The concept of workers' involvement in EU labour law : the European works councils experience

Abstract

The title of this dissertation: 'The concept of Wokers' Involvement in EU Law: The European Works Councils Experience' highlights the fact that European Works Councils are an important component of EU Social Dialogue and a fine example of workers' participation at company level. The title also denotes that the EWC experience has been a journey of discovery in which the social partners have learnt that they can also engage in social dialogue at the enterprise level for the benefit of the multi-national company involved and for its workforce. The path taken by the EU was not an easy one and several previous attempts over the years to create a forum of information and consultation for employees at a transnational level had failed. It was only sixteen years ago, after a lengthy period of discussions, proposals and protracted negotiations that the European Council of Ministers adopted Council Directive 94/45/EC on the establishment of European Works Councils on 22nd September 1994. This Directive, for the first time in Europe, laid down that in all companies with a total of at least 1,000 employees working in at least two nation-states with at least 150 employees each in the European Economic Area should have the opportunity to elect a European Works Council (EWC) as their interest-representation body. This placed an obligation on European management of the companies covered by the Directive to inform and consult their EWC prior to taking important decisions that affect their employees. Member States, companies and workers were also given a considerable degree of flexibility. Member States were granted two years (up to September 2006) to transpose the Directive into national law - at company level, management and workers' representatives were allowed to a agree upon the nature, composition, delegation modes and working conditions of their EWC as long as they respected certain parameters laid down by the Directive. The most interesting and exciting feature of the EWC is that it is unique not only in Europe but also in the world, for four reasons, as stated by Hertwig et altri1 - first of all, because they are European law-based non-profit organizations; secondly because they are based on the different national transposition laws of the countries where the corresponding multi-national companies are active; thirdly, and very significantly, they operate on the basis of an agreement negotiated at the European level between management and workers‟ representatives; and fourthly, they have a transnational scope as they are directed towards European-wide active companies as profit organizations embedded exclusively in the corresponding national legal systems. EWCs, however, are not only very interesting and unique in organizational, institutional and academic terms. In the past sixteen years they have evolved into instruments of social dialogue and their impact on labour regulation at the European level should not be underestimated. Notwithstanding the fact that only about one third of all companies falling under the EWC Directive have actually established an EWC, even at their inception, at a time when the EU consisted of only 15 Member States, they represented a total of 17 million people working in companies with an EWC. In a larger EU of 27 Member States and including the EEA States, their importance has at least doubled as EWC coverage increases. This study will therefore examine the growth of European Works Councils over the past sixteen years from a forum of „information and consultation‟ and social dialogue into a platform for the creation of Global Framework Agreements and as a tool for democratization not only in Europe but also worldwide. The first chapter will document the development of EU social policy with particular reference to workers‟ participation and how social dialogue developed into a corner-stone of EU social policy. The second chapter will present the principal theme of this study, the development of the European Works Council as a vital tool in bilateral social dialogue between the ever-increasingly important multinational companies (MNCs) and their employees. The third chapter will involve a comparative study of the way European Works Councils evolved in five EU countries, namely the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Malta and how national differences in workers‟ participation traditions have influenced the performance of EWCs. The fourth chapter will examine the concept of the EU in the world and how EWCs can serve as a stepping-stone for the creation of global framework agreements and as an instrument of democratization throughout the world. In conclusion, the study will examine the way forward for EWCs and how the current global social, economic and political climate will influence their development.