In May 2003 the Commission published its Communication “Modernising Company Law and Enhancing Corporate Governance in the European Union - A Plan to Move Forward”. This Action Plan for Company Law had been invited by the Competitiveness Council in September 2002 and responded to the Final Report of the High Level Group of Company Law Experts chaired by Jaap Winter, presented in November 2002, which had focused on corporate governance in the EU and the modernisation of European Company Law.

The Action Plan identified two key objectives for legislative and non-legislative proposals:

• to strengthen shareholder rights and third party protection, with a proper distinction between categories of companies, and
• to foster the efficiency and competitiveness of business, with special attention to some specific cross-border issues.