Corporate governance and sustainability: an overview of the new trends in the European Union

Corporate governance is put under the spotlight by new trends in the European Union. The commitment of firms to sustainable corporate governance is under the scrutiny of governments, supervising authorities, financial markets, the social sphere and not least, traditional, and new media. A significant volume of academic and professional literature demonstrates that good corporate governance practices may increase firm performance by leading companies to a more sustainable value creation process. Relevant changes in the corporate governance structures are stimulated by new disclosure requirements established by the European Commission though the approval of the ESRS standards on governance and business integrity. In Italy the corporate governance code plays a fundamental role in promoting ethical values and good corporate governance practices, even if the SMEs context is facing difficulties in implementing ESG issues in their governance structure as some surveys demonstrated. Corporate conduct and business integrity are becoming the main tools for strengthening corporate reputation and promoting stakeholder trust.