Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG's supervisory board voted to retain a 20 percent blocking-minority rule in the company charter, a move aimed at stalling Porsche SE's efforts to take over Europe's largest carmaker.

The board abolished a separate provision limiting investors to 20 percent of the votes regardless of their stake, Christian Wulff, prime minister of the German state of Lower Saxony and a Volkswagen board member, said in a statement today. Porsche Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking and other representatives from the sports-car manufacturer abstained.

Lower Saxony holds 20 percent of Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, while Porsche, the maker of the 911 sports car, owns 30 percent. The charter reflects terms of Germany's so-called Volkswagen Law governing the carmaker's corporate structure. The European Union's top court overturned the law last year, saying it unfairly retained state power with investor-vote restrictions, board-seat rules and the blocking minority.

The board vote today ``is a turning point for Lower Saxony and it shows the European Court of Justice's decisions being executed meticulously,'' Wulff said.

The German government and Wulff have said the ruling only forced them to abandon the shareholder-vote limits and guarantees of board seats for the Lower Saxony and the federal government. Wulff said today that he thinks retaining the 20 percent blocking-minority rule in the charter is in line with German and European law. Publicly traded German companies usually require a minimum 25 percent stake for a blocking minority.

Porsche favors repealing the Volkswagen law and has opposed German moves to amend it following the EU court's ruling. Frank Gaube, a spokesman at the Stuttgart, Germany-based carmaker, and Peik von Bestenbostel, a Volkswagen spokesman, both declined to comment on the board decision.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Wolfsburg, Germany, via kmatussek@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 12, 2008 11:58 EDT