Brussels: COMECE supports "EU Inc." but demands firm social safeguards

The bishops of Europe approve the project of a 28th European corporate law regime - provided it does not come at the expense of worker protection. Critical approval in line with social doctrine.

The Fact

The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) intervened on July 22, 2026, in a position statement relayed by Vatican News in French, on the debate surrounding the 28th European corporate law regime. This project, promoted by the European Commission under the name « EU Inc. » (European Incorporated), aims to harmonize the legal framework applicable notably to start-ups to strengthen their competitiveness. COMECE supports the initiative, but with an explicit condition: that it « be accompanied by solid social guarantees, worker protection measures » and co-determination mechanisms. The statement recalls that the race for European competitiveness cannot « weaken social rights » acquired.

Our Reading

We had followed, in recent weeks, the mobilization of Europe's bishops on the Christian roots of the continent and then on the crisis of the logos evoked by Cardinal Sarah. The front is widening: the magisterial voice now turns to the economic sphere, where the concrete protection of workers and families is at stake. COMECE's position is doctrinally balanced: neither a principled refusal of European economic modernization, nor blind approval of the competitive reflex. Social doctrine does not accept the opposition between competitiveness and the dignity of work. Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII, 1891) already stated that wages cannot be set by the law of the market alone without consideration for what the worker needs to live a dignified life, for himself and his family. Centesimus Annus (John Paul II, 1991), in paragraph 43, recalls that the free enterprise is legitimate only when ordered to the common good and the dignity of the person. What COMECE is asking for is therefore exactly in line with the magisterium: to approve the tool, to order it to the protection of work, the family and intergenerational solidarity.

To Ponder

Europe will not save itself by imitating economic models that weaken it, nor by abandoning the most exposed categories to the sole logic of the market. May Catholics engaged in European institutions carry this nuanced magisterial voice: it is still audible, and it is still awaited.