The European Private Company - Societas Privata Europaea (SPE)

The planned European legal form Societas Privata Europaea (SPE) is a limited liability company of a closed group of shareholders, and thus is comparable to the German GmbH. At the European-level, the SPE serves as a supplement to the European Limited Liability Company (SE), which proved to be too difficult for small and medium-sized companies for various reasons. The SPE will be introduced on the basis of a European regulation, the content of which has been largely agreed to by the member states.

• Export-oriented small and medium-sized companies have been waiting for the Societas Privata Europaea (SPE) for many years.
• The SPE is a quick and inexpensive way to start up foreign business activities; it can be incorporated by transforming a national company.
• It allows for the creation of a network of foreign sales and service companies in a uniform legal structure recognized throughout Europe.
• An international team of authors examines in detail the practice-oriented significant questions concerning the new legal form from an academic perspective.
• The authors, originating from Denmark, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, are long-time experts in their fields and have proven themselves not only in academic circles but also in daily practice.
  

Heribert Hirte, Universität Hamburg; Christoph Teichmann, Universität Würzburg.