Ursula von der Leyen unveiled EU.Inc this week - a unified corporate structure that will allow businesses to register once and operate across all 27 EU member states under a single legal framework.
The initiative, announced at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, represents the most significant leap toward a genuine single market since the introduction of the euro. If implemented as proposed, it could finally deliver on the promise of borderless European business that has eluded Brussels for decades.
"For too long, European entrepreneurs have faced 27 different company registration systems, 27 different tax codes, 27 different regulatory requirements," von der Leyen said. "An American startup can operate seamlessly across 50 states. A European startup faces a bureaucratic nightmare. We're fixing that."
Under the EU.Inc framework, companies would register with a new European Companies Authority - a Brussels-based agency that would serve as a one-stop shop for incorporation, tax registration, and regulatory compliance. Once registered, an EU.Inc company could establish operations, hire employees, and conduct business in any member state without additional local registration requirements.
The structure borrows heavily from the American model, where companies incorporate in a single state (often Delaware) but operate nationally under a uniform commercial code. EU.Inc would create a similar "Delaware for Europe" - except the entire Union would recognize it.
For Brussels, the initiative addresses a painful competitive disadvantage. European tech startups routinely relocate to the United States citing easier market access and regulatory simplicity. London, Paris, and Berlin lose talent and capital to Silicon Valley not because American innovation is inherently superior, but because American bureaucracy is dramatically simpler.
"We have better universities, better infrastructure, better quality of life," a senior Commission official told me.
