On Thursday 19 December, the European Parliament confirmed the mandate given on 3 December by its Committee on Employment and Social Affairs to Germany’s Dennis Radtke (EPP) on the revision of the European Works Councils Directive, following a very close vote (see EUROPE 13548/14).
The mandate, contested by the PfE and ECR groups, was confirmed by 300 elected members to 254 with 21 abstentions.
In addition, the EPP group voted by a majority against its rapporteur, with 99 members voting against, 39 in favour and 3 abstaining.
The majority of the PfE and ECR groups rejected this mandate. The Renew Europe group was also divided on this vote, with 24 elected members voting in favour of the mandate, 22 against and 15 abstentions.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed this vote, which will enable the European Parliament to enter into negotiations with the EU Council. It is “a crucial step towards removing long-standing obstacles to effective representation of transnational workers, trade union rights and strengthening democracy at work”.
Link to results of roll-call votes: https://aeur.eu/f/ew9
Link to the mandate: https://aeur.eu/f/ew3 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)