Brussels, 15/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - At a symposium on Tuesday 15 May in Brussels, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambres) and the European Confederation of Enterprises (BusinessEurope) joined together to support the creation of a European Private Company (EPC) statute for small and medium-sized enterprises. They are calling on the European Commission not to postpone the introduction of this statute and to present a draft regulation by the end of 2007.
According to a joint document of the two organisations, the EPC will present the following characteristics: access to natural and legal persons; possible creation of ab initio on a voluntary basis; low social capital (e.g. €10,000); setting up HQ within European Union but with possibility to transfer to other member states and without having to dissolve or create new legal person again; continued economic activities at European level; structured on basis of contractual freedom in order to cover following provisions: rights of associates, organisation and how the company operates, powers wielded by its bodies, protection of shareholder minorities. Rules on worker participation, information, consultation and participation in social bodies - will be determined by the law of the member state in which the EPC is based. Tax: companies opting for this legal structure should be the first to benefit from the common and consolidated corporate tax band, for which a legislative proposal is expected from the Commission in 2008 (EUROPE 9418).
Contrary to the European Company statute (EC), which the two organisations consider unsuitable for SMEs (EUROPE 8065), the regulation setting up the European Private Company statute is not expected to include referrals to national legislation. Exceptions, however, are included in certain areas pertaining to public order, criminal law and insolvability procedures. The EPC resolves the question of cross border company creation and transformation, and will still represent added value after the entry into force of the 10th directive on cross border mergers and the 14th directive on the transfer of the statutory HQ of the company, involving mobility of enterprises.
In February, the European Parliament gave its support to the setting up of a European Private Company statute, which drew on the lessons of the failure of the European Company statute (EUROPE 9357). The Commission is expected to propose a directive before the summer, which will authorise the transfer of limited liabilities without preliminary liquidation from a company HQ in a member state and the guarantee of the legal person of this company (EUROPE 9313). (mb)