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In March 2023, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive to expand the use of digital tools and processes in EU company law. The directive would seek to facilitate companies' cross-border activities by reducing bureaucracy and administrative burdens (such as when setting up subsidiaries and branches in another Member State), increase transparency and boost trust in the business environment across the EU. The proposal is expected to contribute to the creation of a more integrated ...

Public authorities enter into contracts for works and services accounting for a trading volume of EUR 2.448 billion a year in the EU, making public procurement a major driver of economic growth, job creation, and innovation. The public procurement package adopted in 2014 adds EUR 2.88 billion annually to EU GDP. Furthermore, EU directives concerning public procurement have fostered an increase in total award values, which rose from under EUR 200 billion in 2009 to approximately EUR 525 billion in ...

European company law is partially codified in Directive (EU) 2017/1132, and Member States continue to operate separate company acts, which are amended from time to time to comply with EU directives and regulations. Ongoing efforts towards establishing a modern and efficient company law and corporate governance framework for European undertakings, investors and employees aim to improve the business environment in the EU.

European Parliament has been an active agenda-setter and initiator of several calls to regulate corporate social responsibility (CSR). On 10 March 2021, Parliament called the Commission to prescribe sustainability duties for companies established in the European Union or governed by EU law. Building on Parliament’s resolution, in February 2023 the Commission published a legislative proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. On 19 March 2024, the JURI Committee adopted the ...

Responding to repeated calls from the European Parliament to propose common Union-wide rules to facilitate the cross-border activity of non-profit organisations (NPOs), the Commission has proposed a directive on European cross-border associations (ECBAs). Parliament is due to vote on the report on this proposal, submitted by its Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), during its March plenary session.

Presented as part of the 'SME relief package', the initiative aims to tighten the EU's late payment framework and improve its enforcement. It proposes, among other things, to convert the current Late Payment Directive into a regulation, a move that several national parliaments contested. National parliaments also raised subsidiarity and proportionality concerns on several provisions. The impact assessment (IA) adequately justifies the need to revise the late payment framework, and substantiates the ...

This study addresses cross-border restitution claims to looted art, considering Nazi-looted art and colonial takings, but also more recent cultural losses resulting from illicit trafficking. Although these categories differ considerably, commonalties exist. The study highlights blind spots in the legal and policy frameworks and formulates recommendations on how these could be bridged. This study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional ...

This study – commissioned by the Policy Department C at the request of the Committee on Legal Affairs – aims at discussing the reasons why the law chosen in commercial contracts is largely non-European and non-member state law. To do so, it first provides an overview of the relevant academic and policy efforts underwent to formulate a European contract law. Then it moves on to touch upon a broad spectrum of matters emerging both from international reports on the adjudication and the functioning of ...

The fishing sector is facing major challenges in the accelerating energy crisis, owing to its high dependency on the stable supply of fossil fuels at low prices. This report reviews the literature on drivers of energy use, identifies potential reduction measures and provides an overview of opportunities for using alternative fuels in the fishing sector. Each measure is evaluated in terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction potential and costs, and challenges and policy options that could facilitate ...

This briefing provides a pre-legislative synthesis of the positions of national, regional and local governmental organisations on the European Commission's listing act proposals. The proposals are designed to support companies' access to public capital markets. This briefing forms part of an EPRS series offering a summary of the pre-legislative state of play and advance consultation on a range of key Commission priorities during its five-year term in office. It seeks to present the current state ...