On 10 May 2012, the Council adopted a directive  setting up a system for the interconnection of central, commercial and company registers aimed at improving access to up-to-date and trustworthy information on companies. Under the new directive, all EU member states engage in enabling electronic communication between registers and transmitting information to individual users in a standardised way, by means of identical content and interoperable technologies, throughout the EU. The interoperability of registers should be ensured through the Member States’ delivery of information from their registers, by providing services which will constitute interfaces to a European central platform. This platform will be a centralised set of information technology tools and services, used by all domestic registers. The European e-Justice Portal will serve as one of the electronic access points. Companies and their branches in other member states will have a unique identifier that allows them to be unequivocally identified.

Source: CC BE newsletter