1 The European Private Company Dissertation thesis Mgr. et Mgr. Igor Augustinič Abstract Supranational corporate forms as a means for supporting cross-border entrepreneurial activities on the internal market of the European Union are in the centre of interest of legislation and legal doctrine almost from the beginning of the European integration. However, a full-function corporate form oriented above all to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) cannot be found among the existing European corporate forms. It was this primary target group, the overwhelming majority of enterprises in Europe belongs to, and the project of the European private company - societas privata europaea - should be aimed at. The origins of the SPE project can be seen in academic debates on which supranational corporate form would be the most suitable for SMEs going back to the seventies of the twentieth century. Under the auspices of CREDA, Centre for Research of Commercial Law by the Paris Chamber of Commerce, the discussions were taken up again in the nineties of the twentieth century and led to the first Draft SPE Regulation being prepared by CREDA in 1997. It was a private draft that has served as a basis for further discussions on the SPE project. Since 2001, the initiative regarding the project has been taken over by the...

With regard to the gradual economic globalisation markets of States become more and more interconnected, especially so in the European Union which aims to create a single internal market without internal borders and barriers to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. Naturally, it influences behaviour of economic participants on the market. With increase of competition it is necessary to be more innovative, active and to search for new opportunities for expansion not only in one's own State but also abroad which entails entering into relations with foreign entities. In the course of time it might be useful or even necessary to relocate the place of business. Such need might not and, indeed, does not concern only natural person but also legal entities such as companies. However, the status of companies in cross-border relations has some specific features in comparison to the status of natural persons. A company is only an artificial product of law, a mere legal fiction, and therefore, its existence is much more closely linked with a specific legal order. A company has legal personality only insofar as some legal order acknowledges it. Different approaches how to link a company to a certain State have been evolved in different States - either the connecting factor is the statutory...

Nouvelle forme d’organisation de l’entreprise au sein d’un marché commun, la société commerciale supranationale peut relever de plusieurs ordres juridiques. En ce qui concerne, brevitatis causa, son « statut personnel », deux méthodes de rattachement législatif s’opposent. La méthode du rattachement unique lie la société au seul ordre juridique dont elle est issue, celle du rattachement opère une complémentarité entre l’ordre juridique supranational et celui du siège social. Les deux méthodes reconnaissent une marge de liberté statutaire. Le choix du rattachement juridique constitue enjeu crucial pour l’adoption du statut de ce type de société et, in fine, pour la réalisation des objectifs lui sont assignés. Seule l’Union européenne connaît de telles structures sociétaires et a choisi la méthode de la pluralité. Pour déterminer la pertinence de ce choix, la problématique est transposée au Mercosur qui envisage d’instituer une société supranationale et doit donc choisir son rattachement juridique. La méthode de l’unicité s’avère alors être la seule à pouvoir répondre aux exigences d’unité, d’uniformité et de cohérence du régime juridique de la société commerciale supranationale. Opposée à la méthode jusqu’ici privilégiée, la méthode du rattachement unique implique une indépendance du statut de cette société par rapport aux sources nationales. Ce choix de l’autonomie participe à l’édification d’un véritable droit des sociétés supranationales. Dans le contexte du Mercosur, ce changement de paradigme peut de surcroît contribuer à bâtir un ordre juridique mercosurien plus efficace dans ses rapports avec les systèmes étatiques. Ces mêmes conclusions autorisent alors à se demander in fine s’il ne faut pas effectuer en Europe un retour à la solution de principe envisagée jadis tant pour la société anonyme européenne que pour la société privée européenne et oser l’unicité du rattachement de ces sociétés à l’ordre juridique européen. / As a new corporate structure within a common market, the supranational trading corporation can be subjected to several legal systems. With respect, brevitatis causa, to its “personal status”, two legislative connecting methods oppose each other. The single connecting method links the company only to the legal system from which it originates, whereas the multiple connecting method leads to a complementarity between the supranational legal system and the legal system of the registered office. Both methods allow some leeway for statutory freedom. The choice of the legislative connection is a crucial issue in adopting the statute of this type of corporation, and, in fine, for the fulfillment of its assigned goals. Only the European Union adopts such corporate structures and it has chosen the multiple connecting method. In order to assess the pertinence of this choice, the problematic is transposed to the Mercosur which is considering to establish a supranational corporation form and is therefore facing the choice between those two connecting methods. The method of a single connection proves to be the only one to ensure unity, uniformity and coherence for the supranational company’s legal regime. As opposed to the preferred method up to now, it implies an independence of the company’s statute from national sources. This choice of autonomy contributes to building a true Law of Supranational Companies. In the context of Mercosur, this change in paradigm may furthermore contribute to creating a more efficient Mercosur’s legal order in relation to the national legal systems. These same conclusions allow us to question ourselves in fine if Europe should not consider returning to its first methodological approach envisaged formerly for both, the European Company and the European Private Company, in this sens daring to link these companies fundamentally to the European legal order.

