The Mysteries of Freedom of Establishment after Cartesio
International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 2, 2010
21 Pages Posted: 11 Feb 2009 Last revised: 26 Nov 2013
Date Written: February 11, 2009
Abstract
The judgement of the European Court of Justice in Cartesio was eagerly awaited as a clarification of the questions concerning the scope of the right of establishment (Articles 43, 48 EC) that remained after previous landmark decisions such as Centros, Uberseering, and Inspire Art. The article analyses the implications of Cartesio in light of different scenarios of transfer of the registered and the real seat within the European Union. It assesses the interrelations of right of establishment and private international law rules for the determination of the law applicable to companies and concludes that the case law of the European Court of Justice after Cartesio, rather than providing for a coherent system of European company law, leads to arbitrary distinctions and significantly impedes the free movement of companies.
Keywords: right of establishment, incorporation theory, real seat theory, Cartesio, Centros, Uberseering
JEL Classification: K22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation