Corporate mobility in European Union

"Corporate Mobility" is part of the EC Treaty since its establishment, and is supported by the principle of freedom of establishment as laid down in Article 49 (ex 43) and 54 (ex 48). Those articles grant free movement of establishment to natural and legal persons, and by clarifying these rights, defines the EU companies. Regardless, corporate mobility did not make it to Europe's agenda for a long time. European legislators' focus was on harmonization of the European Company law with the National Company laws, until hit by the ECJ rulings on the subject, especially the Centros decision. The European Court of Justice's decisions in favour of the freedom of establishment of the EU companies brought attention to the issue of Corporate Mobility and since then it is one of the central and controversial areas of the European Law. With its Daily Mail, Centros, Überseering, Inspire Art, Sevic and Cartesio rulings; the ECJ draw a distinction between the "emigration" and "immigration" of the companies and mainly accepted the restrictions by the national measures on emigration. However, restrictions on immigrations by the national laws are only accepted on the basis of public interest and subject to meeting the Gebhard test. The legal status created by the ECJ rulings had a deep influence on the European legal systems and catalyzed the discussions on regulatory competition and Delaware affect. As a result of this influence, Germany, a follower of real seat theory; and United Kingdom, a follower of incorporation theory, amended their company laws. Keyword: Corporate Mobility, Daily Mail, Centros, Überseering, Inspire Art, Sevic, Cartesio.