20 October 2005

ECON reaction on latest shareholder rights discussion

Pervenche Berès, Chairwoman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, reacts to Internal Market Commissioner McCreevy's statement on the 'One share, one vote' principle, and expresses concern on whether the 'Better regulation' standard is being respected.

Pervenche Berès, Chairwoman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, expressed today her concerns about the Commissioner's priorities: 'Is this really the 'Better regulation' spirit, to come back 18 months later and reconsider in such a manner decisions taken by the legislator whilst at the same time avoiding the real debate and ignoring Parliament's expectations in this area?'.

Mrs. Berès referred to the decisions on Corporate Governance and another Takeover Bids. The issue of multiple voting rights was left up to Member States on account of the subsidiarity principle. She criticized that “to propose nothing on corporate governance, other than to revisit the multiple voting rights issue on which Parliament has already given its opinion”.

In an earlier interview with the Financial Times Commissioner McCreevy said that he seeks to eliminate discriminatory treatment of shareholders by introducing the principle of “one-share, one-vote” across the Union. “It’s my goal to get a one-share one-vote principle accepted across the 25 member states” the Commissioner said. He added that he does not intend to propose any binding legislation on that matter, but would more likely issue a recommendation, the preferred tool in the area of Corporate Governance.

ECON press release

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