness measures on which negotiations should advance. To date, the framework remains a legislative proposal.
What EU Inc Would Change
The European Commission presented its proposal on 18 March 2026. Often called the “28th regime,” it would offer an optional common corporate framework alongside the national company structures available in the EU’s 27 member states.
The proposal provides for fully digital registration within 48 hours, at a maximum cost of €100, with no minimum share-capital requirement. It also includes simpler share transfers and an optional common employee stock-option scheme with deferred taxation.
The Commission’s stated aim is to reduce the complexity of starting and growing a business across European borders. It points to the costs and delays companies face when navigating different national legal systems. EU Inc would be available alongside existing company forms, giving businesses the choice of using the common framework.
Why Campaigners Are Concerned
According to the campaigners, the demands in fact extend beyond the intended quick incorporation. They include a central digital registry with standardised company and ownership information, access for companies of different sizes and sectors, and freedom to choose a member state of registration while retaining local employment protections and tax obligations.
Campaigners argue that faster registration alone would leave businesses facing many of the same obstacles when raising investment and expanding abroad. Their concern is that a shared European label could still leave companies navigating different national procedures.
Employee stock options are a particular point of contention. They give staff the right to acquire company shares under agreed conditions, allowing startups to offer a stake in the business alongside pay. The Commission’s proposed scheme seeks to make employee equity arrangements easier across borders, while the campaign warns that weakening it would reduce the framework’s usefulness for recruiting talent.
Workers’ Protections Remain Contested
Trade unions have raised a different concern. They state that greater freedom over company registration could create opportunities to avoid employment safeguards.
The European Trade Union Confederation has called for stronger protections covering employee representation, consultation and unpaid wages during liquidation. At a demonstration in Brussels on 24 September, it urged ministers to strengthen the proposal or abandon it.
The Commission says its proposal leaves national employment and social laws unaffected. It has called on the European Parliament and Council to reach agreement by the end of 2026. That is a target for concluding negotiations, rather than a date when founders would automatically be able to register an EU Inc company.
