EU Inc. a turning point for Europe’s innovators
This week in Davos, Ursula von der Leyen launched ‘EU Inc.’. The long awaited 28th regime for scaling in Europe. It’s more than a policy announcement – it’s a potential turning point for European innovators.
Despite following the ideation closely, I doubted it would ever become real. As a European founder I have lived the reality of building across borders. The complexity is real. The friction is real. And too often it feels like swimming against the current.
Pleo was founded in Denmark in 2015. Today we have subsidiaries in eight European countries and customers in 16. The journey has been extraordinary. But scaling across Europe still feels like starting over each time a border is crossed. Through my direct line to the more than 40,000 businesses on our platform I see the same frustration repeated. The European business landscape remains unnecessarily hard to navigate.
Every country has its own rules. Incorporation. Corporate law. Equity compensation. Employment law. Governance. Compliance. Operating across Europe should not feel like rebuilding your company every time. Yet it has. Until now.
Why EU Inc. matters
EU Inc. aims to simplify how companies structure and operate across Europe. A single European incorporation and corporate legal framework is the first decisive move toward a new Europe. One where organisations do not need to reinvent themselves to grow across borders.
This is not a magic wand – yet, anyway. The first step focuses on incorporation and corporate law. But it is foundational. It makes building across Europe simpler, faster, and less fragmented.
Over time this can expand. Harmonised registries. Equity compensation. Employment law. Reporting rules. Shareholder taxation. Each step reduces friction. Each step redirects energy from bureaucracy to customers.
That is why EU Inc. is a green light for innovation. It challenges Europe’s reputation for complexity and slow execution. When Europe behaves like one market, scale follows. New products emerge faster. Companies grow stronger. Talent stays.
EU Inc. can help cement Europe’s role on the global innovation stage, signalling that Europe encourages builders rather than tying them up in red tape.
Removing the ambition tax
What excites me most is what EU Inc. represents: a shift in mindset. Europe is beginning to reward ambition rather than taxing it. Put simply, Europe is starting to get things done.
Details will follow. Criticism will come. That is healthy. But the direction is clear. The European Commission is acknowledging that builders matter and that fragmentation has held them back.
At Pleo we offer a radically smooth all-in-one spend platform with just one mission: to remove friction for finance teams so they can use their craft to build. EU Inc. extends that philosophy to the European economy itself. Leaders want to focus on the customers and innovation, not administrative burden. Cross border complexity does not have to be the price of ambition.
Europe has the talent. The ideas. The ambition. And now we have our turning point. If we stay the course we can build a Europe where nothing stands in the way of innovation.
