This fully updated new edition provides an overview of the law regarding companies, business organizations, and capital markets in Europe, at both the European Union (EU) and Member State levels.

It introduces the reader to the EU harmonization programme and describes how this has influenced corporate law in the various EU Member States. The authors describe common denominators as well as differences in the approach of national corporate laws.

The authors highlight current and emerging trends in these areas of corporate law, including:

• the freedom of establishment of companies within the EU;

• the European harmonization process and Member States’ implementation of EU legislation;

• employee involvement in business organizations;

• the division of power between the different corporate bodies;

• the functioning and regulation of company groups; and

• cross-border business combinations, takeovers and restructuring tools.

The laws of France, Germany and the Netherlands in particular are discussed and contrasted. This discussion also includes the United Kingdom, although no longer an EU Member State.

As in earlier editions, the authors demonstrate that analysis and comparison of national corporate laws yield highly valuable general principles and observations, not least because business organizations, wherever located, tend to show a fundamentally similar set of legal characteristics. The Fourth Edition will continue to be of great value to practitioners and academics who wish to acquire a better understanding of European corporate law, in its supranational dimension as well as in the similarities and differences among the various national legal systems. It can also be used as a handbook for comparative corporate law courses.