Borko Mihajlović, LLD*
SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANIES
Summary
In October 2020, the European Commission has foreseen in its Work Programme 2021 submitting a few legislative proposals, aiming to achieve sustainable corporate governance, which represents a necessary condition for corporate sustainability. The main subject of this paper is the analysis of expected, assumed changes in the legal regulation of corporate governance in the EU. The analysis is based on the conclusions presented in the European Commission’s Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance, which will be the basis for the implementation of the announced reforms. In the first place, the author briefly deals with the basic features of the concept of corporate sustainability, and its connection with sustainable corporate governance. In the central part of the paper, the author singles out the changes that he assesses to be the most important part of the future reform: 1) changes regarding the duties of directors and 2) other possible changes of the legal regime of corporate governance (changes of the Shareholders Rights Directive, with the aim to promote long-term investment and longer retention of shareholder status in the same company, changes related to the composition of the board of directors and mechanisms for determining the remuneration of directors).
Key words: sustainable corporate governance, corporate sustainability, special duties, director, corporate governance reform in EU law.