Rapprochement des droits dans l'Union européenne et viabilité d'un droit commun des sociétés
Institution:
Paris 2Disciplines:
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Abstract EN:
Further progress towards the european union (eu) would require methods of approximation of laws, particularly to establish a common company law. This is usually achieved through international agreements, which aim at unifying laws. The founding treaties of the eu do not ignore these methods of unification, but also resort to original methods for approximating laws, harmonization and coordination, which should not necessarily lead to unified laws. The approximation of european company laws is supposed to rely on these flexible methods, as the european institutions shall carry out the duties devolving upon them by "coordinating to the necessary extent and rendering of equal value the guarantees which member states require of companies. . . "(article 54(3)(g), treaty of rome). But an analysis of directives reveals that the practical approach adopted was one of unification. Nevertheless, no common european company law has been achieved so far, as the european rules remain a mixing of national legal ones. This study shows that unification is not adapted to the approximation of company laws in europe because two different models of companies coexist. Therefore, national legal systems borrow rules from both models, leading to incoherent solutions, as the french company law illustrates. This thesis recommends more flexible methods of harmonization, inspired by the old european "jus commune". These methods would not necessarily lead to unification but would offer a consistent and non binding set of principles that states could follow or adapt as needed. The european common company set of principles that would emerge from such an approach could fit into all national systems. It would, however, require thorough preliminary doctrinal and scientific studies.
Abstract FR:
Les progres de la construction europeenne conduisent a s'interroger sur les voies d'un rapprochement des droits nationaux et notamment sur celles qui conduisent a un droit commun des societes en europe. La voie classique est celle du droit conventionnel. Elle consiste a uniformiser les regles de droit par des methodes d'unification. Les traites fondateurs de l'union europeenne n'interdisent pas ces methodes mais proposent egalement des methodes originales de rapprochement, l'harmonisation et la coordination, qui ne menent pas necessairement a des lois uniformes. Le rapprochement des droits des societes s'appuie a l'origine sur ces methodes souples, les institutions europeennes n'ayant recu mission que de coordonner "dans la mesure necessaire et en vue de les rendre equivalentes, les garanties qui sont exigees. . . Des societes "(article 54 3g, traite de rome). Mais en pratique, les directives et propositions de directives revelent une demarche unificatrice. Cette approche n'a toutefois pas permis a ce jour la mise en place d'un droit unifie des societes et la legislation actuelle se nourrit d'emprunts aux regles nationales. Une etude approfondie montre que l'echec de l'unification tient essentiellement a la presence en europe de deux modeles de societes fondamentalement distincts. Des lors, quand les legislations nationales empruntent indistinctement des regles legales propres a l'un et a l'autre modele sans les adapter, on aboutit a des incoherences, comme le montre l'etat actuel du droit francais des societes. Cette these preconise des methodes d'harmonisation souples inspirees du "jus commune". Un tel droit n'est en effet pas uniforme. Il propose des modeles doctrinaux coherents mais adaptables aux modeles legaux nationaux. Un droit europeen des societes ainsi concu pourrait depasser les clivages nationaux et s'imposer a l'ensemble de l'union. Cela exige toutefois de redonner un role eminent a la doctrine et d'elaborer une science juridique unifiee.