Nul n’est censé ignorer la loi… même supranationale. La « censure » des dispositions relatives au contrat « nouvelles embauches » l’a vigoureusement démontré. Des normes supranationales, l’influence n’a jamais été aussi forte : elles couvrent progressivement l’ensemble des compartiments du droit français du travail. Tous les acteurs, publics et privés, doivent porter leur regard au-delà du cadre hexagonal. Un but est affiché : maîtriser la diffusion des normes supranationales, sans laquelle il n’est point d’adhésion de leurs destinataires, et appréhender les transformations du droit français du travail auxquelles elles conduisent. De nouveaux instruments doivent, à cet effet, être forgés. / No one is deemed ignorant of the law… including supranational standards. The “censure” of the provisions relating to the “new hiring” employment contract vigorously demonstrated so. The influence of supranational standards has never been so strong: they progressively cover all of the fields of French Labour Law. All stakeholders, whether public or private, need to look beyond French borders. The stated aim is to control the spread of supranational standards, without which there is no acceptance by its recipients, and apprehend the resulting transformations of French Labour Law. New legal methodologies and instruments need to be implemented in this respect.

Les États européens n'ont, jusque dans les années 90, envisagé leur défense que dans le cadre d'alliances militaires et restaient maîtres de leur défense nationale. La mise en place d'une politique européenne de défense a toujours connu des obstacles, reflets des problèmes de souveraineté. Dans l'Union européenne, l'intégration politique, et en particulier celle de la défense, reste le domaine le plus incertain. Cette thèse de nature essentiellement empirico-descriptive aborde le thème de la défense européenne sous une approche réaliste, en plaçant les États au centre de la construction européenne et en en faisant les acteurs principaux. Depuis 1992, les États tentent de définir une politique européenne de défense mais rencontrent différentes difficultés. En effet, la politique européenne de défense souffre d'un double déficit. Le premier est un déficit institutionnel puisque la P.E.D. est loin d'être une politique commune et se limite à un mécanisme de coopération. Le second est un déficit matériel puisque l'Union européenne n'a pas la puissance militaire pour mettre en oeuvre une éventuelle décision commune. Afin d'évaluer les perspectives d'évolution d'une politique européenne de défense, nous devons étudier les différents défis que les États et les institutions communautaires doivent relever pour combler ces deux déficits. Les défis d'ordre institutionnel concernent les multiples acteurs, États et institutions, qui interviennent dans la définition de la P.E.S.D. Il s'agit de déterminer quelle instance est la mieux à même d'assurer la représentation internationale de l'Union européenne afin de donner l'impulsion politique nécessaire de la P.E.S.D. Les défis d'ordre militaire concernent les moyens que les différents acteurs souhaitent engager afin de concrétiser la politique définie. Toutes ces discussions montrent la justification d'un système européen de défense mais la question est de savoir si les États, acteurs centraux de la construction européenne, sont prêts à relever ces défis. / Up until the 1990's, the European States have solely thought of their security forces inside military alliances as they kept control of their national defense. The putting in place of a European defense policy has always met obstacles, which reflect the problems linked to the preservation of sovereignty. The political integration in Europe remains uncertain, mostly when it comes to common defense. With an empirical and descriptive manner, this thesis depicts the European defense theme in a realistic approach, by placing the States in the middle of the European construction and by giving them the main role. Since 1992, the States tried to lay down a European policy of defense, but they encountered various difficulties. Indeed, the European policy of defense suffers from a double deficit. The first is institutional since the European Defense Policy is far from being part of a common policy and is strictly a cooperation mechanism. The second is a material deficit since the European Union doesn't have a military force to implement a common decision. In order to evaluate the possible evolution of a European defense policy, we had to study the various challenges that the States and institutions must face in order to address those two deficits. The institutional challenge concerns the multiple actors, States and institutions, which intervene in the definition of E.P.S.D. This part will try to identify which institution would be best capable of ensuring the international representation of the European Union and to give the political impetus necessary to the putting into place of the E.P.S.D. The military challenge concern the means that the different actors would engage in order to concretize the policy. Ali these discussions show the justification of a European system of defense, but the question remains as to whether the States, central figures of the European construction, are ready to take up these challenges. / "Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit (LL.D) et à l'Université Jean Moulin en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit"

Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Armide (1777) is an anomaly within the context of his eighteenth-century operatic reform. While all of Gluck’s other libretti had been written as an embodiment of the operatic reform, including his Italian works Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) and Alceste (1767) in addition to the French operas Iphigénie en Aulide (1774) and Iphigénie en Tauride (1779), Armide was based upon the seventeenth-century libretto that Phillipe Quinault had written for Jean-Baptiste Lully, the founder of French tragédie lyrique. The use of Quinault’s libretto drew a direct comparison not only between Gluck and Lully, but also between Gluck and traditional French opera. Setting Armide also required Gluck to incorporate many traditional elements of tragédie lyrique absent in the operatic reform, such as divertissement and ballet. Armide’s departure from the tenets of the reform were so significant that they were criticized by Gluck’s French librettist François-Louis Gand LeBland Du Roullet, who found particular fault with the opera’s lack of dramatic veracity. It is the very incongruity of Armide—its utilization of an antiquated libretto—that makes it key to understanding Gluck’s conception of eighteenth-century opera. Armide provides the best opportunity to explore how Gluck amalgamated the traditional forms and styles of French opera with the goals of Viennese operatic reform. Drawing out connections between tragédie lyrique and the precepts of his reform, Gluck demonstrated the composer’s role in strengthening and clarifying the reform qualities as expressed by the libretto. Through musical analysis, this thesis demonstrates that Armide maintains the musical characteristics and dramatic musical construction of Gluck’s earlier reform operas. It also illustrates that while Gluck honoured Lully’s conception of tragédie lyrique, he did not hesitate to improve what he saw as the faults of the earlier operatic style. Gluck’s juxtaposition of the Italian and French operatic traditions in Armide elucidates his creation of supranational opera. Superseding and encompassing both the French and Italian national styles, Gluck enlivened the operatic traditions of both countries while remaining true to his own dramatic and musical conception of opera.

In a democracy it is the citizens who choose their leaders. Through elections, the people constitute government to preside over public affairs. However, in several African countries the quality of the elections has been vitiated by fraud, incompetence, unequal playing field and violence. Part of the problem is historical. Within the first decade of attaining independence in the 1950s and 1960s, many African regimes rapidly descended into autocracy and many countries formally recognised one-party regimes. Despite many one-party regimes having been abolished after the democratisation wave of the late 1980s and early 1990s, challenges of holding free and fair elections persist. Several elections held since this democratic wave were generally not considered by independent observers as free and fair. Indeed Africa has become well known for flawed elections, such as was the case in the 2007 elections in Kenya, the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe and the 2010 elections in Ivory Coast. Due to the stifled democratic climate, where even elections had a predetermined outcome, coups became a common and regular method of showing discontent or removing government. While the phenomenon of problematic elections is going on, at the continental level, Africa seems to be making renewed commitment towards democratic governance. With the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) through the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in 2000, the AU, inter alia, committed to promoting “democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance” and seems determined to depart from the legacy of poor governance. It is in view of the foregoing background that this research sought to investigate the challenges the judiciary in Africa has faced in adjudicating presidential election disputes. And, in light of the growing trend towards establishing common African democratic standards and seeking collective solutions, the research also sought to explore the viability of establishing a continental supranational mechanism for resolving disputed presidential elections through adjudication. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. D.

