ABSTRACT
The European Commission started a completely new chapter of European company law and corporate governance in the European Union. The purposes of the present chapter, it is sufficient to present the summary of the original Action Plan of the European Commission. It shows clearly that corporate governance is the most important topic on the agenda. On 21 May 2003 the European Commission presented its Action Plan on Modernising Company Law and Enhancing Corporate Governance in the European Union. There is a large part of European statutory law that deals with banks, financial intermediaries, stock exchanges, and the capital market. The Financial Market Action Plan of 1999 was an impressive jump forward, and indeed was the model for the Company Law Action Plan itself. Traditionally, a functioning market for corporate control has been lacking in Germany, while in many other European states such as the United Kingdom.
