This page collects the key numbers on EU Inc, the problem it targets, and the movement behind it, each with its source. Figures are drawn from primary sources (the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Draghi report and the Republic of Estonia) and cited at the point of use.
EU Inc at a glance
The proposal's own headline numbers, from the European Commission:
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Registration deadline | Within 48 hours | European Commission, EU Inc page / COM(2026) 321 final |
| Maximum registration cost | €100 (standard template, founders as natural persons) | European Commission, SWD(2026) 322 final |
| Minimum share capital | €0 or €1 | European Commission, EU Inc page |
| Projected admin-cost savings | €328 to €440 million over 10 years | Commission Impact Assessment, SWD(2026) 322 final |
| Estimated companies using EU Inc | Around 308,000 over 10 years | Commission Impact Assessment, SWD(2026) 322 final |
| Operating model | Fully digital, optional, alongside national forms | European Commission, COM(2026) 321 final |
| Registration channel | A single EU-level interface, built on BRIS | Commission Impact Assessment, SWD(2026) 322 final |
What the headline numbers mean in practice:
- One registration, valid as an EU-wide corporate form, instead of forming a new entity in each country.
- The "once-only principle": company data flows from the business register to tax, social security and beneficial-ownership authorities without the founder re-submitting it.
- An optional common EU employee stock option scheme (EU-ESO), with harmonised timing for the taxation of options.
- Simplified, digital liquidation for solvent companies, so founders can wind down and start again faster.
The fragmentation problem (why EU Inc exists)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National legal systems in the EU | 27 | European Commission, EU Inc news, 18 March 2026 |
| Company legal forms across the EU | More than 60 | European Commission, EU Inc news, 18 March 2026 |
| Businesses in the EU | Around 24 million, of which 99% are SMEs | European Commission, single market and economy |
| People employed by EU SMEs | Around 85 million (about two-thirds of private-sector jobs) | European Commission, single market and economy |
| Enterprises in the single market | Around 26 million, employing around 133 million people | European Commission, company-law impact assessment |
| Time to set up cross-border today | Weeks to months, across multiple national regimes | European Commission, EU Inc news |
Cross-border friction, in structures. EU companies maintain roughly 500,000 intra-EU subsidiaries and about 50,000 cross-border branches, against more than 4.3 million purely domestic branches, a sign of how much activity still stops at national borders (European Commission company-law impact assessment).
Today a founder who wants to operate in three EU countries can face three legal systems, three registration processes and three sets of paperwork. EU Inc replaces that with one company form recognised EU-wide.
The competitiveness gap (the Draghi report)
The case for EU Inc rests heavily on the September 2024 Draghi report on European competitiveness (383 pages), commissioned by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| European unicorns founded 2008-2021 | 147 | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| Of those, relocated HQ abroad (mostly US) | 40 (close to 30%) | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| EU companies over €100bn market cap built from scratch in 50 years | Zero | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| US companies over €1 trillion built in the same period | Six | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| Additional annual investment the EU needs | €750 to €800 billion (4.4 to 4.7% of 2023 EU GDP) | Draghi report; European Parliament A10-0124/2025 |
| EU vs US research and innovation spending gap (2021) | EU spent €270 billion less than the US | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| European firms in the world's top 50 tech companies | Only 4 | Draghi report, Sept 2024 |
| Internal single-market barriers (IMF estimate) | Equivalent to a roughly 100% tariff | IMF, via European Parliament A10-0124/2025 |
| EU administrative burden | Around €150 billion per year (1.3% of GDP) | European Parliament A10-0124/2025 |
| R&D spending as a share of GDP (2023) | EU 2.2% vs US 3.4% vs China 2.6% | European Parliament A10-0124/2025 |
The EU's workforce is projected to shrink by close to 2 million people every year from 2040, which is why the report argues future growth has to come from productivity and innovation rather than a growing labour force (Draghi report, Sept 2024).
