Brussels, 28/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The United Kingdom will have to complete transposition into national law of the new EU directive on European work councils (recasting of the previous directive), which has not been transposed throughput the country. If the United Kingdom fails to comply in the next two months, the European Commission, which sent the country a reasoned opinion on Monday 27 February, could decide to take the matter to the European Court of Justice.
Member states were obliged to put the legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions into force in order to comply with the new directive on European Work Councils by 5 June 2011 at the latest and to inform the Commission that this has been carried out. The measures adopted in 2010 by the United Kingdom did not apply to Gibraltar. The British authorities stated that this shortcoming would be rectified in November 2011. The Commission, however, has still not received any information on measures taken in this regard. In July 2011, it sent letters of formal notice to 17 member states that were still not in compliance. Out of these 17 infringement procedures, 12 were concluded because the member states concerned transposed the directive into national law. One procedure is pending whilst awaiting the final points of information and three are still ongoing, after a reasoned opinion was sent to the member states concerned: Greece, Italy and Luxembourg, in November 2011.
In 1994, the 94/45/EC directive introduced the right to set up European works councils in companies and groups of companies employing more than a thousand workers with a minimum of 150 workers in each at least two different member states. There are currently a thousand European works councils, representing more than 18 million workers. These councils allow workers in European companies to be represented, informed and consulted at transnational level by their management on developments affecting their company and with regard to any important decision that is likely to affect them. The recasting of the directive was aimed at adapting the text of the directive to the new economic and social climate, given the increased number of multinational companies and restructuring operations carried out on a massive scale over recent years. (LC/transl.fl)