Takeovers in Europe will continue to be controlled at a national level, even after the adoption of the European Union (EU) Takeover Directive, which requires member states to have rules on takeover regulation in place reflecting certain general principles. The Directive aims to provide an EU-wide framework by setting minimum requirements for the regulation of takeovers of companies whose securities are admitted to trading on regulated EU markets. The Directive came into force in May 2004 and is required to be implemented by member states within two years – which means by May 2006.
For a number of reasons, the Directive is unlikely to result in a uniform set of takeover rules throughout EU member states. These reasons include the fact that it is a minimum standards instruction and does not generally attempt to harmonise European takeover law. In practice, the Directive is likely to be implemented differently in each member state and takeover rules will vary as member states are allowed to impose their own additional and more rigorous takeover rules.