The movement and legislative momentum
EU Inc began as a grassroots petition and became a Commission proposal in roughly 17 months. The petition's growth over time:
| Date | Signatories | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 (launch, 14 Oct) | Around 11,000 | TechCrunch, Oct 2024 |
| Dec 2024 | 13,000+ | EU-Startups / Swisscore |
| Jul 2025 | 16,000 | Tech.eu, Jul 2025 |
| Jan 2026 | 22,000+ | Tech.eu, Jan 2026 |
| 2026 (latest) | 24,000+ | Swisscore, Mar 2026 |
The breadth of backing behind the campaign:
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Venture capital firms backing the campaign | 600+ | EU Inc campaign |
| Startups backing the campaign | Around 9,000 | EU Inc campaign |
| Industry associations | 20 | EU Inc campaign |
| European Parliament vote on the 28th-regime recommendations | 492 in favour, 144 against (28 abstentions) | European Parliament, procedure 2025/2079(INL) |
The petition was launched on 14 October 2024 by Andreas Klinger (Prototype Capital) with co-initiators including Philipp Herkelmann, Simon Schaefer and Vojtech Horna, with early backing from founders linked to companies such as Stripe and Wise and investors including Index Ventures and Atomico. The full story is on our EU Inc initiative page.
Proof of demand today: Estonia e-Residency
EU Inc is still a proposal. The closest working model of fully digital, remote EU company formation is Estonia's e-Residency programme, and its 2025 numbers show the demand EU Inc is built to serve.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| e-residents to date | 135,000+ from 185 countries | Republic of Estonia, e-Residency / ERR, Feb 2026 |
| Share of e-residents from the EU | Around 50% | e-Residency programme |
| Companies founded via e-Residency (total) | 39,000+ | e-Residency / ERR, Feb 2026 |
| New companies founded in 2025 | 5,556 (+15%, a record) | Republic of Estonia, e-Residency, 2025 results |
| New e-residents in 2025 | 13,828 (+20%, best in six years) | e-Residency / ERR, Feb 2026 |
| State revenue from the programme in 2025 | €124.9 million (+87%) | e-Residency / ERR, Feb 2026 |
| Cumulative economic impact | Around €400 million | e-Residency / Baltic Times, 2026 |
| Launched | December 2014 | Republic of Estonia, e-Residency |
The top citizenships founding new Estonian companies in 2025 included Ukraine, Spain, Turkey, Germany and France, evidence that demand for an EU base is global, not local. Until EU Inc becomes law, e-Residency is the most established route to a remote, fully digital EU company. We can form an Estonian company for you in days.
Timeline of key dates
- Sept 2024: Draghi report on European competitiveness published; calls for a 28th regime.
- 14 Oct 2024: EU Inc petition launched; around 11,000 signatures within days.
- Dec 2024: petition passes 13,000; first policy blueprint published.
- Jan 2025: the Commission's Competitiveness Compass announces a "28th regime".
- 20 Jan 2026: European Parliament adopts its 28th-regime recommendations (procedure 2025/2079(INL)), vote 492 to 144.
- 18 Mar 2026: Commission publishes the EU Inc proposal, COM(2026) 321 final, with the impact assessment SWD(2026) 322 final.
- 19 Mar 2026: European Council names the 28th regime a priority and calls for adoption by the end of 2026.
- 28 May 2026: first minister-level debate on EU Inc at the Competitiveness Council.
- Target, end of 2026: the Commission's goal for political agreement between Parliament and Council. The exact date the form becomes usable is set in the final text, expected around 2027-2028.
Cite this page
Found these numbers useful? You are free to cite or link to this page. Please attribute it to euincnow.com.
EU Inc Now (2026). EU Inc Statistics: Key Facts, Figures and Sources. Retrieved from https://euincnow.com/eu-inc-statistics
Every figure above is drawn from a primary source and cited at the point of use. The primary sources are listed below.
Methodology and primary sources
- European Commission, EU Inc: a new harmonised corporate legal regime, the proposal COM(2026) 321 final and impact assessment SWD(2026) 322 final, 18 March 2026.
- European Commission news: EU Inc, making business easier in the European Union, 18 March 2026.
- Mario Draghi, The Future of European Competitiveness, European Commission, September 2024.
- European Parliament, report A10-0124/2025 (Draghi follow-up) and procedure 2025/2079(INL).
- Republic of Estonia, e-Residency programme statistics, 2025 results.
These are the numbers. We are the how.
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