EU Inc.

This week, the European Commission raised the banner of “EU Inc.” and promised that doing business in Europe will finally stop feeling like a race through 27 legal hurdles. The new proposal introduces a voluntary single regime for companies that want to start up and grow across the EU. The registration process is to be fully digital, completed within 48 hours, and costing no more than 100 euros. In addition, the regime is intended to offer simpler corporate rules, more modern handling of shares and employee stock options, and an easier way to wind down failed projects. For Brussels, this is part of a broader effort to turn the single market into a truly unified space for business, rather than just a large territory with many borders in people’s minds and in the law.

The plan makes economic sense. Europe has long suffered not from a lack of ideas, but from a weaker ability to turn them into large companies. According to Reuters, the EU had only 110 unicorns at the start of 2025, while the US had 687 and China 162. It is precisely the fragmentation of regulations that is one of the reasons why some European startups look across the Atlantic as they grow. EU Inc. is therefore a step in the right direction: it reduces transaction costs, increases legal predictability, and can help prevent European companies from fleeing elsewhere as early as the scaling phase. Initial reactions capture this well: the business community welcomes the proposal, but at the same time points out that simply changing the corporate form won’t turn Europe into a second Delaware.

This is precisely the proposal’s weakness. EU Inc. addresses the “packaging” of business, not its entire substance. National rules on taxes, labor law, and the broader investment environment remain largely intact. This is important for the Czech Republic. Domestically, the proposal can help mainly companies that want to sell, hire people, and raise capital across Europe from the very start. It will be of lesser benefit to purely domestic businesses, because the biggest problem there today does not lie in the formal establishment of a company, but rather in the availability of growth capital, the tax treatment of employee stock options, and the shallow depth of the capital market. In other words: for Czech startups, EU Inc. is a welcome simplification, not a miracle solution. If Europe truly wants to keep innovative companies at home, it will have to provide not only simpler laws but also simpler regulations, better financing, and a willingness on the part of member states not to derail a good idea during negotiations.