EU Inc. is a proposed company form that any founder in the European Union could choose, governed mainly by one set of EU rules instead of 27 national ones. The European Commission tabled it on 18 March 2026 as proposal COM(2026) 321. Its September explainer video promises a company "in 48 hours for less than 100 euros". Both figures are in the proposal, and both come with conditions the video leaves out. Neither is available yet: the regulation still has to pass the European Parliament and the Council, and it would apply only 12 months after it enters into force.
This FAQ works through 15 practical questions, each tied to the proposal or the national law that settles it. That includes the question founders ask when they compare company forms: whether EU Inc. changes where the company pays tax.
Key Takeaways
- EU Inc. is a proposal, not law. It would apply from the last day of the 12th month after it enters into force (COM(2026) 321, Article 109).
- The 48-hour, €100 registration applies when you use the EU template articles of association (Articles 16 and 18). With your own articles, registration takes up to 5 working days and the proposal sets no €100 ceiling (Article 17).
- An EU Inc. needs no minimum capital at all (Article 62(1)). Google's AI Overview and two other sources gave €1 when we checked on 18 September 2026.
- €100 caps the registration. Bookkeeping, annual accounts, tax filings, a registered office and legal work on custom articles cost extra.
- Tax rates and tax residence stay national. A company managed from Germany is fully taxable in Germany wherever it is registered (§ 1(1) KStG).
Questions in this article:
- What is EU Inc.?
- Is EU Inc. law yet?
- When can I register an EU Inc.?
- Is EU Inc. a directive or a regulation?
- Can I set up an EU Inc. in 48 hours for €100?
- Does an EU Inc. need minimum capital?
- Is €100 what an EU Inc. costs?
- How does EU Inc. compare with a German GmbH?
- Does EU Inc. change where my company pays tax?
- Can I register an EU Inc. in a low-tax member state to save tax?
- What happens to employee participation?
- What is the EU-ESO?
- Will there be special courts for EU Inc. disputes?
- Can an EU Inc. be run from Dubai?
- Does EU Inc. make moving a company to Dubai unnecessary?
What EU Inc. is and where it stands
EU Inc. is a proposed, optional company form, and nobody can register one yet. On our reading of the timetable, the first registrations would come in 2028.
What is EU Inc.?
EU Inc. is "a new harmonised legal form of a limited liability company ('EU Inc.') provided in the legal order of every Member State" (COM(2026) 321, Article 1(a)). It sits next to the GmbH, the SAS and the BV as a 28th option, which is why the project is also called the "28th regime".
The company registers in the business register of the member state you choose for its registered office (Article 5(1)). It follows the regulation and its own articles of association. Anything the regulation does not cover falls back to the national law of the "relevant national legal form" that each member state designates (Article 4).
Is EU Inc. law yet?
No. The proposal runs under the EU's ordinary legislative procedure, reference 2026/0074 (COD). The European Parliament and the Council are negotiating it (European Parliament, "EU Inc.: what is the 28th regime?", 6 May 2026; European Commission, "EU Inc. Explained", 14 September 2026). Until the text is adopted, the figures taken from the proposal can still change.
When can I register an EU Inc.?
Not before the regulation applies. Article 109 says it enters into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal. It applies from "the last day of the 12th month after the date of entry into force".
The European Parliament has said it expects a final agreement by the end of 2026 (European Parliament, 6 May 2026). Our reading, which is not an official date: formal adoption and publication would then follow in 2027, and the regulation would apply 12 months later, in 2028.
Some sources point earlier. Google's AI Overview for "eu inc" said first registrations are "expected around 2027". The Händlerbund explainer says first formations would be possible from 2027 at the earliest (our translation). We checked both on 18 September 2026. A 2027 start would need the regulation published in the Official Journal during 2026, before the agreement the Parliament expects.
Searches for "eu inc" in Germany (English language setting) peaked in March 2026, the month the Commission published the proposal, and have fallen since. The peak came about two years before the first registrations we expect in 2028.
Is EU Inc. a directive or a regulation?
A regulation. A regulation applies in every member state without national transposition, so the core rules would read the same in Munich and Lisbon (Article 109, last sentence). Google's People Also Ask box for "eu inc" showed searchers asking about the "EU Inc. directive" on 18 September 2026. The proposal's title is "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council".
Formation, capital and cost
The headline numbers hold, with conditions. The fast lane requires the EU's standard templates, and the €100 pays for the registration alone.
