Overview

The European Business Registry (EBR) and its successor system, the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS), represent the European Union's foundational infrastructure for cross-border corporate intelligence. Mandated by EU Directive 2012/17/EU (the Interconnection Directive) and subsequently strengthened by Directive 2019/1151/EU (the Digitalization Directive), BRIS provides a unified interface through which all national business registers of EU and EEA member states are interconnected, enabling seamless cross-border company searches, automated branch registration notifications, and sharing of disqualified director information.

The system addresses a fundamental challenge in European corporate intelligence: the fragmentation of company registration data across 30 independent national registers, each with its own data formats, access procedures, legal frameworks, and languages. Before BRIS, verifying a company's existence and status across European borders required navigating each national register individually, often requiring language expertise and understanding of local registration conventions. BRIS consolidates this fragmented landscape into a single access point through the European e-Justice portal.

BRIS became fully operational on June 8, 2017, connecting the business registers of all 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway (EEA). The system processes cross-border company searches, delivers automated notifications when branches are registered in other member states, shares information about cross-border mergers, and enables the exchange of disqualified director data across jurisdictions. Each company accessible through BRIS receives a standardized European Unique Identifier (EUID) in the format {country_code}.{register_code}.{registration_number}, enabling unambiguous cross-border entity identification.

For OSINT practitioners and due diligence professionals, BRIS/EBR provides the critical capability to trace corporate structures across European borders. When a Czech s.r.o. operates a branch in Germany, or a French SA has a subsidiary registered in Austria, BRIS connects these registrations and enables investigators to build complete multi-jurisdictional corporate group maps. This is essential for pan-European due diligence, beneficial ownership tracing, anti-money laundering compliance, and understanding multi-jurisdictional corporate groups.

Data Sources and Coverage

BRIS aggregates data from national business registers across 30 countries, with coverage depth varying by member state. All member states provide the minimum required dataset specified by the Interconnection Directive, while many provide substantially more.

Data Category	Description	Availability
Company Name	Official registered name in national register	All member states
Registration Number	National company identifier	All member states
EUID	European Unique Identifier	All member states
Legal Form	National legal form with EU classification	All member states
Registered Office	Address in home member state	All member states
Status	Active, dissolved, in liquidation, struck off	All member states
Directors/Officers	Company directors and authorized representatives	Most member states
Branch Registrations	Cross-border branch registrations in other EU states	Automatic notification via BRIS
Cross-Border Mergers	Merger notifications between EU entities	Automatic notification via BRIS
Disqualified Directors	Directors disqualified in any member state	Shared across all member states
Winding Up Proceedings	Cross-border winding-up and insolvency notifications	Where applicable
Financial Statements	Annual accounts where publicly filed	Varies by member state

Connected National Registers

Country	Register	National ID Format	Data Depth
Czech Republic	Justice.cz / Obchodni rejstrik	ICO (8 digits)	High (full filings)
Germany	Handelsregister	HRB/HRA + number	High
United Kingdom	Companies House	8-digit number	Very High
France	Registre du Commerce (RCS)	SIREN (9 digits)	High
Netherlands	Kamer van Koophandel (KvK)	KvK number (8 digits)	High
Austria	Firmenbuch	FN + number	High
Slovakia	Obchodny register	ICO (8 digits)	High
Poland	Krajowy Rejestr Sadowy (KRS)	KRS number (10 digits)	High

EUID Format and Usage

The European Unique Identifier (EUID) provides a standardized format for unambiguous cross-border entity reference:

EUID Format: {country_code}.{register_code}.{registration_number}

Examples:
  CZ.OR.12345678     -- Czech company in Obchodni rejstrik
  DE.HRB.123456      -- German GmbH in Handelsregister
  FR.RCS.123456789   -- French SA in Registre du Commerce
  UK.CH.12345678     -- UK company in Companies House

Technical Architecture

BRIS operates as a distributed system connecting national registers through a central European platform maintained by the European Commission's DG JUSTICE.

