Abstract
As 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the approval of the first Directive on EU Company Law, it is a good time to review its past and present in order to assess whether its foreseeable future meets the needs of European enterprises. The study of the evolution of EU Company Law demonstrates that its evolution has been discontinuous. It started with a lot of ambition, but suffered a crisis that conditioned its future development: regulated issues were considerably restricted, legal instruments were extended and legislative technique was modified, essentially to circumvent the reservations of the Member States. It could seem that these changes are working, because the Action Plan 2012 is starting to bear fruits. Three legal rules have been approved and several projects are underway. Nonetheless, there are reasons to doubt whether EU Company Law is meeting its objectives: the impact of the new legal rules is minimal, the future of the project is uncertain and, although the bureaucratic burdens have been reduced, there are various needs of European firms, especially those of SMEs, that have not been yet satisfied.
Article Notes
This article is part of the research project “Development of EU Company Law: freedom of establishment, taxation and interaction with national systems” (DER2013-46535-P), which principal researchers are professors Rafael Arenas and Carlos Gorriz.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Mr Paul Kearney for his help with the language, as well as the comments and the assistance provided by my colleagues Josep Maria de Dios and Rafael Arenas.
References
Andenas, M., and S. Kenyon-Slade. 1993. E.C. Financial Market Regulation and Company Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Search in Google Scholar
Arenas, R. 2012. Sombras y luces en la jurisprudencia del TJUE en material de derecho internacional privado de sociedades. In Nuevas fronteras del Derecho de la Unión Europea. Liber amicorum José Luis Iglesias Buhigues, edited by C. Esplugues and G. Palao, 739–760. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch.Search in Google Scholar
Arenas, R. 2016. Brexit y Derecho Internacional Privado. Diario La Ley 8797:1–7.Search in Google Scholar
Arenas, R. 2017. Brexit y Derecho de sociedades. available at https://www.academia.edu/34512976/BREXIT_Y_DERECHO_DE_SOCIEDADES.Search in Google Scholar
Armour, J. 2005. Who Should Make Corporate Law? EC Legislation versus Regulatory Competition. In ECGI Working Paper Series in Law 54/2005: 1–52.10.2139/ssrn.860444Search in Google Scholar
Armour, J., H. Fleischer, V. J. Knapp, and M. Winner 2017. Brexit and Corporate Citizenship. In European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) – Law Working Paper 340/2017, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2897419.10.2139/ssrn.2897419Search in Google Scholar
Armour, J., and W.-G. Ringe. 2011. European Company Law 1999–2010: Renaissance and Crisis. Common Market Law Review 48:125–174.10.2139/ssrn.1691688Search in Google Scholar
Barnard, C. 2007. The Substantive Law of the EU. The Four Freedoms, 2ª ed. Oxford: OUP.Search in Google Scholar
Becht, M., L. Enriques, and V. E. Korom. 2009. Centros and the Cost of Branching. Journal of Corporate Law Studies April:171–199.10.1017/CBO9780511770456.006Search in Google Scholar
Bird, J. et al. 2014. Boyle & Birds’ Company Law, 9th. Bristol: Jordan Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Black, L. S., Jr. 2007. Why Corporations Choose Delaware. Delaware: Department of State.Search in Google Scholar
Böckli, P., P. L. Davies, E. Ferran, G. Ferrarini, J. M. Garrido, K. J. Hopt, A. Opalski, A. Pietrancosta, M. Roth, R. Skog, S. Soltysinski, J. W. Winter, W. Martin, and E. Wymeersch 2017. The Consequences of Brexit for Companies and Company Law. In University of Cambridge Legal Studies Research Paper Series 22/2017, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=292648910.2139/ssrn.2926489Search in Google Scholar
Bormann, J. 2015. Die SUP aus Sicht des nationalen Rechtssystems. In Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, edited by M. Lutter and J. Koch, 23–36. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110422160-003Search in Google Scholar
Coffee, J. C. 2005. A Theory of Corporate Scandals: Why the USA and Europe Differ. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 21 (2):198–211.10.1093/oxrep/gri012Search in Google Scholar
Conac, P.-H. 2015. The Societas Unius Personae (SUP): A “Passport” for Job Creation and Growth. European Company and Financial Law Review 12 (2):139–176.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0139Search in Google Scholar
