Brussels Proposes Unified Digital Framework to Enable 48-Hour Business Registration
Brussels, Wednesday 4 February 2026
The proposed ‘28th regime’ enables founders to navigate twenty-seven distinct legal systems effortlessly, offering fully digital company registration within just 48 hours to unify Europe’s fragmented market.
A “28th Regime” for the Digital Age
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed the urgency of this initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 20 January 2026, positioning EU-INC as a critical tool for competitiveness [6]. The framework, legally designated as the ‘28th Regime’, acts as a de facto “28th state” for company registration, functioning alongside national laws rather than replacing them [1]. This voluntary system allows entrepreneurs to bypass the complexities of local compliance by opting into a standardised EU legal entity [1]. The primary objective is to enable founders to register a company in any member state within 48 hours through a fully online process [1][6], fundamentally shifting how digital businesses scale across the bloc.
Addressing the Competitiveness Crisis
The push for EU-INC is largely a response to the warnings issued by Mario Draghi in 2024. His report highlighted that Europe’s overregulation and fragmented market were posing severe risks to the continent’s economic standing, specifically citing limited access to risk capital [1][6]. The EU-INC structure is designed to mitigate these issues by introducing a uniform governance framework and cross-border mobility, thereby reducing the administrative burden on emerging firms [6]. Previous attempts to create a single market for startups, such as the Societas Europaea in 2004 and the European Private Company in 2010, struggled due to complexity or lack of political support [1][6], making the streamlined nature of this new proposal critical to its success.
Industry Support and Timeline
The initiative has garnered substantial backing from the technology sector, with key supporters including Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, and Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, alongside major fintech players like Wise and Klarna [1]. National organisations such as France Digitale, the Dutch Startup Association, and Startup Hungary have also aligned with the proposal [1]. Political support is similarly robust; the European Parliament adopted a report on the initiative with 492 votes in favour and only 144 against [1].