EU Inc. risks reproducing national legal fragmentation
The European Commission's proposed EU Inc. regime would simplify cross-border business, but Banque de France flags limits to harmonisation. Estimated administrative savings total €440 million over 10 years for 308,000 companies.
Digital registration meets flexible ownership
Aude Chassaing, Elsa Lamy and Salomé Willer assess the Commission's March 18, 2026 proposal for an optional European corporate regime.
EU Inc. would cover new and existing limited liability companies of any size, with no minimum share capital.
Registration would be fully digital, take under 48 hours and cost at most €100. Companies would not resubmit information already supplied to public agencies.
Flexible governance would permit share classes with different voting or economic rights.
A common employee stock-option framework would harmonise taxation deadlines, while innovative start-ups and scale-ups would receive fast-track digital liquidation procedures.
Legislators envisage adoption in late 2026 and entry into force in 2028.
National rules dilute European reach
The authors warn that national rules on registration, litigation and employee representation risk producing 27 variants, with disputes remaining in national courts.
Some Member States contest Article 114 as the legal basis; tax provisions also raise questions.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that a broader regime could raise European GDP by 3.3 percent over 10 years.
Compliance absorbs over 10 percent of staff at 22 percent of small and medium-sized firms, versus 1 percent of large corporations.
Speed is not uniformity
The authors identify a trade-off between rapid registration and adequate checks against fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.
They also flag regulatory arbitrage and divergent national case law.
In their assessment, success depends on business uptake and complementary Savings and Investments Union reforms.