Outbound establishment revisited in Cartesio

In the pending case with Cartesio, the national court raises the question whether the right of a business to transfer its seat to another Member State is covered by Community law even in the absence of the comprehensive harmonisation of national company laws. The Advocate General of this case concludes that the Republic of Hungary is not able to justify the absolute restriction on the right of establishment where a Hungarian–registered business is not allowed to transfer its seat to another Member State (whether remaining resident in Hungary or not), without being dissolved. It is problematic, however, that Cartesio is a ‘moving out’ case like Daily Mail (outbound establishment), and Centros and like cases are ‘moving in’ issues (inbound establishment).

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