Company Law and Economic Protectionism - New Challenges to European Integration

* Discusses the growing reliance of Member States on protectionist measures to safeguard their national economies, analyzing the causes and effects of the new protectionism * Cutting edge research by top academics relates company law to current economic debate and development * Comparative aspects are enhanced by contributions from different jurisdictions, adding an international perspective The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples for the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, 'golden shares' or laws on foreign direct investment targeting Sovereign Wealth Funds, mainly from Asia. This book presents timely research by a number of company law and EU law experts into this field of law. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, spanning from takeovers/mergers over the one share-one vote debate through to the foreclosure of markets against Sovereign Wealth Funds. Readership: Academics and advanced students specialising in company law and in EU law; practitioners specialising in EU company law; policymakers.

1: Ulf Bernitz and Wolf-Georg Ringe: Introduction Part I: EU Law and Economic Protectionism 2: Klaus Hopt: European Company and Financial Law: Observations on European Politics, Protectionism, and the Financial Crisis 3: Crispin Waymouth: Is 'Protectionism' a Useful Concept for Company Law and Foreign Investment Policy? An EU Perspective 4: Jonathan Rickford: Protectionism, Capital Freedom and the Internal Market 5: Andrea Bioni: When the State is the Owner: some further comments on the Court of Justice 'golden shares' strategy Part II: Takeovers and Mergers 6: Paul Davies, Edmund-Philipp Schuster, and Emilie van de Walle de Ghelcke: The Takeover Directive as a Protectionist Tool? 7: Andrew Johnston: Varieties of Corporate Governance and Reflexive Takeover Regulation 8: Jesper Lau Hansen: Cross-Border Restructuring - Company Law between Treaty Freedom and State Protectionism 9: Ulf Bernitz: Mechanisms of Ownership Control and the Issue of Disproportionate Distribution of Power Part III: Company Law and Foreclosure of Markets 10: Wolf-Georg Ringe: Deviations from Ownership-Control Proportionality - Economic Protectionism Revisited 11: Arad Reisberg: Deviations from Ownership-Control Proportionality - Private Benefits and the Bigger Picture 12: Heike Schweitzer: Sovereign Wealth Funds - Market Investors or 'Imperialist Capitalists'? The European response to direct investments by non-EU state-controlled entities 13: Katharina Pistor: Sovereign Wealth Funds: Neither Market Investors Nor 'Imperialist Capitalists': A Response to Heike Schweitzer Part IV: How to overcome economic protectionism? 14: Paul Krüger Andersen: The European Model Company Act (EMCA): A new way forward 15: Jennifer Payne: The Role of European Regulation and Model Acts in Company Law 16: Horst Eidenmüller, Andreas Engert, and Lars Hornuf: How Does the Market React to the Societas Europaea? 17: Jodie A. Kirshner: Empirical Notes on the Societas Europaea