EU Inc.: Five things the 28th Regime must get right for Europe’s digital SMEs

• The Commission’s EU Inc. proposal meets all three demands of the 28forAll campaign: a regulation, a framework simpler than national law, and openness to every company. Negotiations in the Council now put each at risk.

• Fast-track incorporation for EUR 100 and the once-only principle are the biggest practical gains for SMEs. They must hold for every company and every route to incorporation.

• The least discussed question is the public infrastructure, on which every EU Inc. company will depend. Unless European providers build and control them under EU jurisdiction, Europe’s own company form will run on technology Europe does not control.

In March 2026, the European Commission proposed the 28th Regime: a new European limited liability company, the EU Inc., available in all 27 Member States. It can be formed within 48 hours for EUR 100, needs no minimum capital and runs on a fully digital company lifecycle. For digital SMEs selling, hiring and raising capital across borders, 27 different sets of company law are a daily cost, and the proposal takes that cost seriously.

Before the proposal was published, DIGITAL SME and around 200 businesses from across Europe launched the 28forAll campaign. It set out three conditions: the instrument must be a regulation, it must be simpler than existing national frameworks, and it must be open to all companies regardless of size, age or sector. The Commission delivered on all three. The Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee is expected to vote on its report in the coming weeks, and the Member States are aiming for agreement by the end of the year. On the basis of the broad consensus garnered by the 28forAll campaign, here are the key things that need to survive those negotiations:

1. Open to every company

The Commission opened the EU Inc. to every founder and every company. The Parliament’s draft report moves in the other direction. It excludes a list of sectors deemed unlikely to innovate, closes the route to selling shares on regulated trading markets, and reserves the simplified insolvency procedure for small startups. DIGITAL SME proposes keeping eligibility universal in every chapter, including insolvency, and keeping the path to public markets open. Innovation should not be predicted off a sector code, and the EU Inc. becomes more valuable the more companies use it.

2. Fast-track incorporation for EUR 100, for everyone

The Commission promises incorporation within 48 hours for 100 €, but only when founders use the standard EU template articles of association. Companies that need tailor-made articles, which is common as soon as investors are involved, face a longer deadline and no cost cap at all. The Parliament’s draft report keeps the 100 € cap but loosens the clock and leaves room for additional national checks. DIGITAL SME proposes a proportionate cost cap on every route to incorporation. Any additional checks should be time-limited and carried out digitally through business registers, so they do not become a backdoor for mandatory intermediaries, such as notaries.

3. Once-only

Under the proposal, registration data flows automatically to the tax, VAT, social security and beneficial ownership authorities. The company receives its tax and VAT numbers without a separate application, and authorities must look up information instead of asking again. For a small company, this is the most tangible day-to-day gain in the proposal. The Parliament’s draft report leaves it intact; the pressure will come in the Council, where national administrations have every reason to keep collecting information themselves. DIGITAL SME proposes keeping once-only mandatory, with the fraud exception strictly case-by-case, and extending it over time to cross-border VAT registration.

4. Keep it a regulation

The Commission chose a regulation, which applies directly and identically in every Member State. That is the most important structural decision in the file. The Parliament’s rapporteur questions the legal basis without proposing to change it for now, and the question remains open in the Council. A directive, or directive-style national options and opt-outs, would bring back the fragmentation the EU Inc. exists to remove. Where national law still fills gaps, DIGITAL SME proposes that the applicable rules be published on the EU central interface, so founders can see them before choosing where to incorporate.

5. Sovereign and open infrastructure

Almost every promise in the proposal depends on digital infrastructure: an EU central interface, the European wallets, digital share registers and AI tools approved to produce translations with legal effect. That makes them critical economic infrastructure. If they are hosted and operated by providers outside the EU, European companies will depend on technology Europe does not control, and their data will sit within reach of non-EU legal regimes. DIGITAL SME proposes these fixes:

• open and interoperable standards and EU jurisdiction for the central interface and the future central register;
• establishment in the Union, which the proposal already makes mandatory for payment providers, extended to every provider the EU Inc. depends on;
• procurement for these systems designed to open the door to European providers, including SMEs.

The window is now

The EU Inc. can become the default way to build a company in Europe, or one more option that few people use. The difference will come down to whether it stays open, simple, uniform and built on infrastructure Europe controls. DIGITAL SME is engaging with the European Parliament and the Council to make that case. Businesses that want to add their voice can join the campaign at 28forall.eu.