The European employers’ organisation BusinessEurope proposed to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), on Wednesday 4 October, to start negotiations on how the European Works Council (EWC) Directive can be revised, and informed the European Commissioner for Social Affairs, Nicolas Schmit, of this offer, it said in a press release.
“Considering that the European social partners are best placed to address this legislative review effectively, BusinessEurope hopes that the ETUC will soon be able to take the same decision and allow a social dialogue solution for European works councils”, said the Director General of BusinessEurope, Markus J. Beyrer, who asked the Commission to encourage and facilitate these negotiations.
However, while the employers’ organisation wants to discuss with the ETUC how the framework on EWCs can be reviewed and improved, the ETUC, in its response to the second phase of consultation on EWCs, already considers it essential to move towards a binding legal instrument.
“A review of the current directive is essential. Serious defects in current legislation allow multinational companies to circumvent workers’ information and consultation rights. The ETUC is adamant that these can only be addressed with a legally binding instrument”, it wrote in a letter also dated 4 October.
The ETUC supports the European Parliament’s call to the European Commission to revise the European Works Council Directive now.
In particular, the unions want to focus on three key areas: - enforcement and access to justice; - clear definitions of key EWC rights; - strengthening the role of the Trade Union expert.
“The ETUC showed early on that the 2009 EWC Directive is not fit for purpose. Among the main gaps are unclear definitions of key rights such as information, consultation, transnationality, confidentiality, as well as non-dissuasive sanctions and ineffective access to justice.
Commissioner Schmit had undertaken to follow up the European Parliament’s call for a directive, but also in the light of the results of the consultation of the European social partners (see EUROPE 13113/9, 13135/27).
Links to responses from BusinessEurope and the ETUC: https://aeur.eu/f/8wx ; https://aeur.eu/f/8wy (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)