Brexit will have an immediate effect on about 14% of all EWCs because they are based on UK national law. -There are also UK representatives in more than 70% of EWCs. -By 2018, most UK-based EWCs had already discussed the impact of Brexit. However, almost half of the EWCs with UK representatives had not yet discussed what will happen. -Of those EWCs with UK representatives, most think the UK members will remain members of the EWC, quite a few do not know, and about 16% predict that they will not remain members.-
Policy pointersETUI publications are published to elicit comment and to encourage debate. The views expressed are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the ETUI nor those of the members of its general assembly.
Cet article contribue au débat sur l’efficacité des comités d’entreprise européens (CEE) en tant qu’institution des relations professionnelles européennes. A cette fin, il dresse le bilan des performances des CEE selon différents points de vue. Tout d’abord, une évaluation quantitative de l’évolution des CEE, fondée sur la base de données de l’ETUI, est utilisée pour démontrer que les CEE sont devenus un élément essentiel des relations professionnelles européennes. Ensuite, nous montrons que les CEE sont une institution dynamique de représentation des salariés, en constante évolution. L’évaluation de leur importance inclut l’examen de leur capacité de construction institutionnelle à différents niveaux. L’article examine également l’avenir des CEE. Dans ce contexte, il analyse brièvement la refonte de la directive 2009/38/CE. Les développements fonctionnels des pratiques des CEE (la signature d’accords transnationaux au niveau d’une entreprise) sont identifiés comme de nouveaux défis pour les années à venir. L’article conclut en affirmant que la position solide des CEE dans les relations professionnelles européennes peut être considérée comme une preuve évidente de succès dont les retombées positives se sont traduites par l’insertion de dispositions sur la représentation des salariés dans d’autres institutions de l’UE.
Overdue by nine years, contested by employers and awaited by trade unions, a review of the European works council Directive 94/45/EC finally became reality in 2009. This article presents background information about the positions of the European social partners and other institutional EU actors in order to understand the outcome of the events of 2008-09. Focus is directed towards providing a general overview of the new elements in the recast directive on European works councils (EWCs). Keeping the different views on EWCs of the social partners in perspective, the article argues that the recast directive, despite its shortcomings, represents progress rather than superficial cosmetic surgery.
The present article contributes to the debate on the failure or success of European Works Councils (EWCs) as an institution of European industrial relations. To this end it takes stock of EWC performance from various points of view. First, a quantitative evaluation of the development of EWCs, based on the ETUI database, is used to show that EWCs have become an essential element of European industrial relations. Second, we show that EWCs are a dynamic, constantly developing institution of employee representation. Their significance is assessed, including by looking at their institution-building capacity on various levels. The article also considers the future of EWCs. In this context the recent recast Directive 2009/38/EC is briefly discussed. Functional developments of EWC practice (signing company-level transnational agreements) are identified as new challenges for the coming years. The article concludes by arguing that the firm position of EWCs in European industrial relations can be viewed as a self-evident success, and has had positive spillover effects resulting in provisions on employee representation in other EU instruments.
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