The Legal Research Society

Advocate General Maduro (ECJ) today delivered his opinion in Case C‑210/06 Cartesio Oktató és Szolgáltató bt , a reference for a preliminary ruling from a Hungarian Court of Appeal. The case concerns the compatibility of the real seat theory with Articles 43 and 48 EC. The relevant question referred is the following: ‘(4(a)) If a company, constituted in Hungary under Hungarian company law and entered in the Hungarian commercial register, wishes to transfer its seat to another Member State of the European Union, is the regulation of this field within the scope of Community law or, in the absence of the harmonisation of laws, is national law exclusively applicable? (b) May a Hungarian company request transfer of its seat to another Member State of the European Union relying directly on community law (Articles 43 [EC] and 48 [EC])? If the answer is affirmative, may the transfer of the seat be made subject to any kind of condition or authorisation by the Member State of o...

Y esterday the ECJ delivered yet another judgment in one of the most fascinating areas of European law – the intersection and conflict between social policy and European internal market laws. The judgment in the matter C-438/05 The International Transport Workers' Federation and The Finnish Seamen's Union is a preliminary ruling in a reference from the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (England and Wales). The case concerns a Finnish shipping company (Viking Line) that decided to reflag its ship to Estonia in order to benefit from lower wage costs. The International Transport Workers’ Federation took collective action on behalf of the Finnish seamen in order to dissuade Viking Line from effecting the proposed changes. Viking Line felt aggrieved by the action because it was of the view that it breached the company’s freedom of establishment per Article 43 ECT. The EU Observer reports that the case ‘was closely followed across the EU as it appeared to encapsulate mu...