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Article 3U.K.

1.For the purposes of applying this Directive:

(a)the status of parent company shall be attributed:

(i)

at least to a company of a Member State which fulfils the conditions set out in Article 2 and has a minimum holding of 10 % in the capital of a company of another Member State fulfilling the same conditions;

(ii)

under the same conditions, to a company of a Member State which has a minimum holding of 10 % in the capital of a company of the same Member State, held in whole or in part by a permanent establishment of the former company situated in another Member State;

(b)‘subsidiary’ means that company the capital of which includes the holding referred to in point (a).

2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States shall have the option of:

(a)replacing, by means of bilateral agreement, the criterion of a holding in the capital by that of a holding of voting rights;

(b)not applying this Directive to companies of that Member State, which do not maintain for an uninterrupted period of at least 2 years holdings qualifying them as parent companies, or to those of their companies in which a company of another Member State does not maintain such a holding for an uninterrupted period of at least 2 years.