EU Inc timeline: from proposal to first incorporations
EU Inc is a proposed regulation (COM(2026) 321), not yet adopted. Dates beyond mid-2026 are targets and projections, not commitments.
This page is the plain-language companion to the legislative tracker. The tracker is the live, dated record — updated as the file moves. This page explains the shape of the journey and what each stage means, so the dated entries make sense.
EU Inc is a proposed regulation (COM(2026) 321), not law. It is moving through the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure, where Parliament and Council are co-legislators. Council decides by qualified majority, so no single member state holds a veto — but the political and technical hurdles are still substantial.
The stages
1. Origin (2024–2025). The Letta report (April 2024) and Draghi report (September 2024) framed company-law fragmentation as an “invisible tariff” on cross-border growth. A Commission stakeholder consultation on the 28th regime closed on 30 September 2025. See where EU Inc comes from.
2. Parliament stakes the agenda (January 2026). On 20 January 2026 the Parliament adopted an own-initiative resolution (procedure 2025/2079(INL)) setting out what a 28th-regime framework should contain — a way of pushing the Commission before it published anything.
3. Political framing and proposal (February–March 2026). President von der Leyen set out the “One Europe, One Market” roadmap on 16 February 2026. The Commission published the proposal, COM(2026) 321, on 18 March 2026. On 19–20 March the European Council endorsed the agenda, named the 28th regime a 2026 priority, and called for adoption by end 2026.
4. Council technical work (from March 2026). The Council’s Company Law working party began working through the text session by session from 23 March 2026 — the detailed, largely technical scrutiny where member-state concerns (anti-fraud and AML safeguards, legal certainty, labour rules, worker participation) are surfaced and negotiated. The dated list of sessions lives on the tracker.
5. Parliament committee stage (from April 2026). The Legal Affairs committee (JURI) is the lead committee, with René Repasi (S&D, Germany) as rapporteur. The rapporteur’s draft report, amendments from MEPs, and opinions from the ECON and EMPL committees feed into a committee vote on Parliament’s negotiating mandate — expected around September 2026. This is where Parliament decides what it wants before negotiating with the Council.
6. Trilogue (targeted end 2026). Once Parliament and Council each have a position, they negotiate a joint text in trilogue. The political target is agreement by end 2026. This target has not yet been reached, and the open issues above could push it.
7. Adoption, entry into force, and application (2027 onward). After a trilogue deal, both institutions formally adopt the text; it is published and enters into force. Implementing acts — including the shared digital infrastructure built on BRIS — are then needed. The regulation is expected to apply roughly twelve months after entry into force.
Realistic dates
| Stage | Realistic timing |
|---|---|
| Commission proposal | Done — 18 March 2026 |
| Parliament negotiating mandate (JURI) | Around September 2026 |
| Trilogue agreement | Targeted end 2026 (not yet reached) |
| Implementing acts | 2027 if adopted on schedule |
| Regulation applies | Around 2028 |
| First real incorporations | Unlikely before 2028 |
“Operational in early 2027” is the optimistic political framing. The more realistic expectation is application around 2028, because of the ~12-month delay after entry into force plus the time to build the digital infrastructure. Treat every date beyond mid-2026 as a target or projection, not a commitment — and check the tracker for the current state.
→ Background: what is EU Inc · common questions: EU Inc FAQ · live status: tracker.