En posant la question de l’influence des ONG sur la décision du gouvernement français d’adopter le traité d’interdiction des armes à sous-munitions à Oslo en décembre 2008, cette thèse offre l’occasion de revisiter tout un ensemble de travaux de Relations Internationales sur les conditions de succès des mobilisations transnationales dans la production et l’adoption des normes internationales. Alors que les théoriciens de relations internationales travaillent presque exclusivement sur ce qui se joue à l’échelle internationale, entre les ONG et les Etats, ce travail propose au contraire de resserrer la focale uniquement sur la prise de décision politique française. Il propose ainsi de chercher les raisons du « succès » des mobilisations transnationales non pas dans leurs caractéristiques propres, mais plutôt dans les logiques politiques et institutionnelles qui façonnent les décisions politiques nationales. Cette thèse décrit un processus de décision politique en partie imposée aux pouvoirs publics par une mobilisation transnationale. Elle montre ainsi comment l’espace des choix se restreint au point d’obliger les pouvoirs publics à adopter un traité de désarmement auquel ils auraient largement préféré se soustraire. Mais elle révèle également comment l’Etat n’en reste pas moins doté d’une capacité de gouverner qui lui permet de récupérer subtilement la main. C’est cette tension que signifie l’expression gouverner sans choisir. / In posing the question of the influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the French government’s decision to adopt the treaty banning cluster munitions, in Oslo in December 2008, this thesis offers the occasion to revisit a number of studies in International Relations on the factors behind transnational mobilizations’ success in creating and adopting international norms. While theorists of international relations work almost exclusively with such conditions at the international level, between ONGs and states, this study proposes, on the contrary, to shift the focus to the French political decision-making process. It seeks the reasons for “successful” transnational mobilization not in their proper characteristics, but rather in the political and institutional logic shaping national political decisions. This thesis describes a process of decision-making imposed, in part, on the public authorities by a transnational mobilization and it shows how the realm of choices narrowed to the point where the public authorities were forced to adopt a disarmament treaty that they would have overwhelmingly preferred to avoid. However, this thesis also reveals how the state nonetheless retained its capacity to govern and to subtly recover its power. It is this tension that provides the expression to govern without choosing.

Au plus fort de la crise, le régime monétaire international se révèle être impuissantlorsqu’il s’agit de limiter la volatilité excessive des taux de change, l’ampleur desdéséquilibres des balances de paiements courants, le développement d'une spéculationeffrénée sur les marchés des changes et l’asymétrie entre pays en excédent et pays endéficit. Cette thèse, qui a eu le mérite d’ouvrir des pistes nouvelles dans lacompréhension des rapports complexes entre les déséquilibres mondiaux et le régimeactuel, a montré que ces déséquilibres sont intrinsèquement rattachés aux défaillances dela structure monétaire internationale. Pour interrompre cette dynamique qui détériore lesdéséquilibres mondiaux, nous proposons que le régime tende vers un système centraliséavec la création d’une monnaie internationale et d’une chambre de compensation. Cettethèse, qui réactualise le plan Keynes, inclut également des dispositions statutaires visant àajuster automatiquement les dettes extérieures aux capacités de paiement des pays. Bienque cette réforme soit une avancée, cette réflexion n’occulte pas les progrès qu’il reste àfaire pour résorber les déséquilibres extérieurs. Pour améliorer l’efficacité et la pérennitédu système des paiements internationaux, il est utile de renforcer la coopération desbanques centrales, notamment dans un contexte marqué par les crises d’endettementextérieur. Dans ce sens, cette thèse montre les opportunités qu’offre la constitution dezones monétaires régionales intégrées dans une union monétaire internationale / At the height of the crisis, the international monetary system is powerless to reduce theinstability of exchange rates, the imbalance of the current account of balance ofpayments, instability of exchange rates and the development of speculation in financialmarkets the and the asymmetry between net exporters countries and net deficits countries.This thesis, which had the merit of opening new tracks in order to understand thecomplex relationships between global imbalances and the actual system, showed thatthese global imbalances are intrinsically linked to the failures of the internationalmonetary structure. To stop the deterioration of global imbalances, we propose that thesystem turns towards an international system payment with the creation of aninternational currency and a clearing house. This thesis, which reactualizes the KeynesPlan, also includes statutory dispositions for automatically adjusting the external debt tothe capacities payment of countries. Although this reform is a step forward, we don’t hidethe progress that can be done to reduce external imbalances. To increase the efficiencyand sustainability of the international payments system, it is useful to boost thecooperation between central banks, particularly in a context marked by the external debtcrises. In this sense, this thesis shows the opportunities which offered the creation ofregional monetary zones which are integrated in a monetary union international

