21/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Our article on the “Lehne report” on the draft directive on cross-border mergers contained an imprecision (EUROPE 8920). In the area of workers' participation, there are three conditions and not just one, which allow for negotiations to be opened in compliance with directive 2001/86/EC on the European company: or where one of the merged companies employs a workforce of more than 500, and is managed according to a workers' participation system or national legislation applicable to the merged company does not even include a level of participation applied to the companies merging and measured on the number of members of the management or workers' committee or national legislation applicable to the merged company does not allow for the workers from the companies involved in the cross-border merger and based in other Member States to exercise the same rights of participation as those benefiting the workers in the Member State where the merged company was established.