System Architecture

National Business Registers (30 countries)
    |
    +-- Czech Republic: Justice.cz / Obchodni rejstrik
    +-- Germany: Handelsregister (16 Laender courts)
    +-- France: RCS (Tribunaux de Commerce)
    +-- ... (27 more national registers)
    |
    v
BRIS Central Platform (European Commission)
    +-- Search Gateway (unified query interface)
    +-- Notification System (branch registrations, mergers)
    +-- EUID Resolution (cross-border entity linking)
    +-- Disqualified Director Exchange
    |
    v
Access Layer
    +-- European e-Justice Portal (web interface)
    +-- National register integrations
    +-- Authorized third-party access (via national APIs)

Access Methods

The primary public access point for BRIS is the European e-Justice portal. Programmatic access is not directly available through BRIS itself but is available through individual national register APIs, which are backed by BRIS data for cross-border queries. The Prismatic adapter aggregates both direct national register access and e-Justice portal queries.

API Integration

defmodule PrismaticOsint.Adapters.Ebr do
  @moduledoc """
  European Business Registry (BRIS) adapter for pan-European
  entity verification and cross-border corporate intelligence.
  Aggregates data from the e-Justice portal and direct national
  register APIs.
  """

  @behaviour PrismaticOsint.Adapter

  @doc """
  Search for entities across all EU/EEA business registers.
  """
  def search(query, opts \\ []) do
    country = Keyword.get(opts, :country, :all)
    case search_ejustice(query, country) do
      {:ok, results} ->
        normalized = Enum.map(results, &normalize_result/1)
        {:ok, %{query: query, results: normalized, total: length(normalized)}}

      {:error, reason} ->
        {:error, reason}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Get detailed company information using EUID.
  """
  def get_company(euid) do
    {country, register, number} = parse_euid(euid)
    case fetch_from_national_register(country, register, number) do
      {:ok, company} ->
        {:ok, %{
          euid: euid,
          name: company.name,
          legal_form: company.legal_form,
          status: company.status,
          registered_office: company.address,
          directors: company.directors,
          registration_date: company.registered_since,
          country: country
        }}

      {:error, reason} ->
        {:error, reason}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Find all cross-border branches of a company.
  """
  def branches(euid) do
    case query_bris_branches(euid) do
      {:ok, branches} ->
        {:ok, %{parent_euid: euid, branches: branches, count: length(branches)}}

      {:error, reason} ->
        {:error, reason}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Check disqualified directors across all EU member states.
  """
  def check_disqualified(name, opts \\ []) do
    country = Keyword.get(opts, :country, :all)
    case query_disqualified_directors(name, country) do
      {:ok, results} ->
        {:ok, %{name: name, matches: results, total: length(results)}}

      {:error, reason} ->
        {:error, reason}
    end
  end

  @doc """
  Trace corporate group structure across EU borders.
  """
  def trace_corporate_group(euid) do
    with {:ok, parent} <- get_company(euid),
         {:ok, branches} <- branches(euid),
         {:ok, subsidiaries} <- find_subsidiaries(euid) do
      {:ok, %{
        parent: parent,
        branches: branches.branches,
        subsidiaries: subsidiaries,
        jurisdiction_count: count_jurisdictions(parent, branches, subsidiaries),
        group_structure: build_group_tree(parent, branches, subsidiaries)
      }}
    end
  end
end

Pan-European Due Diligence Pipeline

defmodule PrismaticPerimeter.DueDiligence.PanEuropean do
  @moduledoc """
  Pan-European due diligence combining BRIS data with national
  registers and sanctions screening for comprehensive cross-border
  entity assessment.
  """

  def eu_entity_check(euid) do
    with {:ok, entity} <- Ebr.get_company(euid),
         {:ok, branches} <- Ebr.branches(euid),
         {:ok, eu_sanctions} <- EuSanctions.search(entity.name),
         {:ok, ofac_sanctions} <- Ofac.search(entity.name) do
      national_data = case entity.country do
        :CZ -> fetch_czech_data(entity.registration_number)
        :UK -> fetch_uk_data(entity.registration_number)
        :DE -> fetch_german_data(entity.registration_number)
        _ -> %{source: :bris_only}
      end

      {:ok, %{
        entity: entity,
        branches: branches,
        national_enrichment: national_data,
        sanctions: %{eu: eu_sanctions, ofac: ofac_sanctions},
        cross_border_risk: assess_cross_border_risk(entity, branches),
        jurisdiction_count: count_jurisdictions(entity, branches)
      }}
    end
  end

  defp fetch_czech_data(ico) do
    with {:ok, ares} <- Ares.get_full_details(ico),
         {:ok, justice} <- JusticeCz.get_company(ico),
         {:ok, insolvency} <- InsolvencniRejstrik.check(ico) do
      %{ares: ares, justice: justice, insolvency: insolvency}
    end
  end
end

Use Cases

Cross-Border Due Diligence

BRIS enables comprehensive entity verification across EU member states from a single access point. Investigators can verify entity existence, confirm registration status, identify directors, and discover cross-border branch registrations without navigating individual national registers. This capability is essential for KYC/AML compliance, supply chain due diligence, and partner verification in multinational business relationships.

