On 15 May, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU submitted a new draft compromise on the revision of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive, and used a silence procedure to have it adopted.
In a note dated 17 May accompanying this text, the Belgian Presidency asked the national delegations to indicate by e-mail whether this text could be supported and, in the absence of a response from them by midnight on Thursday 23 May, it will deem the text to be accepted within the Committee of Ambassadors of Member States to the EU (Coreper) and the Council of the EU.
However, the Presidency has not indicated a date for these discussions to be held in Coreper or the EU Council.
The changes made in this third draft compromise mainly concern the definition of transnational materials and in particular the deletion of the term ‘substantially’, which was of concern to some delegations. They feared that the scope of the directive would be limited by reserving consultation of EWCs solely to decisions that substantially affect employees.
In addition, further explanations of the term ‘transnational matters’ have been added. “This change aims to ensure that the amendments made do not result in an unintended limitation of the scope of the existing Directive”, writes the Belgian Presidency.
The European trade unions were worried about the fact this term was included in the text and were reassured by this new version, according to an explanation given by one of their representatives to Agence Europe.
On the election and appointment of employees’ representatives, the language has also been slightly modified to take “into account that in the national orders of Member States employees’ representatives are not always chosen by elections”.
With regard to effective access to relevant procedures, the wording has also been revised to ensure that this provision does not interfere with national rules pertaining to the right to bring legal proceedings.
Article 14a has been adapted to specify the fact that although it is not obligatory to renegotiate existing agreements, Member States must ensure that the applicable minimum requirements are respected by the parties.
The text of the proposal is “mature for being approved”, according to the Presidency. The European Parliament, for its part, took the decision in early April to confirm its negotiating mandate after the European elections.
Link to the compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/ca6 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)