Corporate lawyers’ hopes that sustained continental European expansion would be matched by the introduction of a European Union-wide (EU-wide) takeover code look set to be dashed as European ministers announced this month that they had failed to reach agreement on the long-delayed code.

On 19 May, European ministers said they had failed to reach agreement, amid mounting indications that the flagship European Commission (EC) directive is dead in the water, despite 14 years of talks.