14.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC161/31
Thefollowingmembers,presentorrepresented,abstained:
Mr/Mrs/Miss:BERNABEI ,BERNS,DUNKEL,ENGELEN-KEFER ,HAGEN,LAPPAS,LARSEN,MER­
CIER,PAVLOPOULOS .
APPENDIX 111
totheopinionoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FollowingthevotebyrollcallonthecompletetextoftheOpinion,thefollowingmembersofGroupII
(Workers),whohadvotedagainstthetext,issuedadeclarationcontainingthetextofthecounter-Opinion
setoutinAppendixI
Mr/Mrs/Miss:ABEJONRESA,ATTLEY,BAEZA,BLESER,BRIESCH,CAL,CARROLL,CASSINA,
CHRISTIE,COLOMBO ,DECAILLON ,vanDIJK,DRAIJER,DRILLEAUD ,ETTY,EULEN,FLUM,
FREEMAN,GEUENICH ,GOMEZMARTINEZ ,GROBEN,JANSSEN,JENKINS,deKNEGT,LACA
MARTIN,LIVERANI,LYONS,MADDOCKS ,MASUCCI ,MOLINAVALLEJO,MORRIS,MOURGUES ,
NIELSENB.,NIELSENP.,NIERHAUS ,PE,PIETTE,SANDERSON ,SANTILLAN CABEZA,SANTOS,
SCHMITZ ,vonSCHWERIN ,SEQUEIRA ,SMITH,THEONAS ,TIXIER,VERBOVEN ,WAGENMANS ,
WALDACK ,ZUFIAURNARVAIZA .
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveamendingDirective80/390/EECcoordinating
theRequirementsfortheDrawing-up ,ScrutinyandDistributionoftheListingParticulars
tobePublishedfortheAdmissionofSecuritiestoOfficialStockExchangeListing,with
regardtotheObligationtoPublishListingParticulars (!)
(93/C161/09)
On22February1993theCouncildecided,inaccordancewithArticle54(2)oftheEEC
Treaty,toconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommitteeontheabovementioned proposal.
TheCommitteeinstructeditsSectionforEconomic,FinancialandMonetaryQuestionsto
carryoutthepreparatorywork.DuringitsworktheCommitteeappointedMrMeyer-Horn
Rapporteur-General (Articles18and46oftheRulesofProcedure).
Atits305thPlenarySession(meetingof28April1993),theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedunanimouslythefollowingOpinion.
—thereportingofqualifyingholdings;
—issueprospectuses ;and
—theprohibitionofinsidertrading.1.Introduction
1.1.ThefirstECdirectivesonsecuritiesandstock
marketsweredevotedentirelytoinvestorprotection .
Theycoveredtheharmonization of:
—theconditionstobesatisfiedinordertoqualifyfor
astockexchangelisting;
—thelistingprospectusitself;
—theregularcommunications oflistedcompanies;Adirectiveonpublictakeoverbidsisstilllacking.The
investmentservicesandcapitaladequacydirectiveswill
placefreedomofestablishment andthefreedomto
provideservicesundertheaegisofhomecountrysuper­
vision,whilethesupplementary directiveoninvestment
firms'clearingschemeswillagaindealwithinvestor
protection . HOJNoC23,27.1.1993,p.6.

NoC161/32 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 14.6.93
tobepublishedfortheadmissionofsecuritiestoofficial
stockexchangelisting.1.2.Sincethe1980ListingParticularsDirective,capi­
talmovementsintheEChavebeenliberalised.Compe­
titionrelationshipsbetweensecuritiesmarketshavealso
changed.InmanyMemberStatestheso-called
'regional'stockexchangeshavelostgroundtothecoun­
try'sleadingmarket.Andtheleadingmarketsinthe
MemberStateshavelosttradingvolumetointer­
nationalcomputertradingsystems,especiallyinshare
dealing.Itseekstosimplifycompanies'listingobligationsin
threeways:
2.1.Listedcompaniesseekingafurtherlistingin
otherMemberStateswouldnolongerhavetopublish
anewlistingprospectus,butmerelyasimplifiedsetof
documents .1.3.TheCommissionhasalwayssupportedanopen­
ing-upofstockexchangesonaEuropeanscale.Aslong
agoasNovember1980itorganisedasymposiumin
Brusselswiththetheme'TowardsaEuropeanStock
Market'.Intheyearswhichfollowed,theECstock
exchangescommittee,theforerunnerofthepresent
association,madeintensivepreparationsforanonline
stockexchangeassociation .2.2.Companieswhoseshareshavebeentradedona
regulatedsecond-tiermarketinthesameMemberState
formorethantwoyearsandwhowishtobeofficially
listedwouldalsonolongerhavetopublishafulllisting
prospectus,butwouldmerelyhavetomakeavailable
thedatacontainedinsuchadocument .
2.3.Finally,andmostimportant,allinformation,
notices,posters,documentsetc.wouldonlyhavetobe
publishedinalanguagewhichinvestorsinthehost
MemberStatecouldeasilyunderstand,ratherthanin
theofficiallanguageofthecountry.1.3.1.Thestockexchangescommittee'sprojectwas
initiallyanambitioustradingsystemknownasIDIS,
thenasPIPEorEuroquote,andnowthesomewhat
moremodestEurolist.Despitebigdifficultiesinco­
ordinatingthevariousideas,apromptstartwasalways
announcedfortherelevantproject,asisthecasenow
forthelessambitiousEurolist.Thisissupposedto
providesimultaneouslistingforthesharesofsome250
largeECcompaniesinatleast5ECexchangesoutside
theirhomecountry(350companiesfromthewhole
EuropeanEconomicArea,orEEA).
3.Generalcomments
1.3.2.,Tobringaboutsimultaneouslisting,represen­
tativesofthestockexchangesapproachedtheCom­
missionwiththeirwishforsimplificationoftheListing
ParticularsDirective.Thisunusualbutcommendable
stepisexpresslymentionedintheExplanatoryMemor­
andumofthepresentproposal[doc.COM(92)556fin
—SYN451].3.1.Theoriginal1980Directivewascriticisedatthe
timebecauseitsrequirementswouldmakeprospectuses
tooweightyanddifficulttoread.Shareholders ,how­
ever,aremainlyinterestedinthelatestnews.So,in
1987afirstamendmenttotheDirectiveprovidedforthe
mutualrecognitionoflistingparticularsandasecond
amendmentin1990extendedthisprincipletoissue
prospectuses .
1.4.Alargenumberofforeignshareshavebeen
llistedonECexchangesforsometime,buttrading
volumeleavesalottobedesired.AnoperationalEurol­
istsystemcouldboostbusinessbecausetherewouldno
longerbeanyfearofarbitrageandbuyersofforeign
shareswouldplaceordersontheirownmarkets.3.2.Thepresentproposaltoupdatetheoriginal,
completelistingprospectuswithamuchshorterdocu­
mentanddoawaywithlongandcostlytranslations
wherepossibleisthenextlogicalstep.
3.3.Ofcourse,theremaywellbeargumentsover
whatlanguagescanbeeasilyunderstoodinaMember
Stateifthecompetentauthoritieshavenotpreviously
takenadecisiononthematter(seepoint4.1.5below).2.Aimofthepresentproposal
Theaimofthepresentproposal[doc.COM(92)566
fin—SYN451]istoamendDirective80/390/EEC,
whichco-ordinatestherequirementsforthedrawing­
up,scrutinyanddistributionofthelistingparticulars3.4.Itwillalsobeeasierforcompaniesinjunior
marketsto'moveup'toanofficiallisting.Thisisa
goodthing,althoughithasnothingtododirectlywith
theso-called'EurolistDirective'.

14.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC161/33
andLuxembourgandthroughderivedfinancialinstru­
ments.3.5.TheESCsupportstheproposeddirective,sub­
jecttothespecificcommentsmadebelow.
4.1.3.Essentialamendments ordevelop­
ments
4.Specificcomments
4.1.TheCommission'sattentionisdrawntoanum­
berofpointswhichneedtobeclarifiedoramended:
4.1.1.Timelimits
ThenewArticle6(4)(d)referstonationallegislationor
regulations,inrecognitionofthesubsidiarityprinciple.
Thefreeprovisionofinformation'attheofficeofthe
payingagents'wouldmean,withinafairlyshorttime,
thatallthebranchesoftherelevantcreditinstitution
wouldhavetobesuppliedwithsuchdocuments;this
wouldnotbepractical,asexperiencewiththeStock
ExchangeAccessDirective79/279/EEChasshown.ThesecondindentofthenewArticle6(4)(d)(i)contains
theprincipalitemofthenewdocument,butthevague­
nessofitswordingcouldcausedifficultiesofinterpret­
ationindisputes;justwhatare'essentialamendments
ordevelopments'?
4.1.4.'Movingup'fromthesecond-tier
market
ThewordingofArticle6(5)('....intheopinionofthe
competentauthorities...')alsorepresentsafar-reaching
concessiontotheprincipleofsubsidiarity,especiallyas
anofficiallistingcan,afterthreeyears,bethebasisfor
alistingabroad.
4.1.5.Investorsandlanguages
'AlanguagewhichinvestorsinthehostMemberState
caneasilyunderstand'isahighlyproblematical con­
cept,evenifreferenceismadeintheExplanatoryMem­
orandumtocurrentjurisprudence .Oneneedonlythink
oftheDecisionoftheEuropeanCourtofJusticeincase
NoC-369/89(PiagemeandothersversusBVBAPeeters)
concerningfoodlabelling.Itisnotnecessaryforprivate
investorstohaveanabove-average knowledgeoffor­
eignlanguages.Ifonewishedtointerpretthisprovision
broadly,itwouldbebettertorefertothestaffof
investmentfirms.4.1.2.Bondsandtapissues
TheEurolistprojectdoesnotcoversuchsecurities.Any
interestinforeignlistingsofsuchpaperisunlikely,as
theinternationalinterpenetration ofbondmarketshas
alreadybeenextensivelyachievedbytelephoneand
computertradingthroughEuromarketssuchasLondon
DoneatBrussels,28April1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN