An EU court ruled yesterday that a German law shielding car maker Volkswagen AG from foreign takeovers was illegal because it violated the EU's single-market principles.
The European Court of Justice overturned rules capping a shareholder's voting rights at 20 percent and requiring a majority of 80 percent for "important decisions."
"The Volkswagen law limits the free movement of capital," the court said in a statement.
The court also rejected the right of both the German federal government and the region of Lower Saxony to appoint two board members each while they were shareholders in the firm.
The court called them "questionable conditions [that] could have a deterrent effect" on bids.
The ruling on the 47-year-old "Volkswagen law" was being watched as an indicator for how far EU governments would be allowed to go in protecting companies they saw as vital to their economies.
Volkswagen emerged from the ashes of World War II to become Europe's biggest automaker, with brands from the more affordable Seat and Skoda to the upscale Audi and the stratospherically priced Lamborghini.
German politicians and labor unions have said the law was needed to protect local jobs.
But the European Commission took Germany to court in 2005.
The commission argued that the German law violated EU rules guaranteeing the right to do business anywhere in the 27-nation bloc, and that "golden shares" allowing governments to protect companies had no place in the shared European market.
The ruling is a triumph for the European Commission.
However, anticipating the ruling would follow an advisory opinion against the Volkswagen law, fellow German automaker Porsche AG increased its holding in Volkswagen to 31 percent, while Lower Saxony raised its stake to 20.36 percent, giving Porsche and Lower Saxony together 51 percent -- or enough clout to stop a takeover.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS