services and capital", under its chapter 2. This article, renumbered 44(3)(g)prove Om of persons First and foremost, art. 54(3)(g), which is part of the Title Ill on the"freedo 44.2 The Council and the Commission shall carry out the duties devolving upon them under the preceding provisions-ie. the abolition of restrictions on the freed establishment of nationals of a member state in the territory of other members states, [nt (g) by co-ordinating to the necessary extent the safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others, are required by Member States of companies or firms within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 48 with a view of making Ich safeguards equivalent throughout the Community On the basis of this provision, the council could approve directives with a qualified majority In the same chapter, the Treaty identifies the entities that it considers beneficiaries of the freedom of establishment Paragraph 1 of art. 48(ex 58) provides Companies or firms formed in accordance with the law of a Member State and having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Community shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, be treated in the same way as natural persons who are nationals of Member States Article 220-now 293- puts forward a number of domains in which the member states were invited to negotiate separate treaties. These fields were, at that time, considered outside the scope of the harmonisation provision of the then article 54(3)(g). Among the subjects mentioned in art. 220 one should recall the mutual recognition of companies, along with the cross border transfer of the seat and the cross border merger of the companies belonging to different jurisdictions. As, according to the draftsmen of the Treaty, the implementation of this provision would have required an international treaty, unanimous consent of the member states and of their parliaments would have been necessary A third provision calls our attention: article 100 and later 100A-now 94 and 95-establish procedures, originally in article 100 with unanimity of the Member states, later at a qualified majority in article 100A, that aim at the approximation of such legislative and administrative provisions that"directly affect the establishment or functioning of the common market". Other procedures were introduced in art. 100A relating to provisions affecting the internal market 2. There has been ample discussion, especially in the early years of the Community, about the meaning of the powers thus conferred to the Council,. The exact meaning of art. 54(3)(g)was Paragraph 2 adds: Companies or firms'means companies or firms constituted under civil or commercial lav including cooperative societies, and other legal persons governed by public or private law, save for those which are non-I 3 See RENAULD, J. ' Aspects de la coordination et du rapprochement des dispositions relatives aux societes'in Europees vennootschapsrecht 1968, 49 e.s. with further references to the sources at that time. For a more recent e Financial Law institute. Universiteit Gent 2001© Financial Law Institute, Universiteit Gent, 2001 2 First and foremost, art. 54 (3) (g), which is part of the Title III on the "freedom of persons, services and capital", under its chapter 2. This article, renumbered 44 (3)(g) provides: 44.2 The Council and the Commission shall carry out the duties devolving upon them under the preceding provisions - i.e. the abolition of restrictions on the freedom of establishment of nationals of a member state in the territory of other members states, [nt ew ] - .... (g) by co-ordinating to the necessary extent the safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others, are required by Member States of companies or firms within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 48 with a view of making such safeguards equivalent throughout the Community” On the basis of this provision, the council could approve directives with a qualified majority. In the same chapter, the Treaty identifies the entities that it considers beneficiaries of the freedom of establishment: Paragraph 1 of art. 48 (ex 58) provides: "Companies or firms formed in accordance with the law of a Member State and having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Community shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, be treated in the same way as natural persons who are nationals of Member States.”2 Article 220 - now 293 - puts forward a number of domains in which the member states were invited to negotiate separate treaties. These fields were, at that time, considered outside the scope of the harmonisation provision of the then article 54 (3)(g). Among the subjects mentioned in art. 220 one should recall the mutual recognition of companies, along with the cross border transfer of the seat and the cross border merger of the companies belonging to different jurisdictions. As, according to the draftsmen of the Treaty, the implementation of this provision would have required an international treaty, unanimous consent of the member states and of their parliaments would have been necessary. A third provision calls our attention: article 100 and later 100A - now 94 and 95 - establish procedures, originally in article 100 with unanimity of the Member states, later at a qualified majority in article 100A, that aim at the approximation of such legislative and administrative provisions that “directly affect the establishment or functioning of the common market”. Other procedures were introduced in art. 100A relating to provisions affecting the “internal market”. 2. There has been ample discussion, especially in the early years of the Community, about the meaning of the powers thus conferred to the Council3 . The exact meaning of art. 54(3)(g) was 2 Paragraph 2 adds: ‘Companies or firms’ means companies or firms constituted under civil or commercial law, including cooperative societies, and other legal persons governed by public or private law, save for those which are non-profit-making. 3 See RENAULD, J. ‘Aspects de la coordination et du rapprochement des dispositions relatives aux sociétés’ in Europees vennootschapsrecht 1968, 49 e.s. with further references to the sources at that time. For a more recent