Country of ownership  Click on the diagrams to enlarge |
Since more than ten years does it exist: the EU Directive on European Works Councils
(EWC Directive). In the moment of its approval by the EU council of ministers in September 1994, all parties involved
already looked back to more than 20 years of discussion. Up to the last day the employers' associations tried to make the
proposal fail. Locations in different countries can easier be played off against each other if the workers'
representatives cannot maintain transnational contacts. Since April 2004 the legislation procedure to revise the EWC
Directive is running, background information and the current situation has been arranged on a special website. Despite the legal basis 65% of the 2,204 companies affected by this Directive haven't established any EWC yet. In June 2005 only in 770 companies existed one or several European works councils, without the numerous mergers it would have been almost 900 (figures in the diagrams on the left are of December 2004). Many smaller companies in additon to some bigger ones are still looking forward to form an EWC. The threshold to establish a European works council is 1,000 employees Europe-wide and - thereof - at least 150 in two different countries. On the way to set up an EWC our advisers try to lead you through the maze of laws and directives. We can help to establish contacts in other countries and to the trade union organisations in Brussels as well as to become familiar with the different cultural values and traditions of workplace representation systems. As independent advisors we can help you stay on track during the negotiations with your management. In advising existing European works councils, we incorporate our experiences from comparable situations in other companies. Our consultancy service: → Prior to the EWC establishment → The first session of the EWC (... and then) → Renegotiation of existing EWC agreements |
