EU Inc: European Commission Proposal for Harmonized Corporate Law for Start-ups (ecfr.eu)

• EU Commission proposes EU Inc as optional harmonized corporate form for startups.
• Investment gap: US $120.8bn vs EU $18.1bn in rounds over $100M in 2024.
• National obstacles: German co-determination, French national champions, Nordic stock options.
• Council legal service recommends downgrading from regulation to directive.
• Airbus and Galileo cited as successful EU-wide legal framework precedents.

"The European Commission has proposed a new optional EU-wide corporate form (EU Inc, or the 28th regime) to reduce fragmentation from 27 national legal systems and prevent European startups from relocating to the US. The proposal faces pushback from Germany (co-determination), France (national champions), and Nordic countries (stock options). The Council's legal service has suggested downgrading it from a regulation to a directive. The article compares the effort to the Airbus and Galileo projects as precedents for EU-wide legal frameworks."