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Europe could soon have its own equivalent of the Delaware C Corp, but its advocates aren\u2019t releasing the pressure on lawmakers. In an open letter released on Thursday, a who\u2019s who of Europe\u2019s startup scene stressed that this new corporate status shouldn\u2019t be watered down.<\/p>\n
The letter is the latest step of the EU Inc<\/a> campaign, a movement calling for an EU-wide company statute that would let companies incorporate under a common framework and operate across the bloc. Its promoters have secured endorsements from the European Union\u2019s top authorities, but now are expressing concern that the final legislation could become \u201cunusable if its central features are weakened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As usual with European lawmaking, various national lobbies have entered the chat, including Germany\u2019s notaries<\/a>, whose association has criticized aspects<\/a> of the European Commission\u2019s proposal<\/a>. But negotiations are still ongoing for the European Parliament and Council to settle on a final text, and EU Inc\u2019s promoters are pointing out what\u2019s at stake.<\/p>\n With some 100 days left before European institutions shut down for winter recess, the letter calls on policymakers to preserve the proposal, saying it the potential to \u201cremove much of the friction and fragmentation that continue to throttle European companies, unlock investment and spur a new wave of entrepreneurship.\u201d <\/p>\n Taking a page from older lobbies, the letter highlights points that \u201cmay seem like technical details, but [\u2026] separate a company form founders use from one they ignore.\u201d In particular, they insist on one central registry; and that employees should be taxed only when they actually dispose of their stock options.<\/p>\n This need to get into the weeds isn\u2019t new. In 2024, when original petition was gaining steam, Index Ventures partner and EU Inc supporter Martin Mignot told TechCrunch<\/a> that \u201cthe devil is in the details, and that\u2019s going to be where we\u2019re going to be very, very watchful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n EU Inc has also stepped up its namedropping game. On the investor side, EU Inc\u2019s new letter has been signed by VCs including Accel partner Sonali De Rycker, Sequoia partner Michael Moritz, and Atomico founder Niklas Zennstr\u00f6m \u2014 one of many tech figures who\u2019s been supporting the campaign by sporting its cap<\/a>.<\/p>\n To add gravitas on the entrepreneur side, promoters also highlighted endorsements from founders behind unicorns including Alan, ElevenLabs, Lovable, Mistral, and Synthesia. Some of these have their HQs in the United States; reading between the lines, the message to lawmakers is also that if EU Inc has its way, this could be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n