Can I set up an EU Inc. in 48 hours for €100?
Yes, if you use the EU templates. The prospective directors file the harmonised application form with the EU template articles of association through the EU central interface (Article 16(1)). Member states must then complete preventive control and registration "within 48 hours" at "a maximum cost of EUR 100" (Article 16(2)). Preventive control is the administrative, judicial or notarial check that the articles, the company's name and object, the applicants' legal capacity and any capital contributions meet the requirements (Article 14). Article 18 applies the same deadline and ceiling when the templates are filed with a business register.
The fast track closes in one case. The application form asks each prospective director to declare any circumstances that could disqualify them in the member state of registration. If one does, or if preventive control finds such circumstances, the fast track does not apply (Article 13(5) and (6)).
Write your own articles, and Article 17 applies instead: registration within 5 working days, with no €100 ceiling in the text. The video's line that "even for more complex setups, the whole process stays digital" is accurate about the process and silent about the time and cost.
| Formation route | Legal basis | Registration deadline | Cost ceiling in the proposal |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU templates, via the EU central interface | Article 16(2) | 48 hours | €100 |
| EU templates, filed with a business register | Article 18(2) | 48 hours | €100 |
| Own articles of association | Articles 17(2) and 18(2) | 5 working days | None stated |
Does an EU Inc. need minimum capital?
No. Article 62(1): "The company is not required to have a minimum amount of capital nor is it required to build up capital or legal reserves over time."
Three sources gave a different figure when we checked on 18 September 2026. Google's AI Overview for "eu inc" said "minimal or €1 share capital". The Händlerbund explainer (updated 6 August 2026) says one euro should be enough (our translation). The formation provider eu.inc advertises "just €1 capital". That figure matches the preferred option in the Commission's impact assessment, "EUR 0 or 1 minimum capital" (explanatory memorandum, p. 12). The article the Commission then drafted sets no minimum at all.
For comparison, a German GmbH needs share capital of at least €25,000 (§ 5(1) GmbHG). German founders can already start below that with the UG (haftungsbeschränkt), the GmbH's low-capital variant. A UG must put a quarter of its annual net income, less any loss carried forward, into a statutory reserve (§ 5a(3) GmbHG). An EU Inc. has no such duty (Article 62(1)).
Is €100 what an EU Inc. costs?
No. The €100 ceiling covers preventive control and registration on the template route, and nothing after it. The company still pays for:
- bookkeeping and annual accounts under the accounting law of its member state of registration (Article 105);
- tax returns wherever it is tax resident;
- a registered office in its member state of registration (Article 5(1));
- legal advice, if you draft your own articles.
The proposal publishes no figure for any of those costs, so we do not quote one. Budget them before you compare EU Inc. with a national form or a company outside the EU.
How does EU Inc. compare with a German GmbH?
EU Inc. needs less capital to start and is designed to be cheaper to fund. It has no minimum share capital against the GmbH's €25,000. Share transfers and subscriptions for new shares run online, and member states may not require a notarial deed for either (Articles 59(5) and 67(6)). Transferring a GmbH share requires a notarial deed (§ 15(3) GmbHG).
The Commission's impact assessment prices that at around €1,100 saved per financing round and €1,780 to €2,850 saved on a €500,000 growth-stage share sale (COM(2026) 321, explanatory memorandum, p. 13). Across an estimated 308,000 EU Inc. companies over ten years, it puts total savings at €328 million to €440 million (pp. 12 to 13). These are EU-wide estimates across all member states, not a comparison with the GmbH, and nobody has measured them yet.
A German EU Inc. would follow the national form Germany designates under Article 4(3) wherever the regulation is silent, so the comparison sharpens once that designation exists. Against the UG, the capital advantage largely disappears. Beyond the faster, capped registration, three differences remain. The UG must build a statutory reserve, which an EU Inc. never has to. Share transfers and subscriptions for new shares run online. And an EU Inc. can offer the EU-ESO described below.
Tax, employees and courts
EU Inc. harmonises company law. Tax rates, tax residence and employee rights stay national, and the Commission says so in the proposal itself.
Does EU Inc. change where my company pays tax?
