European Integration and Changing Corporate Governance Structures: The Case of France
European integration is making an important step forward with the coming of the Euro. Individual member states have harmonized a substantial part of their conjunctural, as well as structural, policies. The idea that integration implies not only a harmonization of policies, but also of organizational structures, is heard more and more. This article focuses attention on the question of corporate governance of European firms and how systems of governance are influenced by European integration. I define corporate governance as the internal and external pressures on management to make decisions in the interest of the stakeholder(s) of the firm. Examples of internal pressure are the general assembly of shareholders, the workers' councils, and internal audits; examples of external pressure are the market for managerial labor and the capital market as the market for corporate control, where firms are sold and bought. Recently, the liberalization in Europe of capital markets and the discussion on the (im)possibilities of firms protecting themselves against hostile takeovers have raised questions about the effects of European integration on corporate governance structures. Frequently it is said that, because of the European integration in a context of further globalization, all European countries will develop in the direction of an optimal Anglo-Saxon model. Here that idea is questioned: such statements are a dangerous oversimplification of the evolution of corporate governance structures. Those statements leave aside the complex issue of co-evolution of elements of economic systems at different levels. It might very well be the case that in Europe shareholder value is a more important objective of management than before, but tak-