The European Commission intends to present its proposal for a 28th regime for companies operating in the EU by the end of March 2026. Pending this major step, the European Parliament is preparing its grievances. René Repasi MEP (S&D, German) is preparing an own-initiative report on the subject, which he hopes his colleagues will adopt in January.
The first battle concerns the legal basis of the text. The rapporteur advocates a directive that focuses on the status of the company and its establishment procedure. But some private players involved in the debate are arguing for a regulation that covers a wide range of rules governing companies, so as to achieve a high level of harmonisation.
However, this level of integration risks coming up against the unanimity rule in the EU Council, which prevails in certain areas.
An initial vote in the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is scheduled for early November on the choice of legal basis for the future 28th regime.
As for the content of this future legislation, Mr Repasi is working on the creation of a “European start-up and scale-up (‘ESSU’)” status, and is setting out strict rules for their establishment. The relevant law for employee co-determination should be that of the country where the head office is located.
The creation procedure should take no more than 48 hours and should be possible completely online, thanks to a single register.
Negotiations between the European Parliament’s political groups on this text are underway, with a view to a vote in the JURI Committee in early December.
See the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/j06 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)