European economic interest grouping: the place in the system of legal subjects

Straipsnyje „Europos ekonominių interesų grupė: vieta teisės subjektų sistemoje“ nagrinėjami vienintelio EB teisės sukurto teisės subjekto-Europos ekonominių interesų grupės (EEIG) - požymiai, nustatant jo panašumus į tradicines teisės subjektų formas, /atskirose valstybėse reglamentuojamų subjektų specifines savybes ir atskleidžiant tik EEIG būdingus požymius. Siekiant užsibrėžtų tikslų, straipsnyje pateikiamas įvairus EEIG apibūdinimas, o po to analizuojamos įvairios tokį apibūdinimą lemiančios EEIG savybės. Tai būtų teisinio statuso klausimas, išskiriant civilinio teisnumo ir juridinio asmens statuso kategorijas, grupės organizacinės struktūros įvertinant asmeninį narių pobūdį klausimai, nuostatos dėl grupės kapitalo formavimo laisvės, EEIG įsteigimo momentasir EEIG dalyviai, lyginant jų statusą su akcininkų ir partnerių statusu, EB teisės suformuotos narių ir trečiųjų asmenų interesų apsaugos doktrinos pritaikymas grupei, grupės veiklos ypatumai ir vadinamojo „Europos paso“ pranašumai. Visi šie klausimai straipsnyje analizuojami naudojant EEIG Reglamento nuostatų, įvairių ES valstybių narių ir Lietuvos teisės lyginimą.In 1985 the European Commission introduced the (Regulation 2137/85, operative since 1989). Based on European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) as a the French "Groupement d'intérêt économiqueit" was a legal form of co-operation on the European level new entity for the legal systems of the most of the Member States. The candidate countries including Lithuania are also faced or would face the EEIG for the first time. For that reason the author analyses the main characteristics of the EEIG in order to find the right or approximate place of that legal form in the system of legal subjects. This aim of the article has been achieved by the comparative analysis of the main characteristics of the EEIG and different types of companies and firms taking into account different doctrines of the company law in the countries representing main legal traditions, i.e. the UK, France and Germany. The impact of the European legal traditions and provisions of the legal acts of Lithuania are also taken into account. First of all the author discusses the legal status of the EEIG on the basis of the main four elements of the corporate body. The special attention is given to the concepts of legal personality and legal capacity. This discussion is followed by analysis of the organisational structure and management of the Group and comparing it with the management of companies and partnerships in order to establish how the EEIG comprises elements of both companies and partnerships. Further the main features of the formation of the capital are examined together with their advantages. The litigation capacity and formation of the Group with the view of the moment of the registration and consequences of that fact are discussed in the article. The status of the members including associated members of the EEIG and the aspects of the membership are compared with the status of partners and shareholders. For that reason such topics as personality of the members, the requirements for the membership, the voting rules, admission of the new members, cessation of the membership, withdrawal of the members, transfer of the participation and other problems are analysed. The questions of responsibility of EEIG and its members and way of its limitation form an important part of the article. The article also includes questions involving European concepts introduced by the First Company Law Directive such as ultra vires doctrine (validity of obligations entered into by the EEIG), disclosure requirements and nullity of the Group. Finally the disadvantages related to the limitation of the activities of the Group and the "Euro passport" advantages, including possibility for movement of the EEIG within the EEE, are examined. After evaluation of all elements of the EEIG and different forms of companies and partnerships it could be said that the EEIG comprises the complexity of the characteristics attributable either to the company or to the partnership as well as many elements evolved by the European Community legislation. For that reason the Group, sometimes described as a form of the European partnership, should be recognised as a sui generis legal subject which has its own place in the system of the legal subjects