Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, August 2001

European Works Council Database

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions offers on its website a database of agreements establishing European Works Councils as well as background material about the Directive and its introduction. The Directive applies to companies employing 1000 or more people. The database, containing the full text of over 450 agreements, has three access routes. These are a search of voluntary agreements concluded prior to the entry into force of the legislation in 1996 and covered under the provisions of Article 13; agreements concluded under Article 6; and a combination of both of the above. Under each option it is possible to select a company name and display the full text of the company's agreement, often in a number of languages. Alternatively a search can be constructed by selecting from a wide range of drop-down menus specifying criteria relating to the scope, nature and role of the Works Council, its meetings, facilities (eg access to external experts, who bears the operating expenses), confidentiality and protection provisions. For more information visit the website at http://www.eurofound.eu.int/ewc/index.shtml

Over 500 agreements have now been concluded so the database does not claim to be comprehensive, although material continues to be added. Additional agreements may be found on the European Trade Union Institute's CD-ROM which contains the text of 470 European Works Council agreements. The CD-ROM offers the further bonus of the texts of national legislation or collective agreements transposing the Directive together with various background documents. For further details visit the ETUI website at http://www.etuc.org/etui/databases/default.cfm or contact:

European Trade Union Institute
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5 box 4
B-1210 Brussels
Tel: +32-2-224-04-70
Fax: +32-2-224-05-02
E-mail: etui@etuc.org

ETUI has also produced a Multinationals Database, also on CD-ROM, which is essentially an inventory of companies affected by the Works Council Directive. Details of this source too are available on the same website where a PowerPoint demonstration provides more information.

MEPs

The European Parliament has started to publish a brief curriculum vitae of each MEP on the web together with a copy of their declaration of financial interests. The declarations, displayed using Adobe Acrobat, are facsimiles of the hand-written forms. Many are untidy, verging on the illegible, and generally they give little in the way of additional information. Though not yet complete for all countries, there is nevertheless fairly good coverage. The information can be reached via the Parliament's database of MEPs elected for the current (fifth) term. Choose Members of the EP under the ABC section on the Parliament's home page or go directly to http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/ep5/owa/p_meps2.repartition?ilg=EN&iorig=home/. From the table showing the statistical breakdown by country and political group, click on the number in a particular cell, which is a hyperlink to the relevant list of MEPs, or go via the alphabetical list where the name is known.

Trade Marks online

The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, dealing with trade marks and designs, has provided free online access to a range of information resources on its website http://oami.eu.int/. CMT-Online is the Community Trade Mark Consultation Service which enables the general public to search either by trade mark or by application number via a very simple search screen. See http://oami.eu.int/search/trademark/la/en_tm_search.cfm/. Users choose an option from a drop-down menu including “begins with”, “contains”, “ends with” or “is” and enter a term in the trade mark field or the application number field. The brief display shows the application number, filing date, type of mark (eg word or figurative), date of registration and NICE classification. The fuller display provides additional information including publication details, legal status, the list of goods and services to which it applies, who owns it and the countries where registration has been accepted, expiry date, and a graphic representation. Try searching on Mars to display the familiar brown and red wrapper.

CTM-Agent at http://oami.eu.int/search/agent/la/en_Agents_Search.cfm/ allows a search by name or place to identify contact details of agents registered in OHIM's database. CTM-Download however is not publicly available. It is aimed instead at national offices and replaces the CD-ROM previously used so that they are now able to update daily their trademark databases.

OAMI-Online Search at http://oami.eu.int/search/index/la/en_index_search.cfm/ is the search engine of the site. It can be used to search across the entire site or to limit the search by themes including refused trade marks, opposition decisions, board of appeal decisions, cