A societas Europaea (SE; Latin pronunciation: [soˈci.e.taːs ew.roːˈpae.a]; Latin for European society or company; plural: societates Europaeae) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company. Such a company may more easily transfer to or merge with companies in other member states.
As of April 2018, more than 3,000 registrations have been reported, including the following nine components (18%) of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index of leading Euro Area companies (excluding the SE designation): Airbus, Allianz, BASF, E.ON, Fresenius, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, SAP, Schneider Electric and Unibail-Rodamco.National law continues to supplement the basic rules in the Regulation on formation and mergers. The European Company Regulation is complemented by an Employee Involvement Directive that sets rules for participation by employees on the company's board of directors. There is also a statute allowing European Cooperative Societies.