Embid, J. M. 2007. Adaptación de las directivas comunitarias en materia de sociedades: logros y retos pendientes. In I Congreso nacional de Derecho mercantil. Veinte años de España en la Unión Europea: balance y perspectivas, edited by I. Arroyo, 293–312. Madrid: Thomson-Civitas.Search in Google Scholar
Embid, J. M. 2013. Pasado, presente y futuro del Derecho Europeo de Sociedades. Revista Ius et Praxis 19 (1):303–328.10.4067/S0718-00122013000100009Search in Google Scholar
Enriques, L. 2004. EC Company Law and the Fears of a European Delaware. European Business Law Review 15 (6):1259–1274.10.54648/EULR2004058Search in Google Scholar
Enriques, L. 2005. Company Law Harmonization Reconsidered: What Role for the EC?. In ECGI Working Paper Series in Law 53/2005: 1–31.10.2139/ssrn.850005Search in Google Scholar
Fernández de la Gándara, L. 1980a. La adaptación de la legislación española de sociedades al Derecho comunitario europeo (Examen del proceso de armonización ex artículo 54.3 lit. g) del Tratado constitutivo de la CEE y de su incidencia sobre el derecho español de sociedades anónimas). Revista de Instituciones Europeas 7 (2):569–606.Search in Google Scholar
Fernández de la Gándara, L. 1980b. La libertad de establecimiento de sociedades y demás persones jurídicas en la Comunidad Económica Europea. Documentación Administrativa 185:575–630.Search in Google Scholar
Fernández de la Gándara, L. 2009. Derecho europeo de sociedades: un balance. Academia Sevillana del Notariado XX:1–17.Search in Google Scholar
Garcimartín, F. J. 2015. De nuevo sobre la ley aplicable a las sociedades en Europa: ¿hacia un futuro Reglamento? Almacén de Derecho, December 14, 2015, available at http://almacendederecho.org/de-nuevo-sobre-la-ley-aplicable-a-las-sociedades-en-europa-hacia-un-futuro-reglamento/.Search in Google Scholar
Gardeñes, M. 2017. Some Remarks on the Cross-Border Establishment of Companies in the European Union. In EU at a Crossroads: Challenges and Perspectives, edited by D. Anagnostopoulou, I. Papadopoulos, and L. Papadopoulou. Cambridge Scholars Publishers, in press.Search in Google Scholar
Goldman, B. 1969. The Convention between the Member States of the European Economic Community on the Mutual Recognition of Companies and Legal Persons. Common Market Law Review 6:104–128.10.54648/COLA1969005Search in Google Scholar
Górriz, C. 2017. PYMEs y libertad de establecimiento: fracso del Derecho europeo de sociedades. In Libertad de establecimiento y Derecho europeo de sociedades. Cuestiones fiscales, mercantiles e internacionales, edited by C. Gorriz and R. Arenas, 73–129. Barcelona: Atelier.Search in Google Scholar
Grundamnn, S. 2012. European Company Law. Organization, Finance and Capital Markets. Cambridge et al.: Intersentia.Search in Google Scholar
Grundmann, S. 2004. The Structure of European Company Law: From Crisis to Boom. European Business Organization Law Review 5:601–633.10.1017/S1566752904006019Search in Google Scholar
Hansen, J. L. 2011. The Report of the Reflection Group on the Future of EU Company Law – As Seen from a Nordic Perspective. In FOCOFIMA Working Paper: 1–18, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228156887_The_Report_of_the_Reflection_Group_on_the_Future_of_EU_Company_Law_-_As_Seen_from_a_Nordic_Perspective.Search in Google Scholar
Hansen, J. L. 2015. The SUP Proposal: Registration and Capital (Articles 13–17). Ecfr 12 (2):177–190.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0177Search in Google Scholar
Harbarth, S. 2015. From SPE to SMC: The German Political Debate on the Reform of the ‘Small Company’. European Company and Financial Law Review 12 (2):230–237.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0230Search in Google Scholar
Hellwig, H.-J. 2017. The Effects of Brexit on the Law of Companies and Financial and Legal Services in Europe: A Summary Overview. European Company and Financial Law Review 14(2):252–267.10.1515/ecfr-2017-0012Search in Google Scholar
Hess, B. 2016. Back to the Past: Brexit und das europäische international Privat- un Verfahrensrecht. IPRax: Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts 36 (5):409–418.Search in Google Scholar
Hommelhoff, P. 2015. Die SUP-Ferngründung. In Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, edited by M. Lutter and J. Koch, 69–88. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110422160-006Search in Google Scholar
Hopt, K. J. 2003. Modern Company and Capital Market Problems: Improving European Corporate Governance after Enron. Journal of Corporate Law Studies 3:221–268.10.1080/14735970.2003.11419902Search in Google Scholar
Hopt, K. J. 2006. Comparative Company Law. In ECGI Law Working Paper 77/2006: 1161–1191.10.2139/ssrn.980981Search in Google Scholar
