EU Inc. and the European Business Wallet: What changes for digital business in the EU

Incorporating a company in your home country takes a few days at best. Opening a subsidiary in another EU member state? Weeks of paperwork, notaries, certified translations, and apostilles. The single market is single mostly in name.

The European Commission wants to fix this. On March 18, 2026, it presented EU Inc., an optional corporate legal framework designed to be digital from day one. It does not replace national company forms. It runs alongside them, giving businesses a new option for cross-border incorporation.

What EU Inc. actually is

EU Inc. is a voluntary legal form. A company can choose it instead of, or in addition to, a national form like the Slovak s.r.o. or the German GmbH. Incorporation, statutory changes, document filings, and communication with business registers happen electronically. No apostilles. No certified translations.

The problem it answers is an old one. An SME that wants to trade in two or three EU countries hits a wall before it has sold anything, because setting up a branch or subsidiary in another member state runs to thousands in legal and administrative fees. EU Inc. streamlines that step. Register in one member state and you hold a legal form the whole EU recognizes.

Taxes are untouched. EU Inc. creates no new tax jurisdiction, and companies keep paying where they operate. What changes is the incorporation and communication layer.

The EU already had Societas Europaea (SE) since 2004, but SE was built for large corporations with a minimum share capital of EUR 120,000. A team of five with annual revenue under a million had no use for it. EU Inc. targets exactly that gap.

The Business Wallet layer

EU Inc. is not a standalone initiative. It is part of the Commission's broader startup and scaleup strategy, which includes the European Business Wallet.

The Business Wallet is a corporate version of the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). The Commission has penciled in a launch for the end of 2026, and whether that date holds is anyone's guess. The mechanism matters more than the date. Every company would carry a digital wallet holding verified facts about itself, from its registration number and VAT ID to its statutory representatives and registry extracts.

Today a company registering with a new supplier or bidding in a public tender hands over the same documents it handed over last month. Registry extracts. VAT certificates. Proof of who the directors are. Someone generates them, someone scans them, someone emails them, someone files them away. Every month, in every country. The Business Wallet reverses that flow. The company pushes verified data straight from its wallet, and the recipient confirms it is genuine on the spot, with no registry request and no waiting on a tax office to answer.

What changes in practice

If EU Inc. and the Business Wallet pass through the legislative process as proposed, several processes that currently cost companies time and money will change.

Supplier and partner onboarding

A new partner emails you a scanned registry extract and a copy of their business license, and someone on your side checks it by hand. That can take an afternoon or it can take three weeks, depending on the country, the document, and how quickly the other side answers. Under the Business Wallet the partner shares verified data in one click, and KYB (Know Your Business) closes in minutes rather than days.

Public procurement

Participating in public procurement in another EU country currently requires certified translations, apostilles, and often a local legal representative. An EU Inc. company would submit standardized electronic documents. The Business Wallet verifies the identity of the company and its directors. For a Slovak company bidding on a contract in Austria, that removes a barrier that currently costs thousands in legal prep alone.

Digital signatures and document workflows

The EUDI Wallet includes qualified electronic signatures under eIDAS 2.0. For companies, this means signing contracts, invoices, and filings without physical tokens and without visiting a notary for routine operations. One signature, valid across the entire EU, with no question about whether the other party will accept it.

Cross-border invoicing

Combining the Business Wallet with the existing electronic invoicing framework (ViDA, VAT in the Digital Age) could simplify VAT reporting for cross-border transactions. Companies might no longer need separate VAT registrations in each country. For e-commerce businesses selling into multiple markets, that is dozens of hours of admin work saved every month.

Where the proposal stands

The EU Inc. proposal came from DG GROW (the Directorate-General for Internal Market). It is not the first attempt at a pan-European company form. The difference from previous efforts is that EU Inc. is opt-in. No member state has to change its national corporate law. Companies simply choose the new form if it fits.

The legislative process is just beginning. The proposal goes to the European Parliament and the Council. On a realistic reading, no company incorporates as an EU Inc. before 2028. The Business Wallet may land sooner, since it builds on the already-adopted eIDAS 2.0 regulation.

Preparing before the law passes

EU Inc. is still a proposal. The legislative process will take at least a year, more likely two. But companies that want to be ready can start now:

• Map which company processes still run on paper or PDF
• Adopt qualified electronic signatures (eIDAS-compliant)
• Structure company data so it is machine-readable
• Automate document workflows and partner onboarding
• Prepare internal systems for future EUDI Wallet integration

You do not need to wait for Brussels to finalize the regulation. Digitalizing these processes pays for itself regardless of when EU Inc. enters into force.

If you are not sure where to start, get in touch. We can help you assess which processes make sense to digitalize first and how to prepare for the European Business Wallet.