Fact Sheets on the European Union – 2 - EU Bookshop - Europa

Objectives
The Community supports and complements Member States’
activities relating to the information and consultation of
workers with a view to contributing to the achievement of the
core objectives of the European social policy set out in
Article 136 of the EC Treaty.
Achievements
A. Background
Information, consultation and participation of workers have
been a key theme in European debate since the first social
action programme was adopted by the Council in 1974. The
Social Charter stresses the desirability of promoting employee
participation.
The Commission’s proposals in this area, however, have often
encountered resistance. It should be remembered that the EC
Treaty only provides a proper legal basis for Community
legislation in the field of information and consultation of
workers since the Amsterdam Treaty has integrated the
agreement on social policy into the text of the EC Treaty
(Article 137, with co-decision applying). Previously adopted
legislation was mainly based on either Article 44 or Articles 94
to 95 of the EC Treaty, providing for Community measures
aimed at attaining freedom of establishment or the
approximation of laws in the common or internal market.
Council Directive 94/45/EC was adopted in accordance with
the agreement on social policy and extended to the United
Kingdom in 1997.
B. Legislation in force
Most of the directives adopted by the Council deal with the
right of workers to be informed and consulted on a number of
important issues concerning the economic performance, the
financial soundness and plans on the company’s future
developments that could affect employment. However, these
directives do not contain any provision conferring on
employees the right to participate in decision-making.
— Council Directive 75/129/EEC of 17 February 1975 on
collective redundancies, as amended by Directives 92/56/
EEC and 98/59/EC: Under this directive, employers must
enter into negotiations with workers in the event of mass
redundancy, with a view to identifying ways and means of
avoiding collective redundancies or reducing the number
of workers affected and mitigating the consequences.
— Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the
safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of transfers
of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or
businesses (consolidating Directives 77/187/EC and 98/50/
EC): Under this, workers must be informed of the reasons
for the transfer and its consequences.
— Council Directive 78/855/EEC of 9 October 1978 on
mergers of public limited liability companies: Pursuant to
this directive workers in companies which merge are
protected to the same extent as laid down in the directive
on the transfer of undertakings.
— Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the
introduction of European works councils: This directive was
adopted in accordance with the agreement on social
policy and extended to the United Kingdom in 1997. It
introduced an innovation in that, unlike previous directives
in this area, it does not address specific situations but
contains general rules to ensure that workers in large
multinational companies and merging undertakings are
informed and consulted. Workers have also been
recognised certain rights to information and consultation
in regard to the working environment. A proposal for
revising this directive has been adopted by the European
Commission on 2 July 2008.
— Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general
framework for informing and consulting employees in the
European Community: This directive lays down minimum
common requirements for national provisions on
protecting the right of workers to be informed and
consulted on the economic and employment situation
affecting their workplace.
— Council Directive 2001/86/EC of 8 October 2001
supplementing the statute for a European company with
regard to the involvement of employees: The statute for a
European public limited-liability company, adopted by
Council Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001, is complemented
by an indissociable directive establishing rules on the
participation of workers in decisions concerning the
strategic development of the company.
— Council Directive 2003/72/EC of 22 July 2003
supplementing the statute for a European cooperative
society (Council Regulation (EC) No 1435/2003) with regard
to the involvement of employees: This directive sets rules
on the mechanisms to be foreseen in European
cooperative societies to ensure that employees’
representatives may exercise an influence on the running
of the undertaking.
The proposals for Council regulations on a ‘European
association’ and a ‘European mutual society’, together with the
proposals for Council directives containing supplementary
provisions on the involvement of workers (COM(93) 252) were
finally withdrawn by the European Commission in 2006.
Role of the European Parliament
Parliament has adopted several resolutions calling for workers
to have the right to be involved in company decision-making.
The EP’s position is that workers should not only be entitled to
be informed and consulted but that they should also have the
right to participate in decision-making. The right to
information, consultation and participation in decision-making
should apply in both national and transnational companies
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