Publisher's Synopsis
Company law is a controversial and important field of European activity. Companies are major employers across the European Union and their activities have an enormous impact on the economies of the Member States. European laws affect significantly what companies do and where they operate. - - This book provides an account of the development of the European company law programme. To provide a comparative dimension, in addition to UK law, the book introduces readers to the company law of Spain, a Member State which entered the European Community later than the UK and whose legal system is little known in the UK. - - The book does not simply describe this development, but also analyses it from a perspective of the problems of democracy at European level and at the level of the company. These two levels require different forms of democracy. At the European level, democracy will be representative and at the company level democracy may be more participative. A number of democratic theorists claim that representative democracy at the wider level may be made more effective by participatory democracy at the level of the firm. The author therefore explores the problems of representative democracy in the European Community, using the company law programme as a case study by which to assess its quality. Finally, the author considers the arguments for and against participatory democracy at the level of the company. She argues that it is possible to establish democracy in the company and that this is necessary for the future progress of the European company law programme.
