On Thursday, 30 April, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Council regulation aiming to temporarily extend the time limit for convening general meetings of ‘European Companies’ (SEs) and ‘European Cooperative Societies’ (SCEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a national level, Member States have implemented emergency measures to support their companies and grant them greater flexibility—for example, by extending the time limits for convening general meetings in 2020 or even by authorising the use of digital processes.
However, these measures are not aimed at SEs and SCEs, whose status allows them to conduct their business activities in different European countries by using a single set of rules established at EU level by Council regulations (EC) No. 2157/2001 and (EC) No. 1435/2003.
The Commission recognises that the lockdown and social distancing measures in force in the EU make it difficult for SEs and SCEs to hold their general meetings within 6 months of the end of their financial year, as provided for in these regulations. It therefore proposes to authorise them to convene their general meeting within 12 months after the end of the financial year, provided that the meeting takes place no later than 31 December 2020. The derogation is expected to only apply to general meetings required to be held in 2020.
“The holding of general meetings is of essential importance to ensure that legally required or economically necessary decisions are taken in due time”, reiterates the Commission. It also calls on the Member States in which SEs and SCEs have their registered offices to see to it that these businesses have recourse to digital tools and processes to ensure that the necessary decisions will be taken in accordance with the regulations.
Given that the six-month period referred to in the regulations will expire in May or June 2020, the Commission is urging the Council to adopt this proposal as a matter of priority once it has been approved by the European Parliament.
See text: https://bit.ly/2KJrVlA (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)