LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Danone’s governance shakeup falls short. The 39 billion euro French yoghurt maker on Monday said it would split the roles of chief executive and chairman, after pressure from activist shareholders. But incumbent Emmanuel Faber will stay on for now in the latter role. It’s hardly a move that suggests an appetite for change. The maker of Évian and Volvic waters has been under attack from investors Bluebell Capital Partners and Artisan Partners Asset Management, who called for the two top jobs to be split, and for new people to do them. Danone’s counterproposal, which it said came from Faber himself, takes the first step but not the second. It may also create fresh governance challenges. There’s already a shortage of qualified candidates who can take on the role of fixing Danone, whose shares have returned just 28% to investors since Faber took over in 2014, underperforming rivals Unilever and Nestlé. The risk now is that any credible successor will be put off applying if they know that Faber will be hovering over them. And if he continues to exert control, it makes Artisan’s plan of breaking up his empire and selling underperforming brands less likely. Danone’s other governance tweaks may not please the activists much either. The decision to name two current board members, Gilles Schnepp and Cécile Cabanis, as joint vice-chairs only adds complexity. Jean-Michel Severino will now be the lead independent director, but he was first appointed to the board a decade ago. Both Bluebell and Artisan have called for the committee to be beefed up by external appointments with consumer experience. Finally, Faber used the opportunity to laud his “Local First” plan, which aims to simplify the group by unifying different management entities in each country. Yet the board could have used the opportunity to say it was reviewing business lines and considering asset sales, as the activists have called for. The cool response in Danone’s shares, which fell 1% on Tuesday morning, suggests the French group’s governance overhaul has a long way to go.