Corporate Group Structure Mapping

By following branch registration notifications and subsidiary links through BRIS, analysts can map complete corporate group structures spanning multiple European jurisdictions. This is critical for understanding the full operational footprint of entities under investigation, identifying potential shell company structures, and tracing beneficial ownership across borders.

Disqualified Director Screening

BRIS's disqualified director sharing mechanism enables screening of proposed directors against disqualification records from all EU member states. This is a valuable compliance tool for corporate governance, preventing individuals banned from holding directorships in one member state from assuming director roles in another.

NIS2 Supply Chain Compliance

The NIS2 Directive requires covered entities to conduct supply chain due diligence, including verification of EU suppliers. BRIS provides the foundational entity verification capability for this compliance requirement, confirming the existence and status of suppliers registered in any EU member state.

Data Quality and Reliability

Quality Dimension	Assessment	Notes
Authority	Authoritative	Official EU system backed by national registers
Completeness	Variable by state	Minimum dataset guaranteed; depth varies
Currency	Near real-time	Depends on national register update frequency
Accuracy	High	Direct from official national sources
Cross-Border Linking	Good	EUID system enables unambiguous identification
Language	Multi-language	National language data; limited translation

Platform Integration

BRIS/EBR provides the pan-European entity intelligence layer within the Prismatic Platform, enabling cross-border corporate structure tracing and multi-jurisdictional due diligence. The adapter aggregates BRIS portal queries with direct national register API access (where available) to maximize data depth and coverage.

Results feed into the platform's entity resolution engine, linking BRIS entities with data from national registers (ARES, Companies House), sanctions lists (EU Sanctions, OFAC), and commercial intelligence sources.

NABLA Compliance

NABLA Axiom	Compliance	Implementation
Signal Plurality	Compliant	BRIS data cross-referenced with national register APIs and commercial sources
Contradiction Preservation	Compliant	Discrepancies between BRIS and direct national register queries preserved
Absence Informative	Compliant	Missing BRIS data for expected entities flagged as investigation lead
Time Decay	Compliant	All queries timestamped with BRIS retrieval time
Unknown Valid	Compliant	Partial national register data acknowledged as incomplete
Source Independence	Compliant	BRIS is independent of commercial data aggregators
Provenance Mandatory	Compliant	Full provenance from national register through BRIS to platform

Performance Metrics

Metric	Value	Notes
Response Time	2-10 seconds	Cross-border queries slower than direct national access
Coverage	30 countries	27 EU + 3 EEA member states
Data Freshness	Hours to days	Depends on national register update frequency
Entity Count	20M+ companies	Registered entities across all member states
EUID Resolution	Sub-second	Standardized identifier lookup
Branch Notifications	Real-time	Automated BRIS notifications
Availability	~99%	e-Justice portal with scheduled maintenance

ARES - Czech national register connected via BRIS
Justice.cz - Czech Commercial Register (BRIS source register)
Companies House - UK register connected via BRIS
SEC EDGAR - US filings for EU companies listed in US markets
EU Sanctions - EU sanctions screening for BRIS entities
OFAC - US sanctions for entities with US nexus
Open Corporates - Commercial aggregator of global company data

Connect & Contribute

Created by Tomáš Korcak (korczis) | Open Source under GHL

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EU Business Registry

Capabilities

Try EU Business Registry

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

Connected National Registers

EUID Format and Usage

Technical Architecture

System Architecture

Access Methods

API Integration

Pan-European Due Diligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Cross-Border Due Diligence

Corporate Group Structure Mapping

Disqualified Director Screening

NIS2 Supply Chain Compliance

Data Quality and Reliability

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance Metrics

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine

EU Business Registry

Capabilities

Try EU Business Registry

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

Connected National Registers

EUID Format and Usage

Technical Architecture

System Architecture

Access Methods

API Integration

Pan-European Due Diligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Cross-Border Due Diligence

Corporate Group Structure Mapping

Disqualified Director Screening

NIS2 Supply Chain Compliance

Data Quality and Reliability

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance Metrics

Related Resources

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine