For policymakers
Keeping companies rooted.
Steward ownership is a governance instrument with public upside: firms that can't be quietly sold abroad, succession that doesn't end in asset-stripping, and ownership that stays with the people and places that built it. The legal groundwork is being written now.
Why it's a policy question
Ownership structure is economic security.
Where a company's control can be sold, it can be sold to anyone. A steward ownership lock keeps strategically important firms — defence and dual-use, critical infrastructure, long-standing employers — anchored where they are. It also smooths the coming succession wave, replacing forced sales with orderly, purpose-preserving handovers.
This is a protocol, not a politics: it doesn't ask the state to own anything. It gives founders a durable, voluntary way to keep control local.
Live policy windows
Where the openings are.
Several policy tracks are moving:
- Estonian company law revision (ühinguõiguse revisjon) — a chance to make steward ownership structures cleaner to establish.
- The EU "28th Regime" / EU Inc. proposal (COM(2026) 321) — an optional pan-European company form worth aligning with steward ownership.
- Germany's draft "GmbH mit gebundenem Vermögen" — a purpose-bound company form under discussion, a useful reference model.
- Privatisations and sales — moments like the Omniva discussion are openings to consider steward ownership positioning.
We track these and monitor national policy across the region; we don't overstate what's available. (For the record, the ECBA cross-border association directive was withdrawn in early 2026 and is not a route today.)
What we can do together
Evidence, convening, and localised legal work.
How we work with public bodies
- Briefings on steward ownership mechanics and precedents
- A steward ownership census — data on where these firms are
- Convening founders, advisors and officials
- Input on localised legal vehicles and templates