One Market, One Law: towards a European Business Code

Europe has built a Single Market. But it still lacks the legal infrastructure to match.

Today, companies operating across the EU face:

– 27 company law systems
– 27 contract regimes
– a fragmented landscape of securities and enforcement rules

Each time a business crosses a border, legal complexity starts again.

The result? Higher compliance costs, operational friction, and a structural disadvantage compared to integrated economies such as the United States or China.

This fragmentation acts as a hidden tax on European growth:
– slowing down SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups
– pushing companies to expand outside Europe first
– fragmenting capital markets

A European dynamic is emerging.

One Market, One Law — a Brussels-based civil society initiative — is working in close partnership with Association Henri Capitant to promote a European Business Code.

The objective is clear:

👉 Build an optional, operational legal framework for cross-border B2B activities across the EU.

Not to replace national laws — but to complement them with a common layer where Europe needs it most: cross-border business.

Why now?

Recent landmark reports — including the Letta Report and the Draghi Report — have highlighted Europe’s competitiveness gap and the need for a unified legal framework for companies.

The European Commission has already taken a first step with the proposal of an optional regime (EU Inc.).

👉 The political momentum is there.
👉 What is still missing is a coherent and operational legal architecture.

A pragmatic, modular approach

The European Business Code would be built progressively around three core pillars:

1️⃣ A simplified European company form (EU Inc.)
2️⃣ European B2B contract rules
3️⃣ A unified framework for financing and securities

Together, these elements create an integrated legal chain:
contracts → financing → securities → liquidity

The impact

– Lower transaction costs
– Easier scaling across Europe
– Better capital allocation
– Stronger legal certainty

Ultimately, this is about enabling European companies to operate at continental scale — under a coherent legal framework.

A strategic step for Europe

A European Business Code would not only simplify business.

It would also:

– strengthen European competitiveness
– support start-ups and scale-ups
– contribute to the Savings and Investment Union
– reinforce Europe’s economic sovereignty

One Market needs One Law