Sustainability and Corporate Law

可持续发展和公司法

• 批准号: 468131933
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Anne-Christin Mittwoch
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Bürgerliches Recht, europäisches und internationales Wirtschaftsrecht
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Publication Grants
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2020-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/468131933?language=en
• 关键词: Sustainability; Corporate; Law

The demand for more sustainable behaviour in businesses and on financial markets as well as the need for more sustainable economic activity in general, have become increasingly urgent not only since the outbreak of the financial crisis. There has been surprisingly little research considering the extent to which corporate law can act as a vehicle for sustainable behaviour in businesses and for building a sustainable economy. Not only is there a clear potential for innovation: the law with its prohibitions and restrictions as well as its enabling and incentive function can and perhaps has to be used to provide a regulatory framework for the positive developments that are already clearly emerging in the markets in terms of sustainability and common good and promote them wherever possible. Conversely, legal regulation can discipline companies that disregard respective existing requirements more strongly than before. Company law is particularly suitable to promote both aspects, as it directly addresses companies as the key players in the markets. Starting from the premise that a pure shareholder value orientation must be questioned, the interests of other stakeholders, such as employees, creditors and customers, as well as climate and environmental concerns are increasingly being moved into the focus of the legislator. In some EU member states but also at the Union level regulative measures are being discussed in order to promote the development of sustainable entrepreneurship; in some jurisdictions, corresponding instruments have recently been introduced. Among the discussed concepts are, on the one hand, instruments applicable to all enterprises, such as those of corporate social responsibility or sustainable investment, and, on the other hand, the legal promotion of enterprises that voluntarily commit themselves to the goal of sustainability, e.g. by introducing certification systems or providing unique legal forms.The monograph discusses – from a German and European perspective – which legislative instruments are available in the field of corporate law to promote sustainable corporate governance. In this vein, the question of the operability of the concept of sustainable development is discussed from a corporate law perspective. One focus is the examination of existing core concepts of corporate law that require re-evaluation in light of the current sustainability discourse. These core concepts, namely the question of the nature and purpose of the corporation, the figure of the company interest or the commitment of the stock corporation to the common good, do not directly touch upon sustainability issues as they are traditional and historical questions of corporate law. However, their re-evaluation is necessary in order to be able to effectively meet the current ecological, social and economic challenges of our time, that arise under the umbrella of sustainability in an international and intergenerational context.

不仅自金融危机爆发以来，对企业和金融市场更可持续行为的需求以及对总体上更可持续经济活动的需求已变得日益紧迫。令人惊讶的是，很少有研究考虑公司法在多大程度上可以作为企业可持续行为和建设可持续经济的工具。不仅存在着明显的创新潜力：法律及其禁止和限制以及其授权和激励功能可以而且也许必须用来为市场中在可持续性和共同利益方面已经明显出现的积极发展提供一个监管框架，并尽可能促进这些发展。相反，法律的监管可以比以前更严厉地惩罚那些无视各自现有要求的公司。公司法特别适合促进这两个方面，因为它直接将公司作为市场的主要参与者。从纯粹的股东价值取向必须受到质疑这一前提出发，雇员、债权人和客户等其他利益攸关方的利益以及气候和环境问题正日益成为立法者关注的焦点。在欧盟的一些成员国，以及在欧盟一级，正在讨论监管措施，以促进可持续创业的发展;在一些管辖区，最近出台了相应的文书。所讨论的概念一方面包括适用于所有企业的文书，如公司社会责任或可持续投资的文书，另一方面包括在法律的方面促进自愿致力于可持续性目标的企业，例如，通过引入认证系统或提供独特的法律的形式。该专著从德国和欧洲的角度讨论了在公司法领域有哪些立法文书可用于促进可持续的公司治理。在这方面，从公司法的角度讨论了可持续发展概念的可操作性问题。一个重点是审查公司法的现有核心概念，这些概念需要根据当前的可持续性讨论进行重新评估。这些核心概念，即公司的性质和目的问题、公司利益的代表或股份公司对共同利益的承诺，并不直接涉及可持续性问题，因为它们是公司法的传统和历史问题。然而，有必要对其进行重新评估，以便能够有效应对我们时代在国际和代际背景下可持续性保护伞下出现的当前生态、社会和经济挑战。