New EU company form EU Inc.: Attack on employees' rights

dossier

“Too little risk capital, too little innovation, weak competitiveness. According to the EU Commission, these problems should be solved by a new EU company form, the so-called “EU Inc”. In the future, anyone in the EU should be able to set up and register a company for 100 euros - completely digitally, without a notary appointment and without minimum capital. The decisive factor for the proposed law is the political analysis, which was prominently represented in the so-called Draghi report, among others, that there are too great obstacles to the establishment and growth of innovative companies in the EU internal market. But the draft law poses enormous risks for employees, could increase pressure on national labor and social standards in the medium term and does not solve the central problems in the area of ​​innovation promotion. One of the problems with the proposed law is: the possible split between the registered office and the operational activities of a company…”DGB-klartext from April 20, 2026 and more about it:

• Guardrails for "EU Inc." decided: ETUC and Belgian unions are mobilizing for protests on September 24th in Brussels against the attack on workers' rights
  • Guardrails for »EU Inc.«
    “The EU is planning a new corporate legal form. MEPs have now decided on guard rails for this, and trade unions are mobilizing for protests.
    The European Parliament's employment committee voted on Thursday in Brussels on the restructuring of the so-called 28th regime in order to preserve occupational safety and co-determination rights. In doing so, it is making crucial changes to the new legal form proposed by the EU Commission, also known as “EU Inc.”. (…) With “EU Inc.”, setting up companies in Europe is intended to be made significantly easier by allowing founders to register their companies completely digitally within 48 hours and for less than 100 euros. The draft also allows accelerated liquidation of companies within 30 days, which is primarily intended to make it easier to found start-ups. While business associations such as Business Europe are calling for the regulation to be implemented quickly, experts close to trade unions are warning of significant risks for employees and creditors. Companies could easily circumvent co-determination rights by moving their headquarters to countries without co-determination rights, analyzes Marcus Meyer-Erdmann, researcher at the European Trade Union Institute. In addition, the accelerated company dissolution makes it easier to set up virtual mailboxes. »The Commission wants to work with “EU Inc.” "Introduce a new form of company that massively violates employee interests and undermines co-determination rights," criticized Özlem Alev Demirel, shadow rapporteur for the Left Party, on the occasion of the vote in the Employment Committee. (…) According to the resolution, the members of the European Parliament are sticking to the new form of company, but are establishing mandatory rules against social dumping.With 26 votes to 19, the Employment Committee is committed to strict protective rights in the upcoming negotiations with the Commission and the Council of the European Union. This includes the requirement that the regulation remains limited to start-ups and scale-ups that have established themselves in the market. In addition, high-risk sectors such as construction and transport, catering or meat processing should be excluded. In the future, companies would also have to maintain a local branch at the actual place of work of their employees and comply with the local labor and protection laws. Demirel describes these guard rails as a “big interim victory.” But she continues to fundamentally question the new legal form. “Co-determination rights, which have been fought for by employees and unions in many European countries, must not be undermined by the 'EU Inc.',” she underlines her position. In a next step, the EU ministers will discuss the proposed law in Brussels on September 24th. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and Belgian associations are calling for a large demonstration and demanding significant improvements under the motto “fix it or sink it”: “If companies can move their headquarters at will, there is a risk of a continent-wide race to the bottom in wages and working conditions,” warns ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch in the call.” Article by Felix Sassmannshausen from September 11, 2026 in Neues Deutschland online 
  • Trade unions are calling for a demonstration against EU Inc.'s attack on workers' rights
    “Thousands of workers will demonstrate in Brussels later this month against the "EU Inc" law, which risks undermining national workers' rights and triggering a race to the bottom across Europe. Unions are calling for real solutions to the problems facing working people through strong quality jobs legislation. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), together with its Belgian affiliates ACV-CSC, FGTB-ABVV and SYNOVA, will hold a rally in front of the European Council on Wednesday 24 September at 10am, coinciding with a ministerial meeting on this controversial policy.
    Trade unions are calling the demonstration to urge politicians to either "correct or scrap" the legislation - also known as the 28th Corporate Rule - after the Commission failed to include safeguards to protect workers' rights.
    The proposal would create a parallel EU-wide company regulation that, in its current form, could be used by companies of all sizes to evade national labor law, collective bargaining structures and workers' rights to information, consultation and representation in management bodies…” EnglishCall from September 10, 2026 at ETUC/EGB (machine translated)
• Attack with corporate law: EU Commission sets off downward spiral with 28th regime to circumvent labor rights and taxes
  • EU Commission enters into 28th regime downward spiral to circumvent labor rights and taxes: EU Inc. threatens co-determination - lawyers fear abuse by entrepreneurs
    “In March 2026, the EU Commission presented a draft regulation for the creation of a new European corporate form for companies. The “EU Inc.” is intended to become a cornerstone of the 28th regime. In this context, the Commission uses “regime” to describe a legal system. With the new regulation, the EU Commission wants to create an additional, optional legal framework to the existing 27 national legal systems of its member states. The 28th regime is intended to complement the 27 legal systems and not to replace them. (…)
    The new EU Inc. company form is intended to be a fully digital company form with limited liability that can be registered online without a notary within 48 hours and for a maximum of 100 euros. There is no minimum capital required. Founders can be natural persons and existing companies. Companies under this new law should be able to set up EU-wide stock option plans for employees that would only be taxed upon sale. In addition, digital liquidation and simplified insolvency procedures are planned, which, according to the EU Commission, are intended to make “new starts” easier. The deletion of such a company should be possible within just three months…”Article by Jessica Reisner from July 7, 2026 at Employment Injustice 
  • Attack with corporate law: EU Inc. against the employees
    “The EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has not only set itself the goal of massively arming the EU, it also wants to do everything to ensure that European companies become more “competitive” in order to survive in the global power struggle against the USA and China. To this end, von der Leyen announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2025 that Europe would introduce simplified rules for innovative companies. A central step towards this is the so-called “28th regime” with a uniform corporate form across Europe, the “EU Inc”. This should enable companies to operate seamlessly throughout the internal market without much regulation. In plain language this means: more freedom of movement for capital at the expense of employees. The Commission wants to reach an agreement between the European institutions by the end of 2026. (…)
    Strong criticism from unions and associations
    The Commission's plan has met with widespread criticism. The Federal Chamber of Notaries warns that the uniform and apparently simple founding rules can lead to many complications and foreseeable disputes in view of the very different corporate realities in actual application. The trade unions in particular – both at the EU level as well as in Germany and other member states – express fundamental criticism of the plans. The DGB calls the draft an “attack on the rights of employees”. National collective labor rights and, in particular, company co-determination would be undermined. The unions' most important argument is the danger of a race to the bottom. If companies can register their headquarters in a Member State with weak co-determination while carrying out their economic activity in a country with strong labor rights, there is an incentive to choose the weakest standards.
    Similarly, there is a risk that tax obligations can be avoided through the establishment of EU Inc. shell companies. Another point of criticism is the planned introduction of so-called “Employee Stock Option Plans” (ESOPs) within the framework of EU Inc., i.e. company stock options that are to be issued as a salary component. Apart from the fact that stock options should never replace part of the salary, their introduction is highly problematic, especially for companies that can be founded and dissolved quickly and without much control. Employees could be stuck with shares that quickly turn out to be worthless.
    The 28th regime adds another instrument to the EU internal market as a mechanism for deregulating the so-called “European social model”. There have already been failed attempts to introduce a uniform EU-wide corporate form in this context. With the EU Inc., the von der Leyen Commission is taking up this project again in order to give new impetus to the EU's decades-long competitive orientation. It is clear that this attack on the interests of EU workers must be thwarted…”Article by Özlem Alev Demirel from July 7th, 2026 on links-bewegt.de 
• The new company form EU Inc. EU Commission creates a gateway for money launderers
  “With EU Inc., Brussels wants to revolutionize business start-ups: digitally, uniformly across Europe, within 48 hours. But in the fight against money laundering, of all things, the legal form could be a step backwards, says Martin Thelen.
  On March 18, 2026, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European limited liability company form: the “EU Inc.”. As a so-called 28th regime, it is intended to join the 27 national corporate law systems and offer companies an optional, EU-wide uniform corset. The aim is to strengthen the internal market and make start-ups easier.  The idea behind it is understandable: Anyone who wants to start a business across borders today has to fight their way through 27 different legal systems. A harmonized form with uniform rules for incorporation, shares and administration can bring real relief here - especially for start-ups and scale-ups that want to gain a foothold in several member states. EU Inc. is supposed to operate without a minimum capital and could therefore be founded with just one euro…”  Guest article by Dr. Martin Thelen from May 19, 2026 in LTO.de 

Basic information:

• Proposal for a new European form of society dated March 18, 2026 
• EU Inc.: What is the 28th regime?
  “Companies in the EU need simple rules to thrive. The corporate form “EU Inc.” is intended to help them gain a foothold and grow…”Info from May 29, 2026 at the EU Parliament 

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