EU Inc. and the digital EU power of attorney

Proposal — the instrument this page describes is not adopted law. It can change or fail entirely.

EU Inc. is a proposed optional company form, not an available legal form. The Commission proposal would let an EU Inc. use the digital EU power of attorney framework for specified cross-border company procedures and obtain an EU Company Certificate from its register.

What has been proposed

The Commission published COM(2026) 321 on 18 March 2026 under procedure 2026/0074(COD). It proposes a harmonised limited-liability company form called EU Inc. within each Member State's legal order [COM(2026) 321 — EU Inc. proposalProposal].

This is separate from Directive (EU) 2025/25. The Directive is adopted law. EU Inc. is a proposal that Parliament and the Council can amend or reject.

Article 30: the certificate

Proposed Article 30 says the registering business register would issue a multilingual EU Company Certificate at an EU Inc.'s request. Member States would accept it as sufficient evidence, at the time of issue, of incorporation and the information in it [COM(2026) 321 — EU Inc. proposal, Art. 30Proposal].

The proposal applies much of Article 16b of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 to that certificate. It also proposes compatibility with EUDI Wallets and European Business Wallets where available.

Article 31: the power of attorney

Proposed Article 31 would allow an EU Inc. to use the digital EU power of attorney for cross-border procedures within the proposed Regulation. The examples are company formation, branch registration or closure, and cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions [COM(2026) 321 — EU Inc. proposal, Art. 31(1)Proposal].

An EU Inc. could use the multilingual template to authorise a person to represent it. The proposed instrument would be compatible with EUDI Wallets and proposed Business Wallets where available [COM(2026) 321 — EU Inc. proposal, Art. 31(2)–(3)Proposal].

Article 32: formalities and safeguards

Proposed Article 32 applies the Directive's exemption from legalisation and its authenticity checks to EU Inc. documents, its certificate and its digital power of attorney [COM(2026) 321 — EU Inc. proposal, Art. 32Proposal].

Directive 2025/25 compared with EU Inc.

What companies should do now

Existing companies should prepare for Directive (EU) 2025/25, not wait for EU Inc. Start with accurate register information, authority records and revocation controls. A founder considering EU Inc. should treat every feature and date as provisional until an adopted regulation appears in the Official Journal.

Drafting point to watch

Proposed Article 31(2) prints a cross-reference to “Article 16(1) to (3) of Directive (EU) 2017/1132”. The digital EU power of attorney sits in Article 16c. We have not silently corrected the Commission's proposal. This should be checked in later versions of the text.