The European Commission has launched a public consultation on minimum standards that should apply to shareholders’ rights in listed companies - particularly voting rights - in order to remove certain practical and legal obstacles that currently hinder the exercise of these rights in a cross-border context. Responses will be taken into account in a forthcoming proposal for a possible future directive, forming part of the Commission Action Plan on Corporate Governance. The deadline for responses is 15 July 2005.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/561&format...
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said:
Shareholders must be able to exercise their rights easily and receive appropriate information, no matter where in the EU they are based. If there are undue obstacles preventing this in the Single Market, then we need to remove them, by setting minimum standards and making full use of new technologies to reduce distances and improve communication. This will help to ensure that companies are well run across the EU. I encourage all interested parties to respond to the consultation and give us their views on what these minimum standards should be. Charlie McCreevy, Internal Market and Services Commissioner