The Board of Directors has eight members elected by the General Meeting. It also has four members elected by the employees in accordance with the Danish Companies Act. The employee-elected members have the same rights and obligations as the members elected by the General Meeting and are elected for a term of four years. The most recent employee elections took place in 2006.
Thus the Board of Directors has a total of 12 members. The Board of Directors finds this number of members appropriate.
Five of the members elected by the General Meeting are affiliated to the Carlsberg Foundation, the Company’s principal shareholder, and have an academic background, while three have a business background. This composition ensures appropriate breadth in the members’ approach to their duties, and the Board of Directors is of the opinion that this helps to ensure high-quality deliberation and decisions.
The members of the Board of Directors are elected individually. At each Annual General Meeting the three longest-serving shareholder-elected members step down. They may be reelected. Members must also step down at the first General Meeting after reaching the age of 70.
When recommending candidates for election at the General Meeting, the Board of Directors distributes in advance a presentation of each individual candidate’s background, relevant competences and any other managerial positions or demanding positions of responsibility, and the Board of Directors justifies its recommendations on the basis of the criteria which the Board of Directors has laid down for recruitment.
A description of the composition of the Board of Directors and the individual members’ particular competences with respect to the work of the Board of Directors can be found in a separate section of the Annual Report 2006.