               POSITION PAPER




                                                                                               BUSINESSEUROPE
                                                                                            Representative Register
                                                                                        ID number: 3978240953 - 79

                                                                                                   28 January 2010


                GREEN PAPER ON THE INTERCONNECTION OF BUSINESS REGISTERS
                BUSINESSEUROPE RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION


                After a careful reading of the green paper on interconnection of business registers
                BUSINESSEUROPE would like to express its views on this initiative.

                More specifically, BUSINESSEUROPE welcomes and agrees with the general lines set
                out in the green paper designed to improve access to information on businesses
                across the EU and more effective cooperation between national business registries.

                BUSINESSEUROPE and its members believe it is key to make official and reliable
                information about companies developing their activities inside the Internal Market
                available to creditors, suppliers and business partners. Such accessibility should be
                driven by principles of transparency, low cost, rapidity and an assurance of data
                protection.


                Regarding the questions raised in:


                point 4.1.  Access to information

                As mentioned in the Commission's progress report on interconnection of business
                registries, increased corporate mobility in the EU, together with several provisions laid
                down in some EU legal acts in the field of company law, demand more transparency
                and more accessibility to information over companies.

                It is still relatively costly and time-consuming to search information about different
                aspects of a company developing its activities across borders because interested
                parties have to access multiple national business registries (e.g. to obtain information
                on the seat, trademarks, legal form or financial accounts). These difficulties are
                aggravated by the fact that only 18 Member States participate in voluntary cooperation
                schemes.

                BUSINESSEUROPE fully supports the creation of conditions to improve the network of
                business registers across Europe which must necessarily include all the 27 Member
                States.




                                          THE CONFEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BUSINESS a.i.s.b.l.
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It is therefore essential that participation in this network is stipulated in an EU legal act
in order to achieve the required level of involvement by national business registries.

The general principles behind such network could be defined, as the Commission
proposes, by an EU legal framework, whilst leaving specific details on how that
cooperation would be developed to governance agreements preserving the necessary
flexibility for Member States to adapt their existing business registries' models.
BUSINESSEUROPE supports initiatives that would allow companies and consumers to
access basic information about a company free of charge (e.g. name and country of
registry). Furthermore, conditions should be created to ensure better compatibility and
coordination among the different national technical registry applications to facilitate
access to reliable and up-to-date information. Additionally, the burden created by the
number of different languages in which the registry information MIGHT BE provided
should also be addressed.

Finally, BUSINESSEUROPE sees added value in connecting the network of business
registries to the electronic network set up under the Transparency Directive storing
electronic information on listed companies. European business requires more and
more a single access point to all relevant information which is the long-term objective
envisaged by this green paper.


point 4.2.  Cooperation of business registries in cross-border mergers and seat
transfers

BUSINESSEUROPE is supportive of option 2 which involves making use of the Internal
Market Information System (IMI) to enhance cooperation between business registries.
This solution is more cost-effective because it employs a structure which is already
operational on an EU-wide basis.

BUSINESSEUROPE is also in favour of the solution proposed on the disclosure of
branches which involves laying down a legal basis in the Eleventh Company law
Directive (89/666/EEC) for cooperation between business registers with respect to
foreign branches.


In conclusion, BUSINESSEUROPE believes that the objectives set out in this green
paper will contribute to reduce administrative burdens, to restore the confidence in the
Internal Market through more transparency and, consequently, to allow companies to
make better use of its advantages. However, before any proposal is adopted as
regards interconnection of business registries, an impact assessment must be carried
out, in which case BUSINESSEUROPE is available to offer its input. Moreover, the
resulting initiatives must be adopted in accordance with the principles of the Better
Regulation strategy.


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