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European Commission - Statement Statement by President von der Leyen on EU Inc. Brussels, 18 March 2026 Today, at the tap of a finger, capital moves – instantly. Data travels across the globe in seconds. Yet in Europe, it can still take weeks, or even months, to set up a company. Or to start doing business in another country within the Single Market. Barriers inside Europe hurt us more than tariffs from the outside. ...
European Commission - Statement Statement by President von der Leyen on EU Inc. Brussels, 18 March 2026 Today, at the tap of a finger, capital moves – instantly. Data travels across the globe in seconds. Yet in Europe, it can still take weeks, or even months, to set up a company. Or to start doing business in another country within the Single Market. Barriers inside Europe hurt us more than tariffs from the outside. Across our Union, entrepreneurs who want to scale up are the first victims of regulatory fragmentation. Instead of one market, they face 27 legal systems and more than 60 national company forms. The consequences are real. The time and money spent filing paperwork is not spent on creating, or innovating. Obviously, this must change, and fast. And so here comes EU Inc., the 28 th regime. EU Inc. creates a single European company framework. It is one simple set of rules that works across our entire Single Market of 450 million consumers. It will make it drastically easier to start and grow a business in Europe. Any entrepreneur will be able to create a company within 48 hours from anywhere in the European Union, fully digitalized, for less than EUR 100 and without minimum share capital. At the heart of this proposal is a simple principle: ‘once only'. Companies will provide their information to public authorities – their data – one time only. That information will then be shared automatically between relevant administrations, from business registers to tax and social security authorities, you just name it. And this information will be stored and easily accessible in a new EU business register for EU Inc. companies. The second feature – at its core, EU Inc. is digital. EU Inc. companies will operate in a fully digital environment. From registration to shareholder meetings, from document storage to capital operations. It will all be supported by the European Business Wallet. Companies will be able to manage their documents and communicate with other businesses and administrations fully digitally, in all 27 Member States. The third feature is talent promotion. EU Inc. will make it easier for companies to attract talent, because there is certainly no shortage of that in Europe. Our continent is a powerhouse of innovation. Nearly one quarter of the world's scientific publications come from the European Union, and we have more early-stage start-ups than any other region globally. With EU Inc., employee stock options will be simpler to offer and easier to manage across borders. So it will help EU Inc. companies to compete for the best people, and founders will be able to protect EU Inc. companies and employees from unwanted takeovers. The fourth feature is cushioning risk. In business, failure should not be the end of the road, it should be part of the journey. With EU Inc., we want to reward entrepreneurship and make it less risky. That is why we will fully digitalise insolvency procedures and introduce a fast-track insolvency process for start-ups. So that entrepreneurs can start again, more easily. Finally, let me be very clear on one important point. The EU Inc. proposal will in every way respect existing social standards and labour law, including employees' rights to participate in company boards. This proposal includes strong safeguards to ensure that such rules are applied. To conclude: EU Inc. is faster, cheaper and fully digitalised for all stages of the process all across the European Union. And it is only the beginning. We will make it easier for venture capital to flow to businesses; this will be done by the Savings and Investments Union. We will explore new possibilities for cross-border telework for start-ups and scale-ups. Today, we also adopted a Recommendation to harmonise the definition of innovative start-ups and scale-ups across Europe, so that we can design better policies to help our businesses, to grow and to thrive in Europe. This is our overall objective. One Europe. One Market. Thank you. STATEMENT/26/642 Press contacts: Paula PINHO (+32 2 29 20815) Arianna PODESTA (+32 2 298 70 24) Olof GILL (+32 2 29 65966) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email Related media EC press statement by European Commission President Ursula von der LEYEN on EU Inc. and the 28th regime
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