European statutes for associations do not exist.

In the EU, the legal enablement of associations and charitable organisations occurs in the national legislation of Member States and thus stops at the borders of those countries, forcing nonprofit organizations that work across borders to grapple with different national legal and regulatory regimes.

Different tax laws, different company laws and at times, different charity laws therefore apply to charitable organizations that wish to work across a number of European Member States

Companies however can hold European statutes: The European company (SE) is a legal structure that allows a company to operate in different European Union (EU) countries under a single statute, as defined by the law of the Union and common to all EU countries.

Despite substantial support for the European Foundation Statute (EFS), and no fundamental opposition, the Juncker Commission announced its decision 16 December) 2014 hat the EFS will not be part of its so-called ‘better’ regulation agenda for 2015. Instead the EFS is one of the 80 proposals that the European Commission has decided to withdraw from the EU legislative agenda.