European Company Law

This text has four separate aims. Firstly, it provides an account of the development of the European company law programme and a description of the legal provisions adopted since the programme began in the early 1960s. Secondly, the book aims to introduce readers to the company laws of a member state whose legal system is little-known in the UK. For this reason Spain is the chosen comparator against the implementation measures of the UK. The book is also concerned with the problem of democracy, both at European level and at the level of the company, as these two levels require different forms of democracy. The third aim of the book is therefore to explore the problems of representative democracy in the European Community, using the company law programme as a case study by which to assess the quality of the Community's representative democracy. Finally, the book also explores the arguments for and against participatory democracy at the level of the firm. It aims to present an argument which suggests that it is possible to establish democracy in the company and that this will be necessary for the future progress of the European company law programme.