Press Release: Corporate governance: Member States reluctant to give a greater say to shareholders in the context of takeover bids, says Commission report

The European Commission has published a report on Member States' implementation into national law of the Directive on takeover bids (2004/25/EC). The Directive allows Member States to opt out of certain key provisions and to exempt companies from those provisions if the bidder is not subject to the same obligations. The Commission's report shows that in many cases Member States have made use of these options and exemptions. The report concludes that this could bring about new barriers in the EU takeover market, rather than eliminate existing ones.