Europe’s startup community is urging the European Commission to ensure that its upcoming proposal for a new pan-European company framework delivers on its promise of a true “28th regime”.

EU–INC, Allied for Startups, and the European Startup Network released a joint statement on behalf of the European startup ecosystem calling for a genuine European corporate standard designed specifically for startups.

More than 24,000 members of the startup ecosystem have signed on to support the idea of a single, autonomous corporate structure that would allow European companies to incorporate and scale across the EU without navigating a patchwork of national systems.

The Delaware benchmark

For the startup ecosystem, the benchmark for success is straightforward: whether the new structure can provide the same level of legal certainty as a Delaware Inc, which has become the global default for venture-backed startups.

Many European startups choose to incorporate in the United States to access a widely recognised corporate framework familiar to global investors. A pan-European structure could help keep more companies — and their economic value — within the European ecosystem.

The error of creating of "27 different variations of EU–INC,"

According to the organisations behind the statement, the leaked proposal appears to stop short of establishing a truly independent European company form. Instead of creating a centralised system, the draft reportedly defers legal interpretation to national courts and company registration to national registries.

Such an approach would effectively produce 27 different variations of EU–INC, depending on national legal systems and administrative practices. By routing disputes through national courts and filings through local registries, the framework risks entrenching the fragmentation it was meant to eliminate.

What a true EU–INC should look like

The letter urges the Commission to bring forward a real EU–INC that is a true, central, independent European company form, with:

  • A common EU registry and real-time database, rather than legacy software (BRIS) that duct-tapes together 27 nationally diverging systems.
  • A central court for dispute resolution, rather than leaving dispute resolution to 27 Member States and their different business practices.
  • A true, new blank-sheet-of-paper solution for the future of Europe’s innovation economy that can act as a standalone jurisdiction.