Allied For Startups at an Online Workshop on the 28th Regime by LawFin Center, Università Bocconi, and ECGI

On 7 May 2026, our Head of Policy, Vasco Pereira da Silva, spoke at the online workshop “The 28th Regime: An Effective Legal Architecture for Innovation in Europe?”, organised by Università Bocconi and the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin Center), and supported by the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).

Vasco joined a roundtable on how corporate law can act as a driver of innovation in Europe, alongside Rebecca Christie (Bruegel), José Garrido (International Monetary Fund – IMF), Nicolas Petit (European University Institute – EUI), Giovanni Strampelli (Bocconi University), and Tobias Tröger (SAFE – Goethe University Frankfurt / LawFin Center).

Key points Vasco made during the discussion:

• Europe’s main challenge is not startup creation, but the difficulty startups face scaling across borders due to fragmentation in the EU Single Market.
• “EU Inc.” should be seen as a Single Market and competitiveness initiative, not just a technical company law reform.
• Its success depends on practical legal and financial features such as digital incorporation, flexible financing mechanisms, dematerialised shares, and EU-wide stock options.
• The ambition is for EU Inc. to become the default legal structure for startups and scaleups across Europe, helping retain unicorns and attract investment within the EU.
• Ultimately, EU Inc. will only succeed if founders and investors across the EU Single Market choose to adopt and trust it.

Thank you to Professors Luca Enriques, Casimiro Antonio Nigro, Giovanni Strampelli, and Tobias H. Tröger for the kind invitation and excellent organisation of the workshop, and to all participants for the insightful discussion.