European Works Councils - Potentials and Obstacles On the Road to Employee Influence in Multinational Companies**

Zusammenfassung

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The theme addressed by this article is the opportunities for European Works Councils (EWCs) of gaining influence on corporate decisions in multinational companies (MNCs). The first part introduces the European Union Directive on European Works Councils as well as debated themes and previous research on EWCs; further it discusses the concept of supranational employee influence as distinct from employee influence at plant and national level. In the second part of the article findings from Danish research on EWCs are presented and analyzed; the focus is on employee influence and factors inhibiting employee influence. The research is based on surveys among Danish EWC representatives as well as among managers in Danish based MNCs. It is found that the level of employee influence through EWCs is relatively low. Attempting to explain this the article further identifies a number of factors tending to inhibit the formulation and articulation of employee interests at the supranational, European level. In the concluding part of the article the findings are summed up and their relevance for EWCs in general are discussed.

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Auszug

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European Works Councils - Potentials and Obstacles On the Road to Employee Influence in Multinational Companies**

1. The European Works Councils Directive

After two decades of discussion and several failed initiatives, the European Works Council (EWC) Directive, adopted by the European Union in 1994, represented a landmark regarding information and consultation of employees in multinational companies.

This piece of regulation was justified in general by the promise made by European policy-makers of adding a social dimension to the 1 European single market - a project that had been adopted in 1987 in spite of considerable scepticism within the European labour movement (Knudsen 1995). While the directive was presented as a concession to demands from the labour movement, the European Commission also stressed that it could help to build a new balance in the single market: It was argued that without structures for transnational information and consultation employees in one country "affected by decisions taken elsewhere by the parent undertaking...could be unequally treated" which "is bound to have a direct effect on the operation of the internal market" (CEC 1990). Confronted by strong opposition from employer organizations and individual multinational companies (MNCs), the Commission further argued that the dialogue between EWCs and managements would be likely to promote worker involvement and commitment and thus productivity (quoted by Kolvcnbach/Hanau 1987-).

The directive on European Works Councils applies to companies or groups of companies with more than 1000 employees (and at least 150 employees in two different countries) within the European Economic Area (EEA = the 15 EU member states + Norway, Iceland and liechtenstein). Such multinational companies, no matter whether they are based in EEA countries or outside (in for instance the US or Japan), are obliged to set up an EWC if requested to do so by the employee representatives. The EWC may be an employee-only body or a joint body for management and employee representatives.^ It is entitled to be informed and consulted by the central management on strategic issues as well as employment issues in so far as these involve employees in more than one country; typically therefore for example restructuring involving t...

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