Press Release: Free movement of capital: Commission reports satisfactory progress in eliminating unjustified special rights in EU privatised companies

A European Commission staff report published on 22 July 2005 highlighted the considerable progress made in the EU in eliminating special rights, often referred to as golden shares, in privatised companies. Such rights often claim to protect the general interest by giving governments veto rights on takeovers or management decisions of such companies. In the framework of the Internal Market they are however in most cases a restriction to capital movements. Based on two surveys among Member States in 1997 and 2004, the report provided the first comprehensive review of developments in this field ten years after free movement of capital had become a core freedom with the coming into force of the Maastricht Treaty.

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