Progress of EU countries: simplifying start-up procedures in 2016

Simplification of administrative procedures remains high on the EU political agenda. The European Commission regularly monitors the progress of EU countries in simplifying start-up procedures and reducing time and cost to start a company.

In 2016 the average time to start a private limited company in the EU was 3.3 days and the average cost was €320.

Malta and Poland introduced changes that allowed them to reach the 3 objectives for start-up procedures.

A major part of the reduction in average time is due to simplifications implemented in Malta, France, Ireland and Slovenia.

The reduction of average cost is mostly due to a decrease of costs in the Czech Republic, Malta, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Currently, 12 EU countries offer 2 options for registering a company: an accelerated (electronic) registration procedure and a traditional one – on paper. The time and cost are dependent on the procedure that an entrepreneur chooses.