Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The European Council, representing the EU member states, reached an agreement with the European Parliament on a new revised directive aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of worker representation in large multinational companies. This amendment will amend the current directive on European Works Councils (EWCs), facilitating their establishment, improving their funding, and enhancing their protection. According to a European statement issued in Brussels,
"European Works Councils play a vital role in ensuring that employees of large multinational companies are informed and consulted on transnational issues affecting them. By improving the consultation process, the resources available to European Works Councils, and their access to justice, the agreement reached today between the Council and Parliament addresses the weaknesses of the 2009 Directive and further strengthens worker representation." According to the statement, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak, Poland's Minister for Family, Labour, and Social Policy, whose country currently holds the EU Presidency,
The new directives aim to make the law governing child and youth care centers clearer, more effective, and easier to implement. Key elements of the Council's agreement with Parliament include:
Cross-border matters: The scope of cross-border matters has been clarified to ensure that decisions that significantly affect workers in more than one Member State require the European Labour Committee to be informed and consulted, without this extending to day-to-day decisions or issues that only slightly affect employees.
Gender representation: The Council and Parliament agreed to strive for more balanced gender representation on European Labour Committees.
Confidentiality: Withholding or confidentiality of information may only be requested if objective criteria are met and as long as the reasons justifying such restrictions persist.
Access to justice: The new agreement strengthens provisions relating to access to judicial and administrative proceedings (where applicable), including ensuring that costs related to legal representation and participation are covered.
Sanctions: If a company fails to comply with the rules set out in the directive, financial sanctions must be sufficiently dissuasive, taking into account various factors such as the seriousness, duration, consequences, and nature of the breach, whether intentional or negligent.
The provisional agreement reached Tuesday evening requires the endorsement of the Member States' ambassadors. The new rules will be adopted after a linguistic legal review, and Member States must incorporate the provisions of the Directive into their national laws within two years of its entry into force. They must implement the provisions of the Directive within three years at the latest.
The European Work Committees are information and advisory bodies representing European workers in multinational companies with more than 1,000 employees and operating in at least two EU or EEA countries.
On 24 January 2024, the Commission submitted a proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2009/38/EC on the establishment and functioning of European Work Committees and the effective enforcement of transnational information and advisory rights. The Directive aims to address shortcomings in current legislation relating to European Work Committees, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of the employee information and advisory framework at the transnational level.
The Council approved its mandate for negotiations with Parliament on 20 June 2024. Negotiations began on 6 February 2025 and concluded with this agreement.