Guidance

Choosing the name of EEIG

Before proceeding with the incorporation of an EEIG in the Republic of Cyprus, you must first choose the proposed name, which must be approved by the Registrar of Companies.

Search of the proposed name

Once you decide upon the proposed name for your EEIG, and before submitting an application for approval of the proposed name, you are advised to conduct an online search on the business entities' register of the Registrar of Companies as well as a search in the paper folders in the register of SE and EEIG, in order to determine whether there is already a registered organisation with the same, or a similar, name.

In order for the proposed name to be approved, it must not be too similar to the name of an already existing business entity or be misleading or undesirable. In the case where your proposed name is similar with the name of an already existing business entity, the proposed name can be examined only if together with your application for approval of the proposed name, you also submit a relevant consent from the existing registered business entity to use the said name.

Also, an EEIG cannot be registered in the Republic of Cyprus by name which includes any of the following words or expressions or abbreviations thereof:

• “limited”;
• “unlimited”;
• “partnership”;
• “company”’;
• “foundation”; or
• “union”.

Following the submission of application for approval of the proposed name, the Registrar of Companies will carry out a search, in relation to the proposed name, which will not be limited only to Cypriot business entities. As a result of this search, the Registrar of Companies may reject a name for the purposes of protecting the reputation of an international organisation not registered in Cyprus (e.g. Coca Cola, McDonalds, etc). To this end, you are advised to conduct an online search over the existing registered trademarks so that you may determine whether a registered trademark with the same or a similar name already exists.

At the same time, if the name contains restrictive words or expressions, the necessary consent of the competent governmental authority or other body should be obtained and submitted.

EEIG Acronym

The EEIG name must end with the acronym “EEIG” or the words “European Economic Interest Grouping” (or their corresponding ones in other official union languages).

Submission of application for name approval

The application for approval/change of name is submitted to the Registrar of Companies, via e-filing, by hand or by post, accompanied by:

• permission, consent or pre-approval by the appropriate governmental authority or appropriate body in case it is necessary for the use of words or expressions and/or due to the nature of business respectively;
• payment of ten euro (€10) fee for every proposed name. If you wish to accelerate the name approval process, an additional fee of twenty euro (€20) for every proposed name is required.

You are advised to refer to the main criteria of review and the most common reasons for rejection for further guidance.

The name approval results are available via e-services.

Once the name is approved, the application for the EEIG’s incorporation must be submitted, in accordance with the legal form of the proposed entity/business, within six (6) months; a period during which the approved proposed name is reserved.

 e-name approval