Volkswagen: The State of Affairs of Golden Shares, General Company Law an European Free Movement of Capital

Abstract

By maintaining in force the provisions of the Volkswagen Law concerning the capping of voting rights at 20% and the fixing of the blocking minority at 20%, and the right of the Federal State and the Land of Lower Saxony each to appoint two representatives to the supervisory board, Germany has failed to fulfill its obligations under Article 56(1) EC, which prohibits, in short, restrictions on movements of capital. In this contribution, the Court's ruling will be analysed and the issue of possible broader implications of the judgement with regard to general company law will be addressed.