Hornuf, L., and J. Linder. 2014. End of Regulatory Competition in European Company Law?. Andrássy Working Paper Series 33:1–28.10.5771/9783845256658-115Search in Google Scholar
Kahan, M., and E. Kamar. 2002. The Myth of State Competition in Corporate Law. Stanford Law Review 55:679–749. available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=334120.10.2307/1229668Search in Google Scholar
Kravets, A. 2015. Discussion Report: The Proposal for a Directive on the Single-Member Private Limited Liability Company. Ecfr 12 (2):125–138.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0125Search in Google Scholar
Latorre, N. 2011. Reflexiones sobre el futuro del Derecho de sociedades europeo: Report of the Reflection Group on the future of EU Company Law. Revista de Derecho Mercantil 281:163–182.Search in Google Scholar
Lehmann, M., and D. A. Zetzsche. 2016. Brexit and the Consequences for Commercial and Financial Relations between the EU and the UK. European Business Law Review 27:999–1027.10.2139/ssrn.2841333Search in Google Scholar
Leuering, D. 2015. Sup – Perspektiven für die Praxis. In Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, edited by M. Lutter and J. Koch, 89–110. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110422160-007Search in Google Scholar
Malberti, C. 2015. The Relationship between the Societas Unius Personae Proposal and the Acquis: Creeping toward an Abrogation of EU Company Law?. ECFR 12 (2):238–279.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0238Search in Google Scholar
McCahery, J. A., and E. P. M. Vermeulen. 2005. Does the European Company Prevent the ‘Delaware Effect.’. European Law Journal 11 (6):785–801.10.1111/j.1468-0386.2005.00288.xSearch in Google Scholar
Micheler, E. 2000. The Impact of the Centros Case on Europe’s Company Laws. Company Lawyer 21 (6):179–182.Search in Google Scholar
Rameloo, S. The 2015 Proposal for an EU Directive on the Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Another Attempt to Square the Circle? available at https://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/doqu/2015/2/DOQU_2211-9981_2015_003_002_003.pdf.10.5553/DOQU/221199812015003002003Search in Google Scholar
Ries, P. 2015. Die SUP un das Handelsregister. In Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, edited by M. Lutter and J. Koch, 65–68. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110422160-005Search in Google Scholar
Ringe, W.-G. 2007. The European Company Statute in the Context of Freedom of Establishment. Journal of Corporate Law Studies 7:185–212.10.1080/14735970.2007.11421513Search in Google Scholar
Ringe, W.-G. 2013. Corporate Mobility in the European Union – A Flash in the Plan. European Company and Financial Law Review 10:230–267.10.1515/ecfr-2013-0230Search in Google Scholar
Roe, M. J. 2003. Delaware’s Competition. Harvard Law Review 117:588–646.10.2307/3651948Search in Google Scholar
Romano, R. 2014. The Market for Corporate Law Redux. In ECGI Working Paper Series in Law 270/2014, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2514650.10.2139/ssrn.2514650Search in Google Scholar
Schillig, M. 2017. Corporate Law after Brexit. In King’s College London Law School Research Paper 6/2017, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2846755.Search in Google Scholar
Schmidt, J. 2015. Die SUP aus der Sicht der Kommission und ihr Kapitalschutz. In Societas Unius Personae (SUP). Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, edited by M. Lutter and J. Koch, 1–22. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.10.1515/9783110422160-002Search in Google Scholar
Siems, M. M. 2002. Convergence, Competition, Centros and Conflicts of Law: European Company Law in the twenty-first Century. European Law Review 27 (1):47–59.Search in Google Scholar
Teichmann, C. 2015. Corporate Groups within the Legal Framework of the European Union: The Group-Related Aspects of the SUP Proposal and the EU Freedom of Establishment. European Company and Financial Review 12 (2):202–229.10.1515/ecfr-2015-0202Search in Google Scholar
Wolff, G. 1993. The Commission’s Programme for Company Law Harmonisation: The Winding Road to a Uniform European Company Law?. In E. C. Financial Market Regulation and Company Law, edited by M. Andenas and S. Kenyon-Slade, 19–39. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Search in Google Scholar
Wouters, J. 2000. European Company Law: Quo Vadis?. Common Market Law Review 37:257–307.10.1023/A:1005668128806Search in Google Scholar
Wymeersch, E. 2000. European Company Law: The ‘Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market’ (SLIM) Initiative of the EU Commission. In Financial Law Institute, WP 2000-09, August: 1–10.Search in Google Scholar
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston