Brussels, 24/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has launched a series of consultations on directors' remuneration. This will end on 12 April and the investigation will pave the way for "recommendations" to Member States. The Commission is questioning the different parties about information that should be provided to shareholders: salaries, share options (stock options) complementary pensions etc. It is suggesting that information be requested on remuneration for independent administrators and monitoring organisations too.
May questions focus on information support: how should remuneration policy be presented in the annual accounts, reports and annexes? Should remuneration figure in the general assembly's annual agenda of a company and should shareholders be able to vote on the subject? Should substantial amendments to remuneration packages be subject to preliminary approval by shareholders?
Consultation will attempt to define the field of application for future recommendations by working out the exact definition of "director" in the companies concerned (only those which are quoted on the stock exchange or other companies too?). The Commission wants to know whether to encourage Member States to set out regulation whereas some countries have tackled the question by way of codes of conduct etc.
This consultation is part of the action plan on corporate governance presented in May 2003 by the European Commission. The objective is to define a specific European framework that limits the damages wreaked by financial disasters such as Enron, Worldcom and more recently Parmalat. Documents on this subject can be found on: (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/company/directors-remun/index_en.htm).