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European organisational law is a part of European Union law, which concerns the formation, operation and insolvency of public bodies, partnerships, corporations and foundations in the entire European Union. There is no substantive European company law as such, although a host of minimum standards are applicable to companies throughout the European Union. All member states continue to operate separate companies acts, which are amended from time to time to comply with EU Directives and Regulations. There is, however, also the option of businesses to incorporate as a Societas Europaea (SE), which allows a company to operate across all member states.
There have been, since the European Community was founded in 1957, a series of directives creating minimum standards for business across the European Union. A central aim restated in each Directive is to reduce the barriers to freedom of establishment of businesses in the European Union through a process of harmonising the basic laws. The object is that when laws are harmonised, business will not be deterred by different or more onerous laws, but at the same time harmonisation provides a basic level of protection for investors in each member state, none of which are forced into regulatory competition.
Except for the EEIG which is an unlimited partnership, all of the following types have full EU/EEA-wide juridical personality.
Name (in Latin) | Abbrev. | English translation | Established as a legal form | Number of registrations [1] (2014) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A | EEIG | European economic interest grouping | 1985 | several thousand | e.g. ARTE |
Societas Europaea | SE | European company | 2004 | 2423 | |
Societas cooperativa Europaea | SCE | European cooperative society | 2006 | ||
N/A | EGTC | European grouping of territorial cooperation | 2006 | 78 | |
N/A | ERIC | European Research Infrastructure Consortium | 2009 | 22 | |
N/A | Europarty | European political party | 2014 | 10 | defined already in 2003, but a legal form in its own right only since 2014 |
N/A | Eurofoundation | European political foundation | 2014 | 9 | defined already in 2007, but a legal form in its own right only since 2014 |
Name (in Latin) | Abbrev. | English translation | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Societas privata Europaea | SPE | European private company | proposal withdrawn, foreseen alternative: SUP |
Societas unius personae | SUP | Sole proprietorship | |
Fundatio Europaea | FE | European foundation | |
N/A | ME | European mutual society | |
Associatio Europaea | AE | European association |
This article is part of a series on |
Corporate law |
---|
European organisational law is a part of European Union law, which concerns the formation, operation and insolvency of public bodies, partnerships, corporations and foundations in the entire European Union. There is no substantive European company law as such, although a host of minimum standards are applicable to companies throughout the European Union. All member states continue to operate separate companies acts, which are amended from time to time to comply with EU Directives and Regulations. There is, however, also the option of businesses to incorporate as a Societas Europaea (SE), which allows a company to operate across all member states.
There have been, since the European Community was founded in 1957, a series of directives creating minimum standards for business across the European Union. A central aim restated in each Directive is to reduce the barriers to freedom of establishment of businesses in the European Union through a process of harmonising the basic laws. The object is that when laws are harmonised, business will not be deterred by different or more onerous laws, but at the same time harmonisation provides a basic level of protection for investors in each member state, none of which are forced into regulatory competition.
Except for the EEIG which is an unlimited partnership, all of the following types have full EU/EEA-wide juridical personality.
Name (in Latin) | Abbrev. | English translation | Established as a legal form | Number of registrations [1] (2014) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
N/A | EEIG | European economic interest grouping | 1985 | several thousand | e.g. ARTE |
Societas Europaea | SE | European company | 2004 | 2423 | |
Societas cooperativa Europaea | SCE | European cooperative society | 2006 | ||
N/A | EGTC | European grouping of territorial cooperation | 2006 | 78 | |
N/A | ERIC | European Research Infrastructure Consortium | 2009 | 22 | |
N/A | Europarty | European political party | 2014 | 10 | defined already in 2003, but a legal form in its own right only since 2014 |
N/A | Eurofoundation | European political foundation | 2014 | 9 | defined already in 2007, but a legal form in its own right only since 2014 |
Name (in Latin) | Abbrev. | English translation | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Societas privata Europaea | SPE | European private company | proposal withdrawn, foreseen alternative: SUP |
Societas unius personae | SUP | Sole proprietorship | |
Fundatio Europaea | FE | European foundation | |
N/A | ME | European mutual society | |
Associatio Europaea | AE | European association |