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The campaign
EU Inc began as a campaign, not a law. In 2024, a founder-led initiative went public with a simple argument: a startup in Europe should be able to incorporate once and operate across the whole single market, the way a US company incorporates in Delaware and sells across all 50 states. The name says it plainly. Europe needed its own "Inc".
The petition launched on 14 October 2024, led by entrepreneur and angel investor Andreas Klinger with three co-initiators, Philipp Herkelmann, Simon Schaefer and Vojtech Horna (who also created the earlier Not Optional campaign for European stock-option reform that EU Inc builds on). It asked the EU for one thing: an optional, digital, EU-wide company form, the 28th Regime. It gathered more than 13,000 signatures by December 2024 and over 24,000 by March 2026. Its website reports more than 26,000 founders, investors and operators at our October check.
The EU Inc initiative is the public campaign for the 28th Regime. EU Inc Now is this company formation service that helps founders prepare and form an EU company. The signatories below back the initiative; they are not affiliated with EU Inc Now. For the campaign's branding, see our EU Inc logo guide.
The founders and investors behind it
The initiative's strength is its signatory list. The campaign reports more than 26,000 founders, investors and operators across Europe, checked on 11 October 2026, including the founders and CEOs of Stripe, Wise, Mistral and Revolut (Patrick Collison, Taavet Hinrikus, Arthur Mensch and Nikolay Storonsky), alongside names such as Niklas Zennström, Ilkka Paananen, Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Paul Graham. That breadth is the point: it is not one company lobbying for itself, but a cross-section of European tech saying the same thing about how hard it is to build across 27 legal systems.
Investors joined for the same reason. Funds that back companies in several countries feel the friction of fragmented company law at every round, every cross-border hire, and every option grant.
The reports that gave it weight
Campaigns need intellectual cover, and EU Inc got it from two of the most influential EU reports in recent memory:
- Enrico Letta, "Much more than a market" (April 2024), argued that legal fragmentation holds European companies back and floated a common European legal status.
- Mario Draghi, "The future of European competitiveness" (September 2024), explicitly recommended a 28th regime for innovative companies.
Together they turned a founder demand into mainstream EU policy thinking. The detail of what they proposed is covered in the 28th Regime.
The political backing
The idea then climbed the institutions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put a 28th regime in her 2024-2029 political guidelines and, at Davos in January 2026, publicly adopted the campaign's name: "We call it EU Inc." Michael McGrath, the Commissioner for justice and the rule of law, led the file and presented the proposal, which followed on 18 March 2026. In the European Parliament, René Repasi, a German Social Democrat MEP, is the lead rapporteur steering it through the Legal Affairs Committee. You can trace that whole arc in EU Inc news.
What the initiative wants
Stripped down, the ask is a single, optional EU company that is:
- Digital by default, set up online in around 48 hours.
- Cheap to start, around €100, with no minimum capital.
- Valid EU-wide, recognised in all 27 member states from day one.
- Startup-friendly, with one EU-wide framework for employee stock options.
The deeper goal is to stop European founders defaulting to a US incorporation to raise and scale. EU Inc is the campaign to keep more of that company-building in Europe.
The autumn 2026 campaign: 100 days
The campaign calendar marks 10 September as the launch of its "100 days to get EU Inc right" appeal. The open letter calls for a central registry, standardised stock options, free choice of registered office, access for all companies and protection of local labour and tax obligations.
These are the campaign's demands. They are not adopted law or a neutral statement of what the final regulation will contain. Read the campaign, or see what is changing in the negotiations.
The current supporter count is a combined total of founders, investors and operators. It should not be described as 26,000 founders plus a separate investor total. Source: the campaign's own website, checked 11 October 2026.
Primary sources
- EU Inc (eu-inc.org), the official founder-led campaign, its open letter and its signatory list.
- European Commission: EU Inc, making business easier in the European Union (18 March 2026).
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Get your free planFrequently asked questions
Who started the EU Inc initiative?
EU Inc is a founder-led campaign launched on 14 October 2024 by entrepreneur and angel investor Andreas Klinger with three co-initiators (Philipp Herkelmann, Simon Schaefer and Vojtech Horna), calling for a single pan-European company form, the 28th Regime.
Who supports EU Inc?
The initiative is backed by more than 26,000 founders, investors and operators, according to the campaign as checked on 11 October 2026 across Europe, including the founders of Stripe, Wise, Mistral and Revolut. It has also drawn political support up to the level of the European Commission.
Did Ursula von der Leyen support EU Inc?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen championed the idea of a 28th regime in her political guidelines, and the Commission went on to propose the draft regulation on 18 March 2026.
What is the EU Inc petition?
It is the open campaign calling on the EU to create a single, optional, EU-wide company form. Founders and investors added their names to push the 28th regime onto the EU agenda.