From the organizers of South Summit comes a call for Regime 28 processing to preserve the ambition of creating a useful common European framework for startups, scaleups, and investment. The proposal presented by the European Commission on March 18 opened an opportunity to reduce fragmentation of the single market, simplify procedures, facilitate investment, and improve conditions for innovative companies to grow from Europe. However, the European Parliament’s initial draft, published on June 29, introduces safeguards-oriented changes aimed at preserving the primacy of national markets, which could dilute part of the initial scope of the EU Inc. Regulation.
The legislative timetable makes this a particularly pivotal moment for the ecosystem. The text is now in the parliamentary phase, with an amendment window open until July 17, and the changes that are incorporated during this process will be decisive in defining whether Regime 28 becomes a genuinely useful tool for startups, founders, investors, and scaleups, or whether it ends up as a figure that is too limited or too complex to meet their needs.
The European Commission presented its proposal on March 18 with the aim of moving toward a more homogeneous framework for innovative companies across the European Union. The proposal included elements particularly relevant to the European entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the goal of attracting, but more importantly, retaining European talent so it doesn’t get lost in the escalation of the company. Among the proposed elements were: the creation of an harmonized, common, voluntary corporate form that could be recognized in all Member States; a framework designed to accompany the company throughout its life cycle; default digital processes; a fast, low-cost incorporation pathway; and the principle of “only once,” to prevent companies from having to submit the same information to different administrations.
Needs of the entrepreneurial ecosystem
These advances responded to a clear ecosystem need: to make creation, operation, and growth in Europe more competitive. For South Summit, the value of Regime 28 lies not only in facilitating the incorporation of new ventures but in enabling startups to finance themselves, attract talent, operate across borders, scale, and internationalize with less friction within the single market. Europe needs its innovative companies to be able to grow from here, without being forced to look to other markets for agility, investment, or tools they can’t find in their own environment.
The proposal also introduced relevant advances in investment and talent, with more homogeneous rules to facilitate cross-border financing, recognizable instruments for international investors, and measures aimed at improving employee participation in company growth. For South Summit, this is key: if Europe wants to compete with the world’s most dynamic ecosystems, it must offer simpler, more attractive, and viable tools to attract investment and retain talent in startups and scaleups.
The European Parliament’s draft now introduces more safeguard-like changes, aimed at preserving the application of national rules and reinforcing certain checks. South Summit considers it important that the future European framework fosters trust and legal certainty, but at the same time it must be designed proportionately so as not to diminish speed, simplicity, or appeal to a reform that was specifically intended to lower barriers.
Among the points to watch closely during the process are the potential exclusion of certain economic activities, cautions regarding the country of registration and its link to the company’s activity, the strengthening of pre-approval checks, the rules applicable to companies with teams distributed across several member states, and the conditions for when companies can access more advanced financing or liquidity stages. For South Summit, all these elements must be addressed with balance to avoid abuses without making the regime too complex for the companies that could truly use it.
South Summit advocates that the processing should stay focused on the main objective of the reform: reduce fragmentation, facilitate investment, simplify procedures, improve tools to attract talent, and make the single market work more effectively for European startups. The key is not choosing between safeguards or simplification, but building a balanced framework that protects legal certainty without sacrificing usefulness for the ecosystem.
The debate about Regime 28 should not be seen only as a technical corporate-law issue, but as part of a broader European competitiveness agenda. Europe has talent, universities, research, corporations, investors, and technological capacity. The challenge is to create conditions for that potential to become global companies that are born, grow, and scale from Europe.
Therefore, it is essential that any modification during the process be evaluated for its real impact on startups, scaleups, investors, and talent. The EU Inc. Regulation will be an opportunity for Europe if it contributes to reducing barriers, increasing agility, and strengthening the competitiveness of the European entrepreneurial ecosystem.
