Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-19-Speech-1-100"
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"en.20040419.8.1-100"2
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"C
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Mr President, the Commission very much welcomes this debate on company law and corporate governance and the action plan connected therewith – an action plan adopted by the Commission almost one year ago. We broadly support the content of the resolution which has been submitted to Parliament. We very much thank Mrs Ghilardotti for the quality of her report.
This action plan is based on the firm belief that a self-regulatory market approach, based solely on non-binding recommendations, is clearly not always sufficient to guarantee the adoption of sound corporate governance practices. Only if there a number of tailored rules will markets play their disciplining role and ensure diligent business conduct. This is why, in view of the growing integration of European capital markets, a common approach should be adopted at EU level, laying down a few essential rules and adequate coordination of corporate governance codes.
Recent scandals have therefore strengthened the Commission's determination to implement its action plan. My services are actively working in five areas to have proposals ready, where possible, later this year. The five areas are as follows: first, the role of non-executive directors; second, the remuneration of directors; third, the responsibility of directors for company accounts; fourth, the full disclosure of intra-group relations and transactions with related parties, including transparency in the company accounts of offshore special purpose vehicles; and fifth, the disclosure of corporate governance practices.
The aim is therefore not to re-examine or reconsider the action plan in the light of recent developments, as requested in the motion for resolution; rather, it is to learn from those developments and to take due account of them when preparing the various initiatives that it contains.
When implementing the action plan, the Commission will also take due account of the interests of the various stakeholders – to which Mrs Ghilardotti made reference – and, where appropriate, distinguish between listed and non-listed companies and large and small shareholders, as is also requested in the motion for resolution.
It is of the utmost importance that we restore trust and confidence in the audit function. I am therefore pleased to see that the rapporteur agrees with the main elements of the reform which I have set out in the proposal for an eighth directive on statutory audit. That should allow us to proceed quickly and, I hope, reach an agreement between the Council and Parliament in a single reading.
I know that the issue of non-audit services delivered to the audited entity is particularly delicate. The Commission has published a recommendation on auditor independence which sets out the conditions under which such services are still allowed. We need to see how this recommendation is applied in practice. Many Member States are in the process of transposing this recommendation into their national law.
It would therefore not be appropriate, at this stage, to fundamentally change our approach in that area. However, in our communication of May 2003, we announced our intention to carry out a study that will examine whether further changes in that area are needed. The results of the study will be available next year. At that time, we shall decide whether new initiatives are necessary.
In Europe, investors need to be better organised and more vocal advocates of corporate change. However, a sound corporate governance framework will not be achieved by the markets simply acting on their own, nor by the introduction of an overly prescriptive legal infrastructure. The challenge we are all facing here is to find the right balance between regulatory and market-based incentives and penalties. We therefore support the broad thrust of this resolution and we are working resolutely along those lines."@en1
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