On Thursday 6 February, the co-legislators of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU launched negotiations on the revision of the Directive on European Works Councils, the bodies for consulting employees in companies or groups of companies employing at least 1,000 employees in the EU and at least 150 employees in two Member States (see EUROPE 13554/8).
The first trilogue was “very constructive and positive” and “there is a lot of common ground”, summed up a source close to the negotiations.
Discussions focused on transnational issues, controlled companies, gender equality and access to justice.
Regarding the definition of transnational issues to be dealt with by EWCs, the European Parliament argued that the current definition of transnationality no longer works and that franchised companies are also a problem, according to sources.
The Council of the EU is said to have welcomed the clarification made under the mandate of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU at a time when discussions had been difficult and numerous disputes had arisen.
The two institutions reportedly agreed that the current scope of transnationality is limited and should be extended to cases where workers are indirectly affected.
With regard to the activation of EWCs and special negotiating groups, there is a consensus on this point, as the Council of the EU has also recognised the need to improve gender representation, while stressing the difficulty of implementing binding quotas.
The Council of the EU would have no flexibility on this point, but could take a step towards the European Parliament on the threshold necessary to trigger a process to create a new EWC, whereas the current rule is that a request must come from 100 workers in two countries or from an employer’s initiative.
Discussions also focused on the confidentiality of communications and access to justice in cases where EWCs are not consulted. The Council of the EU is said to have indicated that it was unable to accede to the European Parliament’s request for an injunction, which would allow the courts to suspend a company’s plan if the EWCs were not consulted.
The EU Council reportedly considered Parliament’s request disproportionate and asked it to withdraw its proposal.
Technical work will continue before a new meeting of interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) on 19 March. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)