Brussels, 19/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Before the end of the year, the European Commission will be unveiling a new draft directive to facilitate cross-border voting by shareholders, as recommended by the European Enterprise Governance Forum (see EUROPE 8926). The directive may explore measures to be taken at EU level to allow shareholders of a company to vote without having to attend the shareholders' meeting, and to be provided with timely information about shareholders' meetings.
According to the Financial Times on 17 October, Charlie McCreevy said he would not be suggesting binding legislation but rather a recommendation on shareholders' rights. The European Internal Market Commissioner said he wanted to help eliminate discrimination among shareholders through 'one share, one vote' but a directive would come up against too much resistance in the Member States. It is estimated that more than a third of the 300 biggest companies issue priority shares and blocks of multiple voting rights shares, or impose thresholds of the number of shares owned.
The Commission held two consultations on shareholder voting rights in September 2004 and May 2005 (see EUROPE 8947 and 8787). The second focussed on voting rights and voting in different countries. The responses to the consultation (which ended in July) are available on the website of the European Commission's Internal Market Directorate-General. In October 2004, the European Commission adopted two recommendations on enterprise governance, one on CEO remuneration packages and one on the independence of managers (see EUROPE 8799).