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Recent Golden Share Cases in the Jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Abstract

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In several golden share cases, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “Court”) condemned Member States for reserving certain special rights in privatized companies for themselves. In spite of the Court's consistently strict approach in the golden share cases, the more recent golden share judgments demonstrate that the Court's practice is not free from uncertainties. In its case law, the Court seems to hesitate between the application of the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital. Additionally, it is not entirely clear which measures are caught by provisions on the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital.

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Articles
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Copyright © 2015 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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135 Case C-543/08, Comm'n v. Portugal, 2010 E.C.R. I-11241, para. 87; Case C-212/09, Comm'n v. Portugal, 2011 E.C.R. I-10889, para. 85.Google Scholar

136 Case C-171/08, Comm'n v. Portugal, 2010 E.C.R. I-6817, para. 70.Google Scholar

137 Id. at para. 71.Google Scholar

138 Id. at para. 75; Portugal, Case C-543/08 at paras. 90–92; Portugal, Case C-212/09 at paras. 88, 90.Google Scholar

139 Portugal, Case C-171/08 at para. 76; Portugal, Case C-212/09 at para. 89.Google Scholar

140 Case C-326/07, Comm'n v. Italy, 2009 E.C.R. I-2291, paras. 71–74.Google Scholar

141 Portugal, Case C-171/08 at para. 47.Google Scholar

142 Case C-244/11, Comm'n v. Greece, para. 2 (Nov. 8. 2012), http://curia.europa.eu/.Google Scholar

143 Case C-543/08, Comm'n v. Portugal, 2010 E.C.R. I-11241, paras. 93–96; Case C-212/09, Comm'n v. Portugal, 2011 E.C.R. I-10889, paras. 91–96.Google Scholar

144 O'Brien, supra note 34, at 259.Google Scholar

145 Greece, C-244/11 at para. 26.Google Scholar

146 Id. at para. 27.Google Scholar

147 Müller-Michaels, supra note 40, at 2396.Google Scholar

148 Bekkum, Van, supra note 39, at 1.Google Scholar

149 Brussels, supra note 1, at 12.Google Scholar

150 Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Tagebücher, Erster Band, 1835–1839, 64 (1905), available at https://archive.org/stream/smtlichewerke11werngoog#page/n0/mode/2up (author's translation of “Es ist nicht Alles Gold, was glänzt. Aber, es glänzt auch nicht Alles, was Gold ist, sollte man billig hinzu setzen.”).Google Scholar