The Societas Privata Europaea

Claudia Winkler uses the proposed European private limited liability company (Societas Privata Europaea - SPE) as an occasion to take a fresh and critical look at the arising notion of regulatory competition in European corporate law. The SPE is the newest attempt of the European Union to support union-wide corporate mobility of small and medium enterprises, following the liberalizing line of the ECJ's case law from Centros to Cartesio. The author defines regulatory competition as an active competition between legislators endeavoring to provide the most efficient and attractive company law, complemented by a dynamic demand by companies in search of the most favorable corporate statute. Winkler shows why regulatory competition is still only a myth in European corporate law and concludes that even the SPE would most likely not boost such a development but rather hinder it in its entirety.

Autorentext

Dr. Claudia Winkler Institute of European Law Johannes Kepler University Linz

Inhalt
A. TABLE OF CONTENTS.- B. INTRODUCTION.- C. THE SOCIETAS PRIVATA EUROPAEA (SPE) .- I. Aspirations and Backgrounds of the Statute.- II. The Historical Development.- III. The Proposed Statutes.- 1. The Commission s Proposed SPE-Regulation of 25 June 2008 (SPE-R).- 2. The Parliament Resolution of 10 March 2009 (SPE-PR).- 3. The Czech Presidency Position of 27 April 2009 (SPE-CP).- 4. The Swedish Presidency Position of 27 November 2009 (SPE-SP).- 5. Hungarian Presidency Compromise Proposal of 23 May 2011 (SPE-HP).- 6. Evaluation of the Proposals and Outlook.- A. TABLE OF CONTENTS.- B. INTRODUCTION.- C. THE SOCIETAS PRIVATA EUROPAEA (SPE).- I. Aspirations and Backgrounds of the Statute.- II. The Historical Development.- III. The Proposed Statutes.- 1. The Commission s Proposed SPE-Regulation of 25 June 2008 (SPE-R).- a. Characteristics.- b. Formation.- c. Minimum Capital and Capital Requirements.- d. Internal Organisation of the SPE.- e. Employee Participation.- f. Seat State Statute and Seat Transfer.- 2. The Parliament Resolution of 10 March 2009 (SPE-PR).- a. Characteristics.- b. Formation.- c. Cross-Border Element.- d. Minimum Capital and Capital Requirements.- e. Employee Participation.- 3. The Czech Presidency Position of 27 April 2009 (SPE-CP).- a. Characteristics.- b. Formation.- c. Cross-Border Element.- d. Minimum Capital and Capital Requirements.- e. Employee Participation and Internal Organisation.- 4. The Swedish Presidency Position of 27 November 2009 (SPE-SP).- a. Characteristics.- b. Formation.- c. Cross-Border Element.- d. Minimum Capital and Capital Requirements.- 5. Hungarian Presidency Compromise Proposal of 23 May 2011 (SPE-HP).- a. Seat of the SPE.- b. Minimum Capital Requirement.- c. Employee Participation.- d. Rejection in the Competitiveness Council on 30/31 May 2011.- 6. Evaluation of the Proposals and Outlook.- a. Paradigm Shifts in European Corporat Law.- b. Characteristics.- c. Cross-Border Element.- d. Minimum Capital and Capital Requirements.- e. Employee Participation.- f. Seat.- g. Outlook.- D. REGULATORY COMPETITION IN EUROPEAN CORPORATE LAW