The Nature and Purpose of The General Meetings of The Supranational Economic Associations in The European Union

The general meeting is the supreme body of the European company as well as of the other European entities for economic association. It is a body forming and expressing the intention of a company. It is a specific forum for the free and voluntary expression of the intentions of its individual participants. The intentions can be expressed by an individual or a group, but they always express a specific attitude. A meeting collects, as a “funnel”, the expressed concerns, the suggestions supporting or rejecting the expressed theses, etc., with regard to the discussed issues. This forms the common will of the participating parties. The general meeting of shareholders is a legally established body of an European company. In view of its structure, the general meeting of shareholders is a collective body. It includes all shareholders entitled to vote. Therefore, it can be defined as a college because it approves all decisions as a college at in-person meetings or in absentia. Thus the meeting in question is the only legal means by which shareholders may exercise moral management rights: participation in management, right to vote, active and passive right to elect and be elected to the board of directors, management or supervisory board, etc. The legal framework of the general meeting of shareholders has hybrid nature.