EU Inc. marks a major step forward in making starting a business easier in Europe, but its success will depend on the EU’s ability to harmonize employment, investment and execution on the ground.
March 18, 2026the European Commission presented its proposal for EU Inc. This will allow any entrepreneur to create a company in all 27 Member States in 48 hours, online, for less than €100. A reform welcomed by thousands of European founders, of which I am one. But as a business leader who daily faces the complexity of expansion in Europe, one question arises, which Brussels continues to dodge: what next?
A continent in search of momentum
The reality is that between 2008 and 2021, nearly 30% of unicorns born on the continent ended up relocating their headquarters, the vast majority to the United States. UiPath, Dataiku and Miro all started in Europe before moving on to other shores, because regulatory complexity eventually outweighed the benefits of staying. Where an American startup operates from day one within a unified legal framework, a European founder navigates an ocean of national specificities. It is precisely this system that EU Inc. seeks to reform.
What EU Inc. actually brings
The proposition goes well beyond simple business creation. It establishes a unified governance structure across the 27 member states, simplifies financial requirements and introduces a standardized European-wide employee shareholding mechanism, imposed only on exit. It also opens the way for cross-border transfers of head offices without prior dissolution, which today constitutes a major obstacle for growing companies.
One detail reveals the ambition of the text: EU Inc. removes notaries from the creation process, while in Germany in particular, their compulsory intervention considerably slows down the formation of companies. Eliminating this type of friction demonstrates real cultural change. EU Inc. is, in this sense, the on-ramp we have been waiting for for a long time. It doesn’t build the highway, but it allows you to enter it.
The next step: operational
The real cost of expansion in Europe, however, lies in the first employment contract signed, the first pay slip issued, the first social declaration filed. Every cross-border hire requires navigating deeply national systems where collective agreements, reporting formats and termination rules vary significantly from country to country. This is not a criticism, but simply the next challenge to name.
What the startups what is needed is a directive on the status of workers, because these are high-risk adventures that employees accept in exchange for a clear counterpart, namely portable value sharing mechanisms and protections adapted to their context. Applying the same rules to startups as to large companies is neither fair nor effective.
Investment: the missing link
The proposal does not sufficiently address access to capital. Creating an EU Inc. entity is one thing; allowing an investor based in Paris or Stockholm to take a stake without mastering the legal subtleties of each country is another. Harmonized contract models recognized in all Member States would make the act of investing as fluid as in the United States, and would send a strong signal to an ecosystem that needs it. Without it, many founders will continue to structure their business around a US entity, no matter how good EU Inc is.
A reform that will be won or lost in execution
The history of European reforms calls for vigilance, not pessimism. Three points nevertheless deserve attention. The first is national transposition: digitalization must remain effective without local requirements reintroducing friction. The second is tax compatibility: an EU Inc. entity must be treated by each tax administration exactly like a local entity, with no gray areas. The third is an invitation to go further, with a directive on the status of startup employees, harmonized investment contracts and a one-stop shop for social compliance.
A strong signal, to be confirmed in practice
EU Inc. is sending a long-awaited signal: that of an EU committed to allowing its companies to grow without leaving the continent. What will make this reform a lasting achievement is the quality of its implementation as well as the desire to go further. The European founders are not asking for the impossible. They ask that the ambition of the announcement correspond to the reality on the ground. EU Inc. is a solid start, and the rest is up to those who write it now.
