European directors on shareholder views on corp gov

From ecoDa's response to the EC Green Paper on BOFI governance:

the views of institutional investors with respect to corporate governance are not necessarily synonymous with good governance from a long term sustainability perspective. They reflect the self-interest of a specific governance actor rather than the interests of stakeholders as a whole. Although their long term interest may be aligned, their interests may substantially differentiate in the short term.

Moreover, institutional shareholders are not the only form of shareholders whose views should be considered. Families, individuals, non-financial corporations and other forms of non-institutional shareholder play a major role in the ownership of many listed European companies (often via blockholdings or controlling ownership stakes). We are not aware that their perspectives were sought in the preparation of the Green Paper. However, their longer-term perspective would provide a useful counterweight to the disengaged and relatively short-termist investment approach of many institutional investors.