Societas Europaea

Summary

• Since its introduction as a new corporate form, the SE has become a widely recognised European alternative for company structuring within the 31 member states of the EEA (Member States).
• It gives companies operating in more than one Member State the option of being established with a European corporate identity and operating with one set of rules and a unified management system or even as a single merged company.
• The possibility to choose between a one-tier and a two-tier management system provides a flexible tool to structure a company according to the individual needs of the founding entities.
• So far, companies have primarily used the SE to create a European identity, to set the ground for cross-border restructuring within the group and to determine employee participation.
• In the years ahead, the possibility to relocate the registered office and the seat of the SE to another Member State without sacrificing the corporate identity of the SE might be of peculiar interest for companies located in the UK, in order to maintain direct access to the European Single Market after the Brexit.