Public hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee on company law, digitization and corporate transformation

On September 10^th, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki, Tsimiski 29, in Thessaloniki, will take place the public hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposals of the European Commission, that were submitted in April 2018, on the digitalization of all company registrations, including their branches throughout the EU, defining a specific procedure between member-states for moving a company’s headquarters to another member-state without liquidating the company, defining the process of cross-border division of a company and improving the process of cross-border mergers.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a Brussels-based EU advisory body, made up of 350 representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations and other interested groups (farmers, professionals, consumers). It gives its opinion on legislative proposals that are being examined by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. EESC public hearings are rarely held in member-states. This EESC public hearing was initiated by the EESC, which seeks to bring contemporary European issues to local communities.

The public hearing is organized in collaboration with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence of the University of Macedonia and the Thessaloniki Trade Association with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki. It will be conducted in Greek and English with automatic interpretation.

The public hearing will begin with the keynote speeches given by representatives of production organizations of Thessaloniki: Mr. Pantelis Filippidis, President of the Thessaloniki Trade Association, Professor Mr. Stelios Katranidis, Dean of the University of Macedonia, Mr. Emmanouil Vlachogiannis, First Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki, Mr. Athanasios Savvakis, President of the Federation of Industries of Northern Greece, and Mr. Panagiotis Tsaramboulidis, President of the Labor Center of Thessaloniki. The keynote speech will be made by Mr. Stergios Pitsiorlas, Deputy Minister of Industry.

The first session will present the academic views on the European Commission’s proposals on cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions and the coordinator will be Mr. Norbert Kluge, EESC Member. In particular, Mr. Miguel Gardeñes Santiago, Professor Titular of Private International Law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​will present the conclusions reached by a large group of professors in Barcelona. Afterwards, Mr.  Thomas Papadopoulos, Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of Cyprus and Editor-in-Chief of the European Company Law (ECL) Journal will present the issues raised regarding the protection of creditors and minority shareholders (right of exit) at cross-border mergers. Ms. Ekaterini Kalliarekou, Lecturer in Economic and Commercial Law at the University of Macedonia, will present the problems that may arise from the new corporate split procedure. In addition, Mr. Robbert Van het Kaar, Senior Researcher at the Hugo Sinzheimer Institute for Socio-Economic Research on Labor and Social Security, will speak. Questions from EESC members and the public and discussion will follow.

The second session will focus on the use of digital tools and procedures in company law with coordinator, Mr. Krzysztof Balon, EESC Member. Mr. Florian Möslein, Professor of Civil and Economic Law at Marburg University in Germany, and Ms. Efi Jiva, Associate Professor of Commercial Law at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki will give speeches.

After the academics, the representatives of legal professions take the floor. The notaries’ views are presented by Ms. Marianna Papakyriakou, Vice-President of the Committee on European Affairs at the World Association of Notaries and Ms. Sofia Mouratidou – Zachariadou, Honorary President of the European Institute of Notary Research and Study (I.R.E.N.E.), Representative of Greece in the World Association of Notaries. Mr. Stathis Koutsochinas, President of the Bar Association of Thessaloniki, will analyze the views of the lawyers. The meeting will be closed by Ms. Evangelia Kekeleki, EESC Member. Questions and discussion will follow.

The public hearing will be concluded with conclusions and recommendations by Ms. Ariane Rodert, President of the Section of “Single Market, Production and Consumer”, EESC.

The public hearing is open to the public and the admission is free. Anyone wishing to attend the meeting is encouraged to sign up to the EESC’s online form at http://cdweb.eesc.europa.eu/eesceuropaeu-ae77k/pages/9kbne4nkeeibewbqvqbd6g

or send a message to danag@uom.gr.

Certificates of attendance will be sent by e-mail, upon the request of those interested before the start of the public hearing, by the EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE.

 With the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki