Initiated in 2009 by the European Economic and Social Committee, the 28th regime is officially back: as part of the ,” the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and vice-president Stéphane Séjourné assured us that a 28th legal regime would “make it possible for innovative companies to benefit from one single set of rules wherever they invest and operate in the single market,” probably from 2026.
Although the two leaders were not more specific, they seem to have adopted the and buried the European Company Statute, which did not survive the political discussions. According to these proposals, a body of rules harmonising key aspects of company law, insolvency, labour law and taxation could be explored as part of enhanced cooperation by willing member states, as described in the chapter on innovation. At least nine member states would therefore have to agree to the text, in accordance with Articles 20 of the Treaty on European Union and 329 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
from September 2024 specifies who would be affected: “Innovative startups will qualify based on criteria such as the qualifications of their workforce, R&D expenditure and ownership of intellectual property rights. For instance, defining innovative companies based on the criteria already put forward in the EU competition acquis (including at least 10% total operating costs devoted to R&D), would make the new statute accessible for at least 180,000 innovative SMEs (including startups) and innovative mid-caps (including small mid-caps) in the EU, based on estimations by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.”
The matter is not so simple, because although the European Commission has mentioned changes to labour law and tax law, these are the prerogatives of the member states.
But on Thursday 30 January, the European Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law, Justice and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, published the first “building block” of the new system: a proposal for a directive on extending and improving the use of digital tools and processes in the field of company law, "which is expected to save businesses over €400m per year.”
The text provides for a number of measures called for by businesses, such as
—preventive administrative, judicial or notarial control (or a combination of these types of control);
—an extension of the “once and for all” principle, whereby companies should not have to submit the same information several times to the public authorities, principle that prime minister (CSV) has already talked about in Luxembourg;
—the improvement and transparency of information available in commercial registers;
—a multilingual EU digital company certificate;
—a European digital power of attorney to authorise a person to represent a company in cross-border proceedings, based on identification by trusted services such as Luxtrust in Luxembourg;
—or exemptions from translation of documents provided by a register of another member state where the necessary information is accessible via the EU company certificate or the system of interconnection of registers.
McGrath has been appointed by von der Leyen’s cabinet to be responsible for implementing this 28th regime. “You will lead the work to build an EU-wide legal status to help innovative companies grow, taking the form of a 28th regime to allow companies to benefit from a simpler, harmonised set of rules,” said a spokesperson for the European Commission’s president, citing von der Leyen’s detailing McGrath’s responsibilities.
“You will ensure,” says another passage in the letter, “that existing rules are fit-for-purpose and focus on reducing administrative burdens and simplifying legislation. You must contribute to reducing reporting obligations by at least 25%--and for SMEs at least 35%
“The establishment of a 28th regime is a priority for this committee and work is underway,” the spokesperson added.
This article was originally published in .