The investors’ association says it is good that climate activists are given the floor at shareholder meetings of big companies. Activists have quotas and therefore also access to the assembly and the right to speak. But, says Eumedion director Rients Abma, there must also be room for other shareholders to discuss other agenda items with directors, supervisory officers and fellow shareholders.
“In a number of shareholder meetings, last season didn’t go well,” Abma says. According to him, the talks were mainly dominated by a company’s climate policy and climate goals. “That’s important, but that means other arguments can’t take place and that’s a shame.” This concerns topics such as remuneration policy, tax policy, biodiversity, the human rights situation, financial policy and the company’s overall strategy.
‘Make sure the chairman of the meeting clearly states in advance what the rules are’
Rules of the game
Eumedion would like the chairman of the shareholders’ meeting, who is usually the chairman of the supervisory board, to state very clearly in advance what the rules are. For example, you can set a maximum speaking time per shareholder or a specific time for a topic. This should prevent meetings lasting five to six hours, forcing some shareholders to walk away because they have another appointment.
Making the shareholders’ meeting from now on fully digital, to get a better grip on activism, is not something the director of the investors association wants to do. In the USA and Germany, this happened last season. “We also did this in the Netherlands during corona times, and that didn’t help the discussion.” In the Netherlands, there is still no law that allows this outside the corona period. The Ministry of Justice recently sent a proposal to the State Council to make this possible in some cases.