A Harmonized European Company Law: Are We There Already?
66 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 763-777 (2017), DOI: org/10.1017/S002058931700023.
15 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2017 Last revised: 3 Sep 2017
Date Written: February 8, 2017
Abstract
To what extent is EU company law harmonized? This essay first makes the point that still little progress has been made in the direction of company law uniformity within the EU. It then argues that, even leaving aside the question of whether it would be desirable to have a uniform EU company law, that outcome is simply impossible to achieve, due to interest group resistance and the variety in national meta-rules. Yet the essay concludes that, in a narrow meaning, European company laws have been indeed harmonized: European Member States company laws fit together, which may well be what harmonization, not only etymologically, is all about.
Keywords: Company Law; Harmonization; Uniformity of Laws; Meta-rules; Centros; Regulatory Arbitrage
JEL Classification: G34, K22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation