A New Start for the European Private Company: The Draft Statute for a “Société Européenne Simplifiée” (SES)

Abstract 654 In February 2021, an international group of experts under the auspices of the French lawyers’ association Henri Capitant published a draft statute for a “European Simplified Company” (Société Européenne Simplifiée, SES). The draft intends no less than to revive the idea of a European Private Company (SPE), albeit in a modified manner. Unlike the SPE proposal, the SES initiative does not exclusively aim at adopting an EU regulation under Art. 352 TFEU that requires the consent of all 27 Member States. Instead, it is open for alternatives to EU-wide regulation, be it by way of enhanced cooperation under Art. 20 TEU or an international treaty between the interested Member States. In June 2021, the SES initiative gained the support of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly calling on the French and German governments to intensify their efforts in working towards a supra-national private company on the basis of the SES proposal.It is against this background that the present article seeks to analyse the objectives and main features of the Draft SES Statute. In the author’s view, the SES initiative should be welcomed as it seeks to fill an evident gap in the existing EU company law framework. The paper concludes that, despite several concerns that still need to be addressed, the Association Henri Capitant’s Draft SES Statute provides a solid and suitable basis for the consultations to come. 655