Online Formation of Companies in Lithuania in a Comparative Context: Implementation of the Digitalisation Directive and Beyond

Abstract

For many years, paper was the main format for the registration of companies. The Digitalisation Directive, adopted in 2019, obliged European Union (EU) Member States to provide founders with the option to form private companies digitally. Although for Lithuania, where online formation of legal entities had already existed even before 2019, these regulatory developments did not bring about radical change, they forced the national legislator to introduce the required amendments. This article aims at studying the provisions of the Digitalisation Directive and the results of its implementation in Lithuania to suggest possible improvements in the online registration of companies.