Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger and Italian Minister for Economic Development Carlo Calenda will launch a European platform of 12 existing and 9 future national initiatives on digitising industry, together with participating Ministers, State Secretaries and industry leaders.

Many family businesses opt for a solution in the form of a foundation or ‘shop’ for managers from outside the family.

17. Notes that 87 % of family businesses are convinced that maintaining control of the business is one of the key factors of success ; notes that, according to the Commission’s ‘Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan’ , the transfer of business ownership, together with the transfer of management from one generation to the next, is the greatest possible challenge facing family businesses;

3. Wishes to reinforce the requirement for proportionality of remuneration within companies by linking changes in the overall remuneration and pensions of directors to those of staff and by discouraging excessive risk-taking; considers that, for reasons of social justice and economic sustainability, the composition, structure and level of remuneration, bonuses, golden parachutes, stock options and pensions of the directors of listed companies, companies with public participation and/or companies receiving aid from the Member States or from the European Union must be capped, taking account of the various income situations in the Member S ...[+++]tates, and taxed, in accordance with the tax rules in force in the Member States, in order to contribute to the financing of social protection and public services; calls, therefore, for a European plan to combat tax havens to be devised in order to flesh out the intentions announced by the G20 in London and Pittsburgh;

Is it now necessary to introduce a European code of conduct for company management to promote transparency regarding directors’ salaries while at the same time respecting corporate diversity in Europe?

The growth in management pay has led to greater public interest in the level of actual remuneration for management activities.