German business votes with its feet

A growing number of German companies are rejecting their country's controversial laws on worker representation on the board and considering registering as public companies in the UK.

According to the Financial Times, thanks to a requirement that forces all firms with more than 500 employees to reserve a third of board positions for workers representatives – and those with more than 2,000 staff to reserve half the seats on the board – a number of medium-sized companies are considering following the lead of Air Berlin and moving out of Germany altogether.

Moreover, the report points out, an astonishing 30,000 German firms have registered themselves in the UK since 2002 to escape the costs of incorporating at home.

The UK is also the favoured option for French entrepreneurs escaping their own labyrinthine web of regulatory overkill – although for how much longer, given the British government's strenuous efforts to ramp up the regulatory burden, remains to be seen.

When will Europe's politicians learn that business florishes only when they stay out of the way?