Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Company Law. Shareholders’ Meetings and Resolutions

The world is currently facing a COVID-19 pandemic which exerts a considerable impact on all areas of society. The need to avoid personal contact with other people gives rise to major problems in personal life, education, labor market, services and many others. The public had to rapidly adjust to the new situation and national legislators have played a pivotal role by making amendments to national legal orders to facilitate everyday life. The difficulties affected the functioning of companies’ organs, in particular, the adoption of resolutions by shareholders’ meetings. Due to the obstacles in the functioning of these bodies, the legislators were forced to make amendments to company law that allow for the adoption of resolutions and the exercise of shareholders’ rights without the physical attendance at the meeting. The aim of this paper is to carry out a brief comparative analysis of the regulations concerning the use of electronic communication means at shareholders’ meetings in Poland and in some selected European legal orders and formulate de lege ferenda postulates for the legislators to introduce flexible instruments that will allow companies to operate using electronic means on a larger scale and simultaneously protect shareholders’ rights.