No. The proposal's provisions touching tax and employee participation "are not intended to harmonise the fields of taxation or employee rights" (COM(2026) 321, explanatory memorandum, p. 7). An EU Inc. is taxed like any other company, by the state where it is tax resident. For a German founder the test sits in § 1(1) KStG: a corporation is fully taxable in Germany if it has its management or its registered seat in Germany. Either one is enough.
Can I register an EU Inc. in a low-tax member state to save tax?
Not by registering there. Choosing another member state moves the registered seat, not the place where the company is run, and § 1(1) KStG taxes a company managed from Germany whatever its seat.
German law defines management as "the centre of top-level business management" (our translation of § 10 AO). In practice, that is the place where the decisions that run the company are taken. For a founder who runs the company personally, it is usually where the founder lives and works. A founder who registers in one member state and runs the company from Berlin keeps German corporate tax liability.
The founder's own tax does not move either. A founder who lives in Germany is fully liable to income tax there (§ 1(1) EStG), and dividends from the company count as taxable income (§ 20(1) no. 1 EStG).
Our guide to the German place-of-management test walks through how that test is applied. Other member states apply tests of their own, as the French founder's version of this question shows.
The proposal does prohibit certain discriminatory measures against an EU Inc. whose registered office is in another member state (Article 1(g)). That protects the company form; the tax result stays where § 1(1) KStG puts it.
| What EU Inc. harmonises | What stays national |
|---|---|
| Company formation and registration (Articles 13 to 18) | Corporate tax rates and tax residence (no provision in the proposal; explanatory memorandum, p. 7) |
| Capital rules: no minimum capital (Article 62) | Employee participation rules (Article 12(1)) |
| Filing through the EU central interface, including the data needed for tax and VAT numbers (Articles 1(b), 13(3) and 20) | Accounting law of the member state of registration (Article 105) |
| The timing and base of tax on EU-ESO warrants (Article 79) | Employment law (Recital 83) |
What happens to employee participation?
Employee participation follows the member state of the registered office. Article 12(1) applies "the employee participation rules applicable in the Member State in which it has its registered office". That covers an EU Inc. formed from scratch or through a domestic conversion, merger or division. Cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions follow the rules of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 instead (Article 12(2)).
What is the EU-ESO?
The EU-ESO is an optional employee stock option plan. An EU Inc. can issue warrants to employees and board members. They can exercise them after a waiting period of at least 24 months (Article 78(3)(c)).
The plan excludes large shareholders. Nobody who holds more than 25% of the voting rights or of the rights to the proceeds can receive warrants. The same applies to anyone who held that much in the 24 months before the issue (Article 78(2)). A founder above that line is outside the plan.
The tax is deferred. The income is deemed to arise only when the holder disposes of the shares. It equals the difference between their market value at disposal and the acquisition price, and national law taxes it (Article 79(2) and (3)). Member states must tax EU-ESO warrants and the resulting shares no less favourably than other employee stock options under national law (Article 79(4)).
The EU-ESO is the proposal's main substantive tax provision. Elsewhere the text touches tax only in procedure:
- Formation: the application form carries the data needed to issue a tax identification number and a VAT number (Articles 13(3) and 20).
- Branches: the same applies when an EU Inc. registers a branch in another member state (Articles 38(3) and 39).
- New shares: member states may not require subscribers to apply for a tax identification number in person (Article 67(4)).
- Closure: a fast-track liquidation can need tax clearance, as explained below (Articles 86 and 87).
Fast-track liquidation is open to a solvent EU Inc. that has ceased trading, has no assets left after any distribution to its shareholders and faces no pending proceedings (Article 83(1)). It must also have no liabilities, unless all known creditors consent (Article 83(2)). Where national law requires tax clearance, the tax authority has 30 days to grant it or to oppose the procedure (Article 86(1)). It can extend the deadline by up to another 30 days (Article 86(2)). If it does not respond in time, clearance counts as granted (Article 86(3)). None of these provisions sets tax rates or decides tax residence.
Will there be special courts for EU Inc. disputes?
Possibly, at each member state's discretion. Recital 81 says member states "could designate or establish" a specialised judicial chamber or court for EU Inc. disputes.
EU Inc. and a company in the UAE
EU Inc. and a UAE company solve different problems. EU Inc. removes paperwork for a company that stays inside the single market. A company in the UAE changes the tax result only when the management and, for personal tax, the founder relocate.
Can an EU Inc. be run from Dubai?
