Source: European Parliament
This IA accompanies the European Commission proposal on the 28th regime corporate legal framework – ‘EU Inc’. This initiative aims to create a 28th company law regime, ‘EU Inc’, to operate more easily in the single market by addressing fragmentation in national corporate rules and providing better conditions for starting, growing and scaling up a business. The initiative is part of the 2026 Commission work programme. The IA identifies three problems and addresses them horizontally. The problems mainly relate to start-ups and scale-ups, but the analysis is not specific to a sector or product. The IA also identifies 10 key drivers that lead to less competitive EU companies, fewer start-ups and scale-ups, difficulties in cross-border expansion and insufficient investment in EU start-ups and scale-ups. The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are respected, but the IA is not supported by a subsidiarity grid. At the time of this briefing’s publication, national parliaments are being consulted on subsidiarity and proportionality. The IA provides a solid intervention logic, with detailed problems, drivers, and specific objectives, but does not include operational objectives. The European Commission has presented seven sets of policy options, all based on legislative measures. The assessment of policy options considers their effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and proportionality. The preferred package is expected to increase regulatory coherence, transparency and trust in 28th regime companies. The IA assesses impacts in detail in Annex 4, prioritising ease of doing business and attracting investment, administrative burden reduction, administrative and adjustment costs, costs and benefits for public authorities, and the functioning of the internal market and competitiveness. However, it does not assess the benefits, e.g. how much investment could flow to European companies. The SME test confirms that SMEs would benefit from a burden reduction of €328 million to €440 million over 10 years. The competitiveness check also finds a positive impact in all dimensions, especially on cost and price competitiveness. The Commission provides a good level of detail about the consultation activities carried out and the methodology used, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The legislative proposal is aligned with the preferred policy options and the IA.
CAPDEVILA PENALVA Josefina
Ex-ante Impact Assessment
Private international law and judicial cooperation in civil matters