Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you foretelling the dissolution of the British Empire which happened many decades ago? Are you saying Algeria will soon be free of French colonial rule? Is your middle name Nostradamus?
It isn't prophecy. The Harvard Belfer Center study (Thucydides's Trap) analyzed 16 cases in the last 500 years where a rising power challenged a ruling empire: 12 of them ended in war. The UK is actually the perfect example of this danger. The British Empire didn't dissolve peacefully - it was effectively destroyed by WWI and WWII while trying to suppress a rising Germany. The subsequent transfer of hegemony to the U…
EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
501–510 of 761 posts
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#502It's inordinately difficult and expensive to start an LLC or SA in some EU countries. It's even difficult and expensive to _stop_ an LLC and dissolve it. Huge amount of risk and cost on founders and a huge distraction from running a business. I think that EU-Inc _could_ be an improvement, but it needs to avoid the committee laundry list of ideas/requirements/form fields that plagues the EU startup ecosystem. My worry…
In the USA California, Texas, Delaware etc all have different company registration and compliance processes. This has not damaged the business environment. It should be left to each EU country to decide how to manage their company compliance processes. Those companies can then easily trade all over the EU. You can easily set up a company in Ireland. The EU does not to over reach with one-size-fits-all regulations. Th…
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#503Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just because you accusse people to be "right wingers" because they don't want to fund bicycle lanes in foreign countries doesn't make them wrong. If you want to fund bicycle lanes in foreign countries, go start a fund an fund them privately. For the people that don't know the topic: - yes, German taxpayers are indeed funding bicycle lanes in foreign countries - it's not the only waste of money going to foreign countr…
Funding other member states to be able to grow may be labeled waste, or investment on creating new markets for Germany.
Simple example:
- Germany gives 100 € to other EU states
- Those states 100 € to buy made in Germany goods
- German companies have 10 € profits from those sales
- German state collects 5 € from those profits
In summary, German taxpayers paid 100 € so the state can collect 5 € taxes, and companies another 5 €. Not a very good deal.
And this calculation is crazy optimistic, because it assumes that all money that Germany gives to other countries will be used to purchase German good. In reality, they will be spent willy-nilly and German companies may not see even 1 € in return.
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#504Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a European living in the US and my god I am tired of hearing this over and over again. If your biggest hurdle to start a company is the paperwork you’ll have to do for one week, you better think of something else. And yes, there are other way bigger issues in my opinion, such as financing and even social support.
If the paperwork ended after one week, it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I think there are some misconceptions about the US and tend to over idealize, especially around paperwork and taxes. And I think it’s precisely that misconception that makes it appealing to foreigners and makes it an attractive place to be an entrepreneur.
And again, yes, objectively it’s easier, but I don’t think that’s the main reason the country is successful in this aspect.
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#505Earlier quoted context omitted.
The weird thing is that, at least as an Estonian, I would've never expected this from Germany. Italy, Spain? Sure. Germany? That just feels weird.
Germany never thought it would be in the current situation - decaying health care, pension system, cornerstone industry in decline, lack of digitalization, the list goes on. Massive reforms are needed, action is needed, but there is too much inertia in the system to change anything quickly. Smaller countries like Estonia have the ability to be much more nimble.
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#506Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a company should be able to register in x days Which EU bureaucrats will fully pass by treating this as "a company should be able to register in x days once the full set of documents has been collected".
Companies are treated like persons legally and while I'm sure there is too much bureaucracy in many places, I'm also sure that there are important documents that should be required. For example to make sure that a company can be held responsible when it breaks the law. There are already enough loopholes to disconnect legal responsibility from profit-taking, and not every company is benign. Sure, if the documents cann…
I believe it was just a crazy idea that was submitted recently.
The closest real thing is 75 VwGO which requires a decision in 3 months. The immigration office has been failing to meet that requirement for years with few consequences, because enforcing that right is expensive and takes even longer.
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#507Er, what exactly is this? It's not mentioned anywhere for laypeople like me. Perhaps they should focus on explaining what this project is, before asking for people to spread awareness. How can you spread awareness about something you don't even know what it is?
I agree. It looks very unprofessional. No contact adress. No representative person. No explanation of the acronym "EU-INC". Big buzzwords, visions, clichés and self congratulation.
Doing the insufferable, thankless work of mitigating the commercial choke-points of bureaucracy on a Continental scale makes this effort's failure a forgone conclusion. I would take the attempt more seriously if the individuals tried to make their own country more commerce-friendly, rather than all of Europe.
Even so, points for trying something- anything- and raising "awareness".
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#508Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like as per 2022 it is possible to register a GMBH in Germany fully online https://www.brak.de/newsroom/news/gmbh-und-ug-koennen-ab-1-a... also https://www.ihk.de/stuttgart/fuer-unternehmen/recht-und-steu... here are the online notaries: https://online.notar.de/ Firma.de estimates 6 weeks https://www.firma.de/en/company-formation/how-to-set-up-a-gm... beglaubigt.de estimates 3 weeks https://beglaubigt.de/ug-gru…
I founded a UG and a GmbH in 2024. It took me 3 months total including visits to the notary (who charges a non-insignificant sum for their services). I did this as a subsidiary for a US company and literally had to email and call people every few days to move the process along (mostly, it was the banks who somehow expected us to be a multi-national company and wanted to charge an arm and a leg just to let us open a b…
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#509Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a huge spectrum between "require impossible documentation" and "require none". Germany and EU are heading towards the former.
German here. That's not true. What crazy documentation do you require? An ID, proof of residence, and a business plan? (edit: you don't even need a business plan) That being said, everything about the process is annoying and you always have the feeling that you're doing something wrong or forgetting something. Together with some ridiculously slow processing times, it's the perfect combination to frustrate you and I'm…
This is the problem. Let me pivot. Let me fail. Let my investors (including myself) lose time and money in bad ideas.
All the bureaucracy in the world didn’t stop Wirecard, but it sure as heck demotivated people from trying something new in Germany.
Re: EU–INC – A new pan-European legal entity
#510Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the USA California, Texas, Delaware etc all have different company registration and compliance processes. This has not damaged the business environment. It should be left to each EU country to decide how to manage their company compliance processes. Those companies can then easily trade all over the EU. You can easily set up a company in Ireland. The EU does not to over reach with one-size-fits-all regulations. Th…
Each of those places (besides Delaware, kinda) has economies larger than a large chunk of the EU.