Michael Diegelmann, Member of the Management Board of cometis AG, explains in the Euro am Sonntag of 7 July 2019: “The EU wants to strengthen shareholders’ rights. The corresponding directive must now be transposed into national law. And there is a huge problem in this country. The most important point in the draft law – the control of executive remuneration – is not consistently regulated. According to the bill, investors should vote on their remuneration at least every four years. However, the will of the owners should not be binding. This means that shareholders will not be able to put a stop to the company’s cash flow in the future. A look across the Rhine would be enough. Unlike in Germany, votes at French annual general meetings are already binding. The alleged signal effect of the shareholder votes is too weak in Germany. Too often, not only the representatives of the shareholders, but also the representatives of the workforce have nodded off excessive remuneration packages. In future, the owners should therefore decide when the remuneration of their senior employees – i.e. the remuneration of the Management Board – is to be determined. Agreements in the supervisory board at the expense of third parties – i.e. at the expense of the owners – must be put a stop to in future. A few days ago, the Federal Cabinet waved through the bill. It remains to be hoped that the parliament will still push through fundamental changes.”