European Company: to incorporate, or not to incorporate?

The introduction in 2001 of the European Company "Societas Europaea" (a public limited company) was a major milestone aimed at easing business activities within the EU. Since then, it is still a ‘mystery’ whether the Societas Europaea is an asset for European business. This paper examines the legal status of the Societas Europaea and its prevalence within the Community. It presents a case-study to argue that the Societas Europaea is advantageous to incorporate. However, at present, there are still only a small number of European companies that have incorporated it. This is due to its flaws, which will be outlined by this paper. It then considers amendments, which might make the Societas Europaea a more ‘popular’ option.