Grant Thornton announced support to Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for internal market and services, and the European Commission in their efforts to improve the corporate governance framework in the EU, to ensure sustainable growth and to build a stronger international financial system.

As one of the leading global accounting organizations with member firm operations in 100 countries, Grant Thornton International believes any EU-wide corporate governance code should be based upon the “comply or explain” framework to reflect the difference in maturity of markets and companies across the EU.

In order for the comply or explain mechanism to be sufficiently rigorous, GT believes that monitoring bodies should be authorized to conduct an external check on compliance with corporate governance codes and the quality of explanations if a company elects not to comply. Sanctions should also be available.

According to Grant Thornton, greater shareholder involvement in establishing remuneration policy is to be encouraged. It should be mandatory within the “comply or explain” framework for there to be a vote by the shareholders on the remuneration policy and report.