European economic interest grouping

This article is part of a series on
Corporate law
By jurisdiction Anguilla Australia BVI Canada Cayman Islands India South Africa UK United States Vietnam European Union France Germany
General corporate forms Company Conglomerate Cooperative Corporation Holding company Joint-stock Partnership General Limited Limited liability Private limited Shell corporation Shelf corporation Sole proprietorship
Corporate forms by jurisdiction European Union Societas (SE) Societas cooperativa (SCE) Societas privata (SPE) Societas unius personae (SUP) Economic interest grouping (EEIG) UK / Ireland / Commonwealth Charitable incorporated organisation (England and Wales) (CIO) Scottish charitable incorporated organisation (SCIO) Community interest company (CIC) Industrial and provident society (IPS) Limited company (Ltd.) by guarantee by shares proprietary public Unlimited company United States Benefit corporation C corporation Limited liability company (LLC) Low-profit LLC Series LLC Limited liability limited partnership (LLLP) S corporation Delaware corporation / statutory trust Massachusetts business trust Nevada corporation Others Aktiebolag (AB) Aktiengesellschaft (AG) Ansvarlig selskap (ANS) Aktieselskab (A/S) Aksjeselskap (AS) Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) Kabushiki gaisha (K.K.) Naamloze vennootschap (N.V.) Osakeyhtiö (Oy) S.A. Société à responsabilité limitée (SARL) more...
Doctrines Business judgment rule Corporate governance De facto and estoppel corporations Internal affairs doctrine Limited liability Tag-along right Drag-along right Piercing the corporate veil Rochdale Principles Ultra vires
Related areas Beneficial ownership Civil procedure Contract Corporate registers Registered agent
Company portal Law portal
v t e

A European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) is a type of legal entity of the European corporate law created on 1985-07-25 under European Community (EC) Council Regulation 2137/85.^[1] It is designed to make it easier for companies in different countries to do business together, or to form consortia to take part in EU programmes.

Its activities must be ancillary to those of its members, and, as with a partnership, any profit or loss it makes is attributed to its members. Thus, although it is liable for VAT and employees’ social insurance, it is not liable to corporation tax. It has unlimited liability. It was based on the pre-existing French groupement d´intérêt économique (G.i.e.).

Several thousand EEIGs now exist, active in fields as varied as agricultural marketing, legal advice, research and development, osteopathy, motorcycle preservation^{[citation needed]} and cat-breeding^{[citation needed]}. One of the more famous EEIGs is the Franco-German television channel ARTE.^[2] Among other EEIGs:

• EURESA (fr) (operational and flexible tool for cooperation and collaboration among ten European insurance companies belonging to the Social Economy)
• Basque Eurocity Bayonne-San Sebastián
• ERTMS Users Group (The ERTMS Users Group is an association of European railway infrastructure managers to share knowledge and experience on the European Rail Traffic Management System)

In contrast to the SE and the SCE, the lack of a Latin name for the EEIG lead to different names in the languages of the European Union:

• Bulgarian: Европейско обединение по икономически интереси (ЕОИИ)
• Serbian: Evropska Ekonomska Interesna Grupacija (EEIG)
• Croatian: Europsko gospodarsko interesno udruženje (EGIU)
• Czech: Evropské hospodářské zájmové sdružení (EHZS)
• Danish: Europæiske økonomiske firmagrupper (EØFG)
• Dutch: Europees economisch samenwerkingsverband (EESV)
• English: European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG)
• Estonian: Euroopa majandushuvigrupp (EMHG)
• Finnish: Eurooppalainen taloudellinen etuyhtymä (ETEY)
• French: Groupement européen d'intérêt économique (GEIE)
• German: Europäische wirtschaftliche Interessenvereinigung (EWIV)
• Greek: Ευρωπαϊκός Όμιλος Οικονομικού Σκοπού (ΕΟΟΣ)
• Hungarian: Európai gazdasági egyesülés (EGE)
• Irish: Grúpáil Eorpach um Leas Eacnamaíoch (GELE)
• Italian: Gruppo europeo di interesse economico (GEIE)
• Latvian: Eiropas Ekonomisko interešu grupa (EEIG)
• Lithuanian: Europos ekonominių interesų grupė (EEIG)
• Maltese: Grupp Ewropew ta’ Interess Ekonomiku (GEIE)
• Polish: Europejskie Zgrupowanie Interesów Gospodarczych (EZIG)
• Portuguese: Agrupamento Europeu de Interesse Económico (AEIE)
• Romanian: Grup European de Interes Economic (GEIE)
• Slovak: Európske zoskupenie hospodárskych záujmov (EZHZ)
• Slovenian: Evropsko gospodarsko interesno združenje (EGIZ)
• Spanish: Agrupación europea de interés económico (AEIE)
• Swedish: Europeiska ekonomiska intressegrupperingar (EEIG)

An EEIG is required to have the abbreviation in its legal name (Art. 5(a) of Council Regulation No. 2137/85).

• European Private Company
• Types of business entity
• European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation
• UK Companies House booklet GPO4