The European Parliament wants to encourage Member States to strengthen employee financial participation (EFP) in companies, in an own-initiative report drafted by Renate Weber (ALDE, Romania) and adopted by a very large majority (569 votes in favour, 39 against, 10 abstentions).
According to MEPs, based on various studies, companies organising an EFP have higher production and growth than others (around 2%). However, this form of shareholding is very diverse within the Union, with some Member States, such as France or Sweden, at the forefront, and others lagging behind, such as the Czech Republic and Estonia.
MEPs therefore call on the Commission to make appropriate recommendations to encourage Member States and companies, particularly SMEs, to strengthen employee financial participation in company results.
Not without some safeguards. In their view, the regime should in any case protect workers' income security, not exploit workers in crisis situations, not shift entrepreneurial risk to workers, and finally, ensure a high level of protection for workers' investments. In particular, they insist that this participation should remain voluntary.
They also suggest that Member States introduce incentives, including tax incentives, and raise awareness to encourage this form of shareholding. In addition, they invite the Commission to implement the five-point plan contained in the Pilot Project for Promotion (PFS) adopted in 2014.
A late text. The text was very consensual. However, one source considers that it arrived far too late, as the European Commission is beginning to end its mandate. That said, the institution would have made it clear early on that it did not wish to touch on a subject as complex as entrepreneurial organisation, which would have encouraged the coordinators of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs not to include this own-initiative report earlier in the parliamentary term. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)