European business registers

  • Edited 13 September 2024
  • 3 min

Almost all European countries have their own register listing the details of businesses and organisations. Most of those registers are also available online.

Sometimes  a chamber of commerce keeps the register, as in the Netherlands, and sometimes a commercial court or a ministry agency does this. Financial data (such as financial statements) may also be kept and published by another institution. The rules may vary from country to country.

Data in foreign registers

The countries belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) have agreed to record  the same basic information for private limited companies (bv’s) and public limited companies (nv’s) in their registers. In many EEA countries, bv’s and nv’s  are the only types of companies listed in the registers. The non-EEA European countries almost all have similar registers.

So, it is often difficult to find details of foreign sole traders, associations and foundations, for example. Does a foreign company have a shop or office in the Netherlands? Then it must be listed in the Dutch Business Register. If a Dutch company has a branch abroad, that branch must be listed in that country's register.

Searching in registers in Europe

On the European e-Justice website, you can look up bv's and nv's in European business registers. The e-Justice portal is provided by the European Commission. In the future, it will become possible to search in all EEA countries with a single query, but not all countries support this as of yet. 

Legal certainty

Looking up company information in a foreign register will give you a better picture of your business partner. What kind of company is it, how many branches does it have, who is the person authorised to sign contracts on behalf of the company?

An official document, for example an extract from such a register, gives you legal certainty. That means you are in a stronger position if you ever end up in a court case with this company. This is because, in most cases, you can assume that the information in the register is correct. The extract proves what the situation was when you started doing business.

On such documents there is often a stamp or sticker from the organisation issuing it, showing that the document is genuine. In addition, you usually have to have such a document legalised. You then ask the organisation responsible in the country where you are doing business (usually the court) to officially establish that the document is valid. This is called an apostille.

Financial statements

There is an agreement within the EEA about the publication of financial statements and financial reports. Whether the financial statements must be filed with the register or with a separate body depends on the country concerned. This means you will have to check in each country where you can consult these documents. For companies within the EEA, financial information can also be found on the European e-Justice portal. A foreign legal entity registered in the Netherlands must publish its most recent accounting documents in the Business Register.

Overview of registers in Europe

Companies in EEA countries

Registers in EU countries

Registers in other European countries