Le Traité sur l’Union Européenne assigne à la Cour de Justice la mission de veiller au respect du droit dans l’application et l’interprétation des traités. A ce titre, elle interprète le droit de l’Union de manière à garantir une application uniforme du droit dans tous les Etats membres. De même, la Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage (CCJA) est chargée, conformément au Traité relatif à l’Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA), d’assurer dans les Etats Parties, l'interprétation et l'application communes du droit uniforme. Ces cours de justice partagent avec les juridictions nationales l’application judiciaire du droit né des traités. Mais les traités n’ont pas réalisé une fusion du système juridictionnel qu’ils ont créé avec celui des Etats membres et, une hiérarchie juridictionnelle n’a pas été établie entre la Cour de justice et les juridictions nationales. Se pose alors la question des moyens par lesquels ces cours de justice arrivent à imposer une application uniforme du droit dans les Etats membres. Après analyse, on relève qu’à travers l’attribution des pouvoirs juridictionnels, les traités ont conféré une autorité supranationale à la Cour de justice européenne et la Cour de justice de l’OHADA. En plus de cette autorité conférée qu’elles ne se contentent pas d’entretenir à l’égard des juridictions nationales, elles génèrent aussi de l’autorité dans le cadre de leur activité juridictionnelle. Ainsi, ces cours œuvrent pour une meilleure intégration régionale. De leur propre gré, elles n’hésitent pas à adopter des positions impérieuses de plus en plus conquérantes. Ce phénomène fait donc évoluer la conception classique des sources de l’autorité de ces cours. La CCJA bénéficie des prérogatives les plus offensives d’origine textuelle, au contraire de la Cour de justice européenne qui, quant à elle, apparaît plus conquérante dans sa jurisprudence. / According to the treaty on the European Union, the Court of justice ensures that, in the interpretation and application of the treaties the law is observed. As such, it interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries. In the same way, the treaty of the Organization for the Harmonization of the Business Law in Africa (OHBLA) has conferred to the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) the power to rule on, in the contracting states, the interpretation and enforcement of the treaty. Both regional courts share with national courts the power to apply the law resulting from the treaties.But there has not been a fusion of the judicial system of the member states and the community judicial system. No judicial hierarchy has been established between community courts and national courts. This brings the question of by which means the regional courts can enforce the uniform application of the law in the member states. After analysis, it appears that by granting jurisdictional power, the treaties gave a supranational authority to the European Court of Justice and the CCJA. In addition to the power granted to them, the courts also generate authority through their jurisdictional activities. Thus, the courts work for a better integration of the judicial systems by adopting more and more conquering authoritarian positions. This phenomenon has led to a change in the classical conception of the sources of power of the courts. The CCJA enjoys more power from treaties than the European Court of Justice which is more offensive in case law setting.