Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-28-Speech-3-285-000"
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"Mr President, first of all I would of course like to thank Mr Bodu and the shadow rapporteurs, and also each and every one of those MEPs, and there are indeed more women than men, who spoke during this debate that I have followed very closely.
Ms Le Grip mentioned the priorities of the Commission and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO): the single market, diversity, independence, shareholder information, transparency. We are in agreement with all these priorities and you will indeed find them in our action plan. I should also like to point out to several of you, to Ms Bauer, to Ms Costello and Ms Regner, that all our proposals fit well within the global regulatory framework and the lessons that we are learning, week after week, from the financial crisis.
This crisis has not finished, and we have not stopped learning from it. If you look closely at my agenda, which President Karas knows well, and which I am offering you, we are endeavouring to learn week after week what we can from the shortcomings and failures and, often, irresponsible behaviour. I think that good corporate governance is one of the lessons that we must learn from this crisis.
Ms Thein asked a specific question on the particular nature of the dual structure with an executive board and a supervisory board, with which we are all familiar. This particular feature does not exist in every country; having said that, some problems do indeed exist regardless of what structure is used. Consequently, a lack of diversity and a lack of transparency on remuneration exist whatever structure is being used. The aim of the Green Paper was not to tackle all the issues but rather to launch discussion, and this question was asked in the Green Paper. We will therefore now, on the basis of impact assessments, make proposals.
That is it and I would like, honourable Members, to thank you. Echoing what Ms Mazej Kukovič said just now, I would like to welcome the fact that all the MEPs who spoke emphasised the need for good governance, for better governance, with greater transparency, greater diversity, greater responsibility, more long-term commitment.
This is the spirit in which the Commission will work, in the light of Mr Bodu’s report, and it will go possibly even further in some areas, following its own lines, in relation to the proposals that we will make over the months to come.
Ms Swinburne said that we should not adopt a tick-box approach. Mr Zwiefka said: ‘We should keep some unrealistic proposals’. I agree. Indeed, that is why we are taking the time to have a consultation process and in particular to take account of the Green Papers. I am taking the time to consult so as not to improvise proposals about new and good governance. Mr Bodu’s report has provided an extremely useful contribution within the time frame set aside for consultation.
Many of you have spoken about diversity and parity between men and women. Naturally, that is not the only subject, but it is an important subject and we should focus, as is our intention in our proposals, primarily on transparency as regards diversity policies. We still have not tackled the question of mandatory quotas. I had told you that I had my own opinion on this subject, and so does Ms Reding, indeed our views are similar. I also agree with what Mr Cofferati and Ms Kolarska-Bobińska have said, and also with what Ms Prendergast said a moment ago.
In a company and in the community represented by that company, all employees must be respected, and in this context of respect, there is also a concern for greater diversity and for women normally to be more present, particularly in management positions.
I would like to say to Mr Zwiefka, to Ms Swinburne, to Ms Ford, that the Commission is well aware of the different national systems of governance. The flexibility of the European model offers an advantage to our companies which, as we all know, must compete with China, India and the United States.
Having said that, corporate governance, and I say this also to Ms Gáll-Pelcz, is not a question of principles alone. A whole part of this governance is included in company law which regulates issues of external and internal monitoring, as well as in decision-making mechanisms and the separation of powers within companies, particularly in the Shareholders’ Rights Directive, the Audit Directive, the Transparency Directive, the Takeover Directive and in the regulations, which I believe are still insufficient, on directors’ remuneration.
This is indeed company law and we are working on this and not only on principles. It is true to say, honourable Members, that corporate governance is often a question of behaviour, but in other areas as well, there are useful, binding rules which govern people’s behaviour, for example the highway code or the penal code. Therefore, our problem is essentially one of finding a fair balance between these two demands, and here I am addressing Ms Ţicău, who mentioned this subject. The Commission is working on this issue.
Ms Regner mentioned the scope of the measures that we intend to take, and I can confirm that we shall apply rules to all listed companies. This is an issue, Ms Regner, on which there is no dispute and all listed companies, at least, will be governed by these rules. We shall pay particular attention, and I also say this to Ms Thein, who spoke of the difficulty and the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises, in this area as in others, to the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises. We should probably not impose on these small enterprises the same constraints as we do on other larger enterprises.
Mr Cofferati, Ms Le Grip, Ms Bauer, Ms Lichtenberger and Ms Dăncilă have all spoken about social responsibility. This autumn we shall propose rules on the transparency of non-financial information, and corporate social and ecological responsibility, and I thank you, as I do Ms Regner, for your support for the need, in certain areas, for binding rules. I too do not believe in self-regulation in certain areas. It has shown its limitations, so to speak, in the area of financial regulation."@en1
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