EU Inc (the 28th regime) · 2026/0074(COD)
Supports the EU Inc proposal for reducing administrative burdens but wants it adapted to include cooperative-specific governance and capital features.
Allow cooperatives and other alternative ownership structures to opt into the 28th regime, not just limited companies, by considering all existing national legal forms and complementary legislation.
“Cooperatives Europe calls for the development of a 28th regime for innovative companies that allow cooperatives to opt into this framework if they wish to (regardless of its final form). ... It is therefore necessary to consider all existing national legals forms and take into account not only general company law but also additional separate legislation or complementary acts (e.g., German Cooperative Societies Act – Genossenschaftsgesetz, Finnish Co-operatives Act – Osuuskuntalaki, 421/2013, etc.).”
Cooperatives Europe Feedback_ 28th regime for innovative companies_30.09.25.pdf, page 1
Include innovative governance mechanisms and diverse ownership structures, such as asset locks and steward-ownership clauses, within the company statutes of the 28th regime to protect mission-driven enterprises.
“The 28th regime offers an opportunity to embed such governance features within company statutes. The proposal should envision different options that founders can adopt to protect mission-driven enterprises: asset locks, steward-ownership clauses but also alternative ownership structure like cooperatives.”
Cooperatives Europe Feedback_ 28th regime for innovative companies_30.09.25.pdf, page 1
Allow EU templates for articles of association to include cooperative-specific governance features such as democratic control, variable capital, profit-sharing, and reserve obligations, so cooperatives can benefit from simplification without losing their model.
“To ensure that cooperative enterprises can benefit equally from the proposed framework, we encourage the Commission to explore the development of EU templates that include cooperative-specific adaptations. Such templates should be compatible with the core features of the cooperative model, including democratic governance, variable capital, profit-sharing mechanisms, and statutory reserve obligations.”
CoopsEU feedback response - EU INC - 06.26 - Final.pdf, page 3
Retain flexibility in the articles of association to limit share transferability to preserve democratic member control, as cooperatives usually restrict share transfers.
“Article 58 mentions that 'shares in the EU Inc shall be freely transferable unless otherwise provided by the article of association'. It is crucial to retain the flexibility to design the share transferability in the article of association since share transferability is usually limited in cooperatives to preserve democratic member control.”
CoopsEU feedback response - EU INC - 06.26 - Final.pdf, page 3
Allow multiple share classes including membership shares with voting rights and investment shares without voting rights, to enable cooperatives to raise capital while maintaining governance control.
“We welcome the fact that the EU Inc proposal considers and allows multiple share classes. This is, indeed, essential for cooperatives which can issue membership shares (with voting rights) and investment shares (with no voting rights).”
CoopsEU feedback response - EU INC - 06.26 - Final.pdf, page 3
Open source underneath
WhoShapedIt is a thin layer on open-source packages. Star them, fork them, build your own micro.
Open-source context and state for AI: it keeps only what matters for the question.
In WhoShapedIt: Reads every lobby submission and position paper and each official text, cut into passages, and judges each passage against nine questions (who can use EU Inc, workers on the board, tax…), so every ask and every step is read on the passages that address it.
Open-source Svelte components for clean, accessible interfaces.
In WhoShapedIt: The status, the timeline, the theme picker, the camps of lobbies and the organisation pages.
Also built with SvelteKit · Vercel AI SDK · Zod