Brussels, 21/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Sergio Cofferati (S&D, Italy) would like to involve employees in shareholder discussions about the pay of the CEOs of companies quoted on the stock exchange. On Tuesday, 20 January at the European Parliament's legal affairs committee, he presented his draft report on revising the directive on shareholders' rights, which seeks to promote the long-term commitment of the latter.
In the initial examination of his report at the legal affairs committee at the EP, Cofferati mentioned the possibility of adding additional mechanisms to those proposed by the European Commission, to help strengthen the long-term commitment of shareholders. The Commission is hoping to launch a public consultation on the subject over the next few months, in order to present a report at the end of the year. The rapporteur subscribes to the principle of leaving it up to shareholders to approve pay policy but expressed the idea of allowing employees the opportunity to speak on the subject too. Cofferati is hoping to base his initiative on transparency in this area and not confer excessive power to shareholders. Reservations were expressed about the rapporteur's idea, particularly from Tadeusz Zwiefka (EPP, Poland).
The draft report also seeks to enhance the protection of shareholder data, as well as transparency for institutional investors, asset managers and advisers.
The deadline for submitting amendments to the draft report has been extended to 5 February. They will be examined at the end of February during a committee vote before the end of March. (MD)