The European Commission opened an online consultation on the Future of European Company Law on 20 February 2012. This consultation is designed to identify priorities for further action in this area.

This long-awaited consultation addresses a number of broad areas, such as the purposes of company law and administrative simplification. Specific proposals for new legislation or reforms of existing legislation are also addressed, including cross-border mergers, cross border transfer of registered seats, cross-border divisions, groups of companies, and capital regimes, as well as European company legal forms. The deadline for responding to the consultation is 14 May 2012.

More information on and access to the online consultation is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2012/company_law_en.htm