Today, EU Inc, an initiative to create a unified company structure for startups across Europe under a ‘28th Regime’, calls for its immediate inclusion in the European Commission 2025 Work Programme. 

The 28th Regime is a recommendation for legal frameworks of European Union rules, which do not replace member states’ own national rules but are an optional alternative to them. 

Check out our earlier interview with the co-initiators of EU Inc., Andreas Klinger, an investor with Prototype Capital and former CTO of Product Hunt and Simon Schaefer, Founder and CEO of Factory and member of the Advisory Board at Allied For Startups and angel investor.

With over 13,000 signatures from Europe’s most prominent tech leaders, VCs, and political figures, EU-Inc demonstrates a clear consensus for immediate change.  

EU Inc today publishes an industry blueprint for the ‘EU-Inc’ entity. The proposal builds on the success of previous community efforts promoting the needs of European founders including the Not Optional campaign for European stock option reform. as well as prior documentation, including the recently published non-paper from France Digitale, and discussions with the startup community and with policymakers across the continent. 

The petition has been highlighted at the highest level of the European Union, with commitments to introduce proposals in 2025:  

• Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission, included the 28th regime for innovative companies in the Political Guidelines for the Commission, and last month added:

“A startup from California can expand and raise money all across the United States. But our companies still face way too many national barriers that make it hard to work Europe-wide with way too much regulatory burden.”  

• Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, intends to propose a framework for the 28th regime in 2025, “to help innovative companies grow and benefit from a simpler, harmonised set of rules throughout the Union.” 

• Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, has also committed to preparing a specific proposal on an EU-wide company legal status.

Today’s blueprint outlines how the new European Commission can unlock Europe’s potential as a startup powerhouse, introducing:

• Standardised company structure: EU-wide company type with harmonised corporate governance, capital and share capital maintenance rules 

• Digital-first approach: Fully digital registry, dashboard, and standardised investment documents EU-FAST investment: 

• A new, standard, open source investment instrument inspired by convertible instruments such as SAFEs and BSA AIRs EU-ESOP: EU-wide employee share option scheme with standardised rules 

These pan-European standardisations are critical to help European startups scale, attract talent and capital, and succeed globally.

The proposal builds on the success of previous community efforts promoting the needs of European founders including the Not Optional campaign for European stock option reform. 

According to  Andreas Klinger, the European startup ecosystem is fragmented in national silos, competing globally isolated from each other:

“If we don’t act now, Europe risks falling further behind. We urge policymakers in EU Member States, and those in Brussels, to act with urgency and begin work on legislative proposals immediately.”

Official partners include European Startup Network, Allied for Startups, France Digitale, Dutch Startup Association, Danish Entrepreneurs, Deutscher Startup-Verband, Startup Hungary, Austrian Startups, Adigital, Rise Europe, IE.F, Prompting Europe, EsTech, EBAN, Startup Disrupt, and more.

To support the final push for implementation, EU-Inc calls on the wider startup community to actively engage and provide feedback on the EU-Inc proposal before its formal submission to policymakers by January 2025. 

Lead image based on Freepik.