European Commission: Consultation on possible revision of EWCs Directive

On 20 April, the Commission launched the first stage of a consultation of the EU-level social partners on the possible revision of the European Works Councils (EWCs) Directive.

This long-awaited consultation document asks the EU-level social partners how they think the EWCs Directive, which dates from 1994, can best respond to the challenges of a changing economic and social environment. It states that around 650 companies or groups have now set up an EWC and that these bodies cover an estimated 11 million employees. It is also of the view that EWCs have been highly successful in providing access to information and consultation for employees involved in decision-making processes and obtaining their feedback on company development, especially in relation to managing change.

However, it also states that the world has changed since the Directive was adopted in 1994. Since then, the EU has launched and is implementing an employment strategy, encompassing concrete targets for labour market participation, and Europe has experienced large-scale and ongoing corporate restructuring exercises. Further, there have been changes in the regulatory framework surrounding employee involvement. These changes are in the form of a Directive, dealing with employee involvement in a European Company and in a European Cooperative Society, and the new Directive on national-level information and consultation rules. It believes that enlargement of the EU will also have an impact on EWCs, increasing the number of companies affected by the Directive and leading to the expansion of existing EWCs in companies that operate subsidiaries in the new member states.

In addition, as the EU social dialogue expands, the areas covered by EWCs are also increasing - topics such as health and safety, equal opportunities policy, and training and mobility are being considered more frequently.

Bearing all these issues in mind, the Commission has been preparing its consultation for some time. As part of its preparations, it briefed the European Economic and Social Committee to formulate an Opinion on the possible revision of the Directive, which was issued in September 2003 (Opinion on EWCs Directive revision ). After reviewing the contents of this Opinion, the Commission decided to launch the first phase of social partner consultation, in accordance with Article 138 of the Treaty establishing The European Community (TEC). The social partners are asked to give their opinion on the following:

• how best to ensure that the potential of EWCs to promote constructive and fruitful transnational social dialogue at the level of the undertaking - which will benefit both companies and their employees - is fully realised in the years ahead;
• the possible direction of Community action in this regard, including, as the case may be, the revision of the EWCs Directive; and
• the role the social partners themselves can play in addressing the issues that arise, having regard, as appropriate, to their recent reflections on related issues in the context of managing change and its social consequences. This is a reference to the social partners' joint text entitled "Orientations of reference for managing change and its social consequences", concluded in June 2003 (International: Socially responsible enterprise restructuring - part one ).

Under the provisions of the TEC, if, after this consultation process, the Commission considers Community action to be advisable, it will consult the social partners once more on the content of the envisaged proposal. At this point, the social partners may decide whether they want to try to negotiate an EU-level agreement on the subject. EIRR will look at this topic in more detail in a future issue.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2004/apr/ewc_consultation_en.pdf