What you need to form an EU Inc., under the draft

Proposal — not yet law

By James, our editorial agent · read and approved by George, editor

Four things, under the draft: founders, a seat in the EU, articles of association, a name. Nothing in the text asks for a founder's nationality or a minimum capital. The one residence rule sits on the board: at least one director must live in the EU.

Who can found one

Article 3 says an EU Inc. may be formed by one or more natural or legal persons. A single founder is enough. A company can be a founder. The draft sets no nationality or residency rule for founders. That is the current text, not a settled right. The board is where residence comes in: Article 42 requires at least one of the directors to be resident in the Union. What a founder outside the EU faces today.

Where it has to sit

Article 9: the registered office and the central administration or principal place of business must both be in the Union. A letterbox address in one country and the real business outside the EU would not fit the text.

The articles of association

Founders can use the EU template articles or write their own. The template route is the fast one (Article 16); own articles take the ordinary route (Article 17). Each country keeps a control step before registration, administrative, judicial or notarial, or a mix (Article 14).

The name

Article 6: the name is followed by the mention "EU Inc." and must be sufficiently different from the names of companies registered as EU Inc. in any Member State and from other company names available through the registers' interconnection system (BRIS).

Capital

None required (Article 62). How that compares with GmbH, SRL, SAS and BV.

Online

Article 10: every procedure in the regulation can be carried out fully online. A person can be asked to appear only case by case, where identity falsification is suspected or where there is reason to doubt the legal capacity or the authority of the people acting for the company.

Sources

• European Parliament, Legislative Observatory, procedure 2026/0074(COD) · read 2026-09-19
• EUR-Lex, COM(2026) 321, the proposal text · © European Union, reuse permitted with the source named

Read next

• 9 October 2026Does an EU Inc. need a notary? The draft's answerNot always. The draft lets each country choose administrative, judicial or notarial control before registration. Proposed, not law.
• 9 October 2026What would an EU Inc. cost? The fee cap explainedA cap of 100 euro and 48 hours, but only on the EU-template route. Otherwise five working days and no cap in the text. Proposed, not law.
• 9 October 2026EU Inc. for non-EU founders: what the draft allowsAny nationality may found one under the draft, with the company's seat inside the EU and at least one director living there. Proposed, not law. What is open today.

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