The goal of the proposed 14th Company Law Directive is to create a mechanism for companies to transfer their place of registration to another EU Member State. Until now such an action was either not possible or required the company to be liquidated in its country of origin before it could be re-founded with a registered office in the new country. The Directive would make it possible, for example, for a German GmbH to transfer its registered office to the UK, and at the same time transform itself into a UK Ltd. That means that after the transfer of the registered office the company is organised by UK company law and no longer by German company law.

Also:

• Report from the EP's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) (January 2012)
• European Parliament resolution (March 2009)