Only partly. Article 9(1) requires an EU Inc. to "have its registered office and its central administration or principal place of business in the Union". The test is either/or. The company can be managed from Dubai if its principal place of business stays in the EU, but it cannot leave the EU entirely.
Managing it from Dubai does not take it out of EU tax. Its registered office stays in a member state, and a registered seat alone can make a company taxable there. In Germany, § 1(1) KStG taxes a company with its seat in Germany even when it is managed abroad. If the aim is to move the tax base to the UAE, EU Inc. is the wrong vehicle.
Does EU Inc. make moving a company to Dubai unnecessary?
EU Inc. answers a different question. If tax is your reason to look at the UAE, EU Inc. does not help, because it leaves tax residence where it was. UAE corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it, for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. The legal basis is Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (UAE Government portal, Corporate tax).
For a German founder, that rate helps only if the company is managed in the UAE. A UAE company run from Germany meets the same § 1(1) KStG management test as an EU Inc. run from Germany, and Germany taxes it as well. Registration alone achieves nothing in either direction.
If the UAE is on your list, start with what moves your tax residence. Then compare UAE corporate tax with the UK and EU, and see what business setup in Dubai involves step by step. The rates and exemptions sit in UAE corporate tax explained.
When EU Inc. is the right choice, and when it is the wrong one
EU Inc. is the right choice if you will run the company from inside the EU and sell into several member states. It also suits founders who want digital share transfers, digital capital increases and an employee option plan without national workarounds. You still have to wait: nothing can be registered today.
It is the wrong choice if tax is your reason for changing company form. EU Inc. does not change the two tests that decide where a company is taxed: its management and its seat. It is also wrong if you need a company this year, because until the regulation applies only national forms exist.
A UAE company is also the wrong choice if your customers, staff and management stay in the EU. It adds cost and tax risk without changing where the profits are taxed.
What to do now
- If you need a company in 2026 or 2027, use a national form. The proposal lets it convert into an EU Inc. later under national law (Article 21(1)(a) and (2)). Conversion is open once the company has been registered for two years or has approved its first two sets of annual accounts (Article 21(4)). A company formed in 2026 would pass the two-year mark in 2028.
- In Germany, compare the GmbH and the UG today, and revisit EU Inc. once Germany designates its fallback form under Article 4(3).
- Budget beyond the €100 for accounts, tax filings, a registered office and any custom articles.
- Track the negotiation: the Parliament and the Council can still change the 48-hour and €100 figures before adoption.
Before you pick a company form in the EU or the UAE, settle where the company will be managed. That single fact decides the tax result more than any registration route, and it is the first thing we map in our company formation work.
Sources
- European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation on the 28th regime corporate legal framework, "EU Inc.", COM(2026) 321 final, 18 March 2026, retrieved 18 September 2026: Articles 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 38, 39, 59, 62, 67, 78, 79, 83, 86, 87, 105 and 109; Recitals 81 and 83; explanatory memorandum pp. 7, 9, 12 and 13.
- European Commission, "EU Inc. Explained" video, 14 September 2026, retrieved 18 September 2026.
- European Parliament, "EU Inc.: what is the 28th regime?", 6 May 2026, retrieved 18 September 2026.
- § 5 GmbHG, § 5a GmbHG, § 15 GmbHG, § 1 KStG, § 1 EStG, § 20 EStG and § 10 AO, Federal Ministry of Justice, retrieved 18 September 2026. Quotations from German statutes are our translations.
- UAE Government portal, Corporate tax, Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, retrieved 18 September 2026.
- DataForSEO, Google Ads search volume for "eu inc", Germany, English language setting, retrieved 18 September 2026 (rounded volume buckets).
- Search-result check for "eu inc" (Germany, English), 18 September 2026: Google AI Overview, Händlerbund (updated 6 August 2026), eu.inc. Händlerbund wording is our translation.
This article is general information on a legislative proposal, not legal or tax advice. The proposal may change before adoption. Figures are current as of 18 September 2026.
Written by
Amine Derag
Director of Strategy, Ancova Associates
Amine Derag is Director of Strategy at Ancova Associates, the Dubai advisory firm for company formation, residency, citizenship by investment, and cross-border tax structuring. He advises founders and private clients relocating to the UAE on how a UAE structure interacts with their home-country tax and reporting obligations.
Connect on LinkedInThis article is general information for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, financial, or immigration advice. Investment thresholds, processing times, and program terms change — speak with a qualified Ancova adviser before acting.
