This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Unclaimed
Georgina Tsagas
Brunel University , Uxbridge , UK

Basic Info

Basic Info is private.

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

The user biography is not available.
Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 25 May 2020 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

An overview of the European Union’s varying policies on the harmonisation of Member States’ company and securities laws dating back to the 1970s showcases the Commission’s averseness to deviate from the path dependence of the shareholder primacy norm and the existence of a series of policies that superficially afford attention to ‘stakeholders’ rights’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘corporate social responsibility’. The article seeks to demonstrate that the ‘greenwashing’ attempts it identifies in several of the Commission’s documents and legislative initiatives have given rise to problematic outcomes, one of which is the subsequent whitewashing of recent initiatives that aim to provide real support to sustainability concerns. The question the article sets out to answer is whether, at this stage in time, the main sociolegal challenges in the form of tensions that the Commission was faced with, in an attempt to address corporate governance at European level in a uniform manner, can now be resolved so as to better support sustainability. If so, what ‘softer’ options are available to the legislator to signal a renewed approach to corporate governance and a deviation from the path dependence shareholder primacy norm? The argument that the article puts forward is that in order to better complement the latest, more positive attempts, that aim to support corporations’ sustainable practices, a reform of European Union Member States’ Corporate Governance Codes to include a robust stakeholder friendly provision may well constitute one pragmatic way forward.

ACS Style

Georgina Tsagas. A Proposal for Reform of EU Member States’ Corporate Governance Codes in Support of Sustainability. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4328 .

AMA Style

Georgina Tsagas. A Proposal for Reform of EU Member States’ Corporate Governance Codes in Support of Sustainability. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (10):4328.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Georgina Tsagas. 2020. "A Proposal for Reform of EU Member States’ Corporate Governance Codes in Support of Sustainability." Sustainability 12, no. 10: 4328.

Article
Published: 08 January 2020 in Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Calls are repeatedly made on corporations to respond to the challenges facing the planet from a sustainable development perspective and governments take solace in the idea that corporations' transparency on their corporate activity in relation to sustainability through voluntary reporting is adequately addressing the problem. In practice, however, reporting is failing to deliver truly sustainable results. The article considers the following questions: how does the varied reporting landscape in the field of non-financial reporting impede the objectives of fostering corporations' sustainable practices and which initiative, among the options available, may best meet the sustainability objectives after a decluttering of the landscape takes place? The article argues that the varied corporate reporting landscape constitutes a key obstacle to fostering sustainable corporate behaviour, insofar as the flexible and please all approach followed in the context of corporate sustainability reporting offers little to no real incentive to companies to behave more sustainably and ultimately pleases none in the long run. The case made is that “less is more” in non-financial reporting initiatives and hence the article calls for a revision of key aspects of the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive, which, as is argued, is more likely to achieve the furtherance of sustainable corporate behaviour. Although the different reporting requirements offer the benefits of focussing on different corporate goals and activities, targeting different audiences and allowing for a level of flexibility that respects the individual risks to sustainability associated with each industry, the end result is a landscape that lacks overall consistency and comparability of measurements and accountabilities, making accountability more, rather than less, difficult to achieve. The article acknowledges the existence of several variances relating to the notion of sustainability per se, which continues to remain a contested concept and variances between companies and industries in relation to how each is operating sustainably or unsustainably respectively. Such variances have so far inhibited the legislator from easily outlining through tailored legislation the individual risks to global sustainability in an all-encompassing manner. The end product is a chaotic system of financial reporting, CSR reporting, non-financial reporting and integrated reporting and little progress to increase comparability and credibility in order for companies to be held accountable and to behave in ways that do not harm the planet. A “clean up” of the varied initiatives in the terrain of non-financial reporting is recommended.

ACS Style

Georgina Tsagas; Charlotte Villiers. Why “Less is More” in Non-Financial Reporting Initiatives: Concrete Steps Towards Supporting Sustainability. Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium 2020, 10, 1 .

AMA Style

Georgina Tsagas, Charlotte Villiers. Why “Less is More” in Non-Financial Reporting Initiatives: Concrete Steps Towards Supporting Sustainability. Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium. 2020; 10 (2):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Georgina Tsagas; Charlotte Villiers. 2020. "Why “Less is More” in Non-Financial Reporting Initiatives: Concrete Steps Towards Supporting Sustainability." Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium 10, no. 2: 1.