EU Incorporated: The way to start-up European competitiveness

Summary — “EU Incorporated: The way to start-up European competitiveness” (ECFR, Miguel Ferrer, 10 July 2026)

With Trump-era unpredictability eroding America’s edge in legal certainty and stable institutions, this commentary argues Europe has a rare opening to become the preferred home for tech start-ups — but only if it fixes its fragmented, 27-market regulatory landscape. Europe already out-produces the US in new start-ups since 2015 and holds strong positions in quantum, climate tech and biotech, but the scaling stage is where it falls apart: 2024 mega-rounds ($100m+) totaled $120.8bn in the US versus just $18.1bn in Europe, and Europe’s share of global tech market value has collapsed from 30% (2000) to 7% today. The centerpiece proposed fix is “EU Inc” (the 28th regime) — a single, optional, EU-wide corporate legal form covering tax, insolvency and labour law, letting start-ups scale across the single market under one rulebook instead of 27. The piece warns the regime is under threat: national interests (Germany’s co-determination model, France’s national-champions agenda, Nordic stock-option tax treatment) could dilute it, and EU Council legal advice has already floated downgrading it from a binding regulation to a weaker directive. The author insists it must stay a regulation, include tax-harmonization safeguards against havens like Ireland/Luxembourg, and be paired with fallback tools (qualified-majority voting, mutual recognition) if unanimity stalls. Drawing parallels to Airbus and Galileo — both built on pooled legal frameworks, joint funding and continental scale — the piece argues combining EU Inc with AI factories, EuroHPC infrastructure and EIB/EIC financing offers Europe’s most realistic path to converting research strength into corporate and geopolitical strength

Source: ECFR · July 10, 2026