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The 28th Regime (EU)
Updates, resources, and readiness tools for Europe’s planned optional company framework for innovative firms.
Europe is preparing an optional EU-wide “28th regime” for innovative companies. This site tracks what’s official, what’s proposed (EU-Inc.), and what founders and advisors should watch next.
🟢 Current status: EU leaders have politically endorsed the 28th regime at the European Council of 19–20 March 2026, placing it inside the "One Europe, One Market" agenda with a target of adoption by end of 2026. The proposal now moves into the ordinary legislative procedure — Parliament and member states negotiate next. We're tracking the legislative follow-through.
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New on the site (start here):
Why this matters
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Latest status (below)
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Compare proposals (Regime 0 vs EU-Inc. vs “28th regime”)
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Resources library (documents, videos, links)
Practical readiness tools (coming soon)
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Newsletter (every ~2 weeks)
Why this matters
Scaling across the Single Market still means re-solving the same company setup, governance, and compliance problems country by country. That fragmentation acts like an “invisible tariff” on cross-border growth — the IMF has estimated persistent barriers in the EU Single Market are equivalent to a 110% tariff on services.
The “28th regime” is the idea of an optional EU-level rulebook that companies could choose, so operating across Member States becomes closer to “one set of rules” instead of 27 variations. The design details (scope, safeguards, and how it interacts with national labour/tax rules) will decide whether it becomes true simplification or a compromise layer.
This site tracks what’s official, what’s proposed, and what changes for founders the moment draft legal text lands.
Latest status
Last updated: 13 Apr 2026
Council technical examination under way. The Working Party on Company Law has completed its first session (23 March) and has three more scheduled: 17 April, 27 April, and 7 May 2026. These sessions are where member states go through the proposal article by article, flag concerns, and propose amendments.
In parallel, the European Parliament's JURI Committee is examining the proposal. Rapporteur assignment, the MEP who will steer the file is pending. This is one of the key signals to watch.
The original Commission text of 18 March will be amended through this process. The registration model and tax treatment are expected to be the main friction points.
What I'm watching next: Working Party Session 2 (17 April) — first substantive national-position signals. Which countries push back, and on what.
For the full timeline and primary docs, see progress.
Previous status
Updated: 21 Mar 2026
On 19 March 2026, the European Council endorsed the "One Europe, One Market" agenda and named the 28th regime for company law as a priority measure for 2026. Leaders called on the co-legislators to adopt it by the end of 2026, on the basis of the Commission proposal of 18 March. António Costa confirmed at the post-summit press conference that the timeline is end of 2027 but mostly this year, in 2026.
No new legal text was published. The only legal text remains the Commission proposal of 18 March. What changed is the political level: EU Inc. is now an endorsed European Council priority with a deadline.
What I'm watching next: Council working-party examination, European Parliament positioning and rapporteur assignment, and whether the end-of-2026 timeline holds as the file enters negotiation. In the coming days, we will publish a closer reading of the proposal package itself.
Previous status
Updated: 18 Mar 2026
The European Commission has now published the EU Inc. proposal together with the wider 28th-regime package: the Communication, the draft corporate framework, the annex, factsheet, and impact-assessment papers. This is the real shift from expectation to text — the debate can now move from whether the proposal will appear to what the legal text actually creates, what is still missing, and what may change in the legislative process.
The core offer is an optional EU-wide company framework designed to make incorporation and cross-border operation simpler: faster digital registration, lower setup costs, digital-by-default procedures, easier share transfers, digital insolvency, and an EU-level stock-option approach aimed at making startups and scaleups easier to build and finance in Europe.
What I’m watching next: the European Council on 19–20 March 2026, where leaders are expected to discuss competitiveness and the single market under the wider “One Europe, One Market” frame. After that, the key work becomes close reading of the proposal package and tracking how Parliament and Council respond.
Previous status
Updated: 24 Feb 2026
Parliament's tax subcommittee (FISC) held a public hearing on the feasibility of a "28th tax regime" — a clear sign that tax barriers and incentives are now being discussed alongside the upcoming EU-Inc / 28th-regime corporate proposal. Three expert groups (Bruegel, CEPS, ETAF) presented directions; the common ground was a narrow, practical scope focused on equity/stock-option treatment and administrative simplification rather than broad tax harmonisation.
The hearing surfaced three distinct approaches — Bruegel argued for a targeted digital hub with equity taxation at sale (not at grant) as the key lever; CEPS proposed modular tax-interoperability layers (loss relief, mobility rules, VAT/withholding simplification) added gradually on top of the corporate-law base; ETAF supported single-entry reporting but warned that substantive tax changes trigger Council unanimity and risk adding parallel complexity. The rapporteur, Ľudovít Ódor, pushed throughout on whether the regime needs a tax element to be attractive in practice — MEPs converged on digital-by-default setup, tax neutrality for opting in, and a credible fix for stock-option treatment as the realistic minimums.
What I'm watching next: the Commission draft legal text — now less than a month away (scheduled 18 March 2026). The FISC hearing signals that Parliament will push for at least a minimum tax/admin layer alongside the corporate framework. Once the text exists, scope, safeguards, and the "regulation vs directive" choice become reviewable.
Previous status
Updated: 15 Feb 2026
The European Parliament has formally adopted recommendations supporting a harmonised 28th regime for innovative companies, including fast digital incorporation and cross-border operation features; this feeds into the European Commission’s upcoming legislative work.
What’s changed is timeline clarity: the European Parliament’s Legislative Train tracker currently lists the Commission proposal as scheduled for 18 March 2026. We’re also monitoring for publication before the March European Council (19–20 March 2026). Note: “Scheduled” means planned, not guaranteed — calendars can slip.
Political framing is now explicit: President von der Leyen is packaging “EU-Inc / 28th regime” inside a “One Europe, One Market” roadmap with five building blocks — where pillar #2 (“Build one market”) is the relevant lane for this initiative (alongside deeper capital markets). The ambition is framed as reaching “One Europe, One Market” by end-2027.
Previous status
Updated: 26 Jan 2026
The European Parliament has formally adopted a set of recommendations supporting a harmonised 28th regime for innovative companies, including digital incorporation and cross‑border operation features; this will feed into the European Commission’s legislative proposal expected in Q1 2026.
At the World Economic Forum, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly backed the initiative under the “EU‑Inc” banner. Discussions now hinge on the regime’s design (regulation vs directive) and social safeguards.
What you’ll find on this site
A neutral tracker
A dated changelog of official milestones, plus what each step actually means for founders, investors, and operators.
A curated library
The best primary docs and a small number of high-signal explainers — no clutter.
Clear comparisons (with receipts)
One page that compares what proposals actually say on scope, governance, registry model, ESOP/tax principles, dispute resolution, and more.
Practical readiness tools (coming soon)
Checklists and decision trees you can use the moment rules are published (or even while planning).
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* Independent project. Not affiliated with EU institutions. Not legal advice.
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