Brussels, 25/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 September, the European Commission presented a proposal aimed at reducing the administrative red-tape contained in mergers and divisions procedures. By introducing simplification measures, the Commission hopes to get rid of the costs and unnecessary procedures as well as improve its own efficiency. The proposal complements the two packages of "fast track" measures that were put forward by the Commission in March 2007.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: “With this proposal, we continue to deliver on the promises we made last year. The directives that we want to modify date back about 30 years. If we want to keep administrative burdens for EU companies to a minimum, we must make sure that these rules are brought in line with today's technological possibilities and business processes.”
In 2007, the Commission set out a consultation to enable the Parliament, member states and interested third parties to express their view until mid-October 2007. In light of the favourable opinion gained from this consultation, three proposals were then adopted by the Commission as part of the “fast-track” procedure. The first, aimed to align experts' reporting requirements in internal mergers and divisions with those contained in the directive on cross-border mergers (Directive 2005/56/EC) and was adopted by the Council and European Parliament in November 2007 (Directive 2007/63/EC). The Commission also adopted two proposals in April 2008, amending the first and eleventh directives on the company law and accounting directives.
The Commission is now proposing the adoption, according to normal procedure, of a directive that substantially revises provisions in the third and sixth directives on company law involving national mergers and divisions of limited companies. This aims to further reduce the administrative burden caused by these directives. According to a Commission press release on 25 September, a saving of 25% should be made by cutting down on these charges. In practical terms, measures consist of: reducing company notification requirements in some mergers and divisions; avoiding double reporting where reporting requirements also result from other EU rules; and allowing companies to use the internet and electronic mail in order to publish the draft terms of merger or division, and to provide shareholders with the documentation required.
Erik Berggrem, a senior advisor for “better regulation” at BusinessEurope said: “This measure by itself isn't going to reduce the administrative burden by 25%, but anything that brings us closer is welcome”. (C.D./transl.rh)