EU-INC: Europe’s 28th Regime and the new corporate standard

At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced something that got the European startup ecosystem buzzing: a new 28th Regime for companies across the EU. If some might have taken this as political rhetoric, others believe that the announcement points to a deep structural challenge and a potentially ground-shifting solution.

The Paypers sat down with Iwona Biernat, the COO of Project Europe and part of the core team and Legal Strategy Lead at EU-INC, the initiative at the center of that announcement, to find out more. She puts it plainly:

‘When President Ursula von der Leyen talks about creating a ‘28th regime’ – a truly European company structure – she’s pointing to a very real problem founders face every day.’

The core problem: juggling 27 different jurisdictions

Today’s European tech founders have a tough choice: either build a business in the EU and struggle with 27 different legal systems, or incorporate offshore in a jurisdiction investors already trust.

‘There is no common corporate standard in Europe,’ Iwona explains. ‘Unlike the US with the Delaware C-Corp, or the UK with a Limited, Europe has no common corporate standard.’ And this absence has real consequences for capital formation:

‘Investors price risk into complexity. If every deal requires local lawyers, unfamiliar documents, and country-specific rules, fundraising slows down. And at the early stage, speed is everything.’

It’s this need for speed, predictability, and trust that has driven many founders to incorporate in Delaware, often before they even scale in Europe. Not because they want to leave, but because ‘it’s faster, cheaper, and globally understood.’

EU-INC: fixing a structural flaw

EU-INC proposes a bold but practical idea: one European company structure, complete with a central digital registry and standardised tools for fundraising and equity.

‘EU-INC is designed to fix that: One European company structure, ONE central digital registry, and standardised fundraising and employee equity tools. A shared baseline that creates trust and legal certainty, which translates directly into faster rounds and more early-stage capital,’ Iwona states.

In essence, EU-INC aims to give European founders the same simplicity and predictability that made the US and UK corporate standards global defaults, without forcing them to incorporate outside Europe.

‘If we want startups to stay and scale from Europe, we need to give them the same simplicity and predictability the US and other alternative structures already give their founders.’

Sovereign fintech and payments

In fintech and payments, the stakes are especially high because these sectors are characterised by cross-border scale and capital intensity.

‘Fintech and payments are highly capital-intensive sectors. Companies need to raise large rounds quickly and expand across borders fast.’

Iwona argues that Europe’s fragmented corporate landscape puts its startups at a structural disadvantage compared with US counterparts.

‘In Europe, every country still feels like a separate jurisdiction. EU-INC is meant to remove that structural disadvantage and provide a baseline.’

With a European corporate standard investors can recognise and rely on, cross-border deals become less risky, legal costs fall, and capital can flow faster into the next generation of European fintech champions.

‘With one recognised company standard, investors can back companies across Europe with confidence, rounds close faster, legal costs drop, and cross-border operations become normal,’ Iwona continues. ‘That, in turn, means a fintech startup e.g. in Warsaw or Lisbon can raise from Paris, Berlin, the US, or Stockholm just as easily.’

A catalyst for change

It’s important to draw a line between EU-INC as a movement and formal public institutions. EU-INC isn’t a regulator; it’s a grassroots initiative built by founders and investors:

'We’re a founder and investor grassroots movement backed by 32 thousand signatories that developed a concrete legislative proposal,' Iwona states.

The group engages with EU policymakers to ensure the framework under discussion actually reflects the reality of building and scaling companies in Europe today. According to her, ‘our role is to push the institutions to introduce something that works in practice for founders.’

At the end of the day, implementation will be up to the European Commission and Member States. EU-INC’s role is to shape that implementation, to make sure the final regime isn’t just well-intentioned, but workable.

Deepening Europe’s capital markets

Europe has capital. Without a single, trusted investable market, capital gets diluted or redistributed elsewhere; EU-INC aims to tackle that directly.

EU-INC’s Legal Strategy Lead cited recent figures (Dealroom, 2024), highlighting that the need for better capital access is stark. While European households hold EUR 35 trillion in savings, startups raised only a fraction in venture funding last year (EUR 30-35 billion).

‘So the issue clearly isn’t capital but it’s access and speed,’ Iwona believes.

Cross-border investing in Europe remains slow and legally fragmented. Without a shared corporate standard, ‘deals slow down and create unnecessary cost and uncertainty.’

By making incorporation and investment simpler and faster, EU-INC hopes to unlock more capital not just from venture firms, but from pensions, family offices, and institutional savers who remain under-deployed into European startups. According to Iwona, ‘incorporation becomes faster, rounds close faster, and investors can back companies anywhere in Europe with the same legal certainty.’

The future of Europe: one single investable market

EU-INC doesn’t claim to solve every challenge in European capital markets. However, by tackling corporate identity, one of the most fundamental barriers, it seeks to change how investors perceive Europe.

‘EU-INC is a practical step to make Europe feel like one investable market, not 27 separate ones,’ Iwona concluded.

If EU-INC succeeds, it may finally give the continent’s founders the corporate foundation they need to compete globally, and to do it from Europe, not away from it.

Last year, we sat down with the members of EuroPA (the European Payments Alliance) to discover how national payment schemes can unite towards a common goal. In another conversation, Bluecode introduced the idea of payments ‘roaming’, or how to enable Europeans to pay the same at home and across borders. This year, European payments sovereignty remains a hot topic for The Paypers. If you have a story to tell, reach out here.

About the author

Vlad is a Senior Editor at The Paypers, working in the Banking & Fintech team. He uses his research, content, and people skills for all activities revolving around Open Banking and Open Finance. Vlad has a degree in Biology and Molecular Genetics and an extensive background in creative writing. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn.