Latest status

Session 4 has now been held across two days — 6 May at the Europa Building and 7 May at the Council Lex Building — following Session 3 on 27 April. Four Working Party sessions have now been held since March. No public readout from any of the sessions has appeared on the Council register yet.

In Parliament, Commissioner Michael McGrath presented the EU Inc. proposal to the JURI Legal Affairs Committee on 4 May. A rapporteur — the lead MEP who will steer Parliament's draft report — has not yet been formally named. Shadow rapporteurs and stakeholder meetings are already visible, making the rapporteur appointment the next major Parliament signal to watch.

Watching next: Session 5 on 18 May. The COMPET ministerial Council meets on 28–29 May, but EU Inc. is not yet confirmed as an agenda item. Later Working Party sessions are scheduled for 2 June, 2 July, and 8 July.

For a detailed look at what the 7 May ECGI, Bocconi, and LawFin workshop surfaced about EU Inc.'s legal design, read our editorial report from the 7th LawFin Workshop.

Previous status

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. Antonio 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.

Full stored update: EU leaders back EU Inc - from proposal to political priority.

Previous status

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.

Full stored update: EU Inc. Proposal Explained: What the Official Documents Actually Say.

Previous status

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 and stock-option treatment and administrative simplification rather than broad tax harmonisation.

• FISC hearing page (documents + programme)

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 and 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, Ludovit Odor, 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.

• Bruegel "Regime 0" policy brief

Stored in the newsletter archive.

Previous status

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.

• MEPs propose new legal framework for innovative companies

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.

• Legislative Train (scheduled date)
• European Council (19-20 March 2026)

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.

Stored in the newsletter archive.

Previous status

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.

• EU competitiveness: MEPs propose new legal framework for innovative companies

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 versus directive, and social safeguards.

Stored in the newsletter archive.