L’“emergenza” della sostenibilità nel prisma del new normal del diritto d’impresa europeo

In addition to the measures aimed at containing the economic damages suffered by businesses and at guaranteeing their survival (where possible), the reform stimulated by the emergency in the field of company law goes deeper and touches upon some of the key principles of the system. In fact, the pandemic has urgently reopened the field of investigation regarding the public dimension of businesses, and their possible proactive role in the protection of values that are not strictly economic, such as health or the environment. This contribution investigates the impact of the contemporary health crisis on the system of company law, highlighting not only the lines of intervention that have “emerged”, but also the “submerged” reforms, destined to continue, beyond the emergency’s "contingencies", in the form of a new normal. The first regulatory interventions aimed at tackling the health emergency led to the temporary suspension of some ordinary regimes. Three examples are to be found in some of the provisions on corporate crises, in the European regulations on competitive agreements and, finally, in the European regulations on financial disclosure. As will be shown, these temporary regimes have been the precondition of more lasting reforms that the pandemic has triggered in the ‘genetic codes’ of business law. For each of the above-mentioned temporary regimes, the contribution will therefore review the most profound reflections that the emergency situation, which is indeed persistent due to the current geopolitical situation, has been stimulating, in the light of the most recent regulatory developments. Finally, particular attention will be given to the transformations induced by the – now normalised – emergency on the internal level of corporate governance. The study maps the sustainability emergence initiated by the exceptional corporate regimes, which – starting from special rules and the suspension of ordinary rules – have stimulated a greater consideration, at normative level, of businesses’ social responsibility. As will be shown, this new regulatory trend is directly linked to two main trajectories that have been consolidated in the wake of the health crisis: the digital transformation of business and the relevance – no longer deferrable – of social interests summarised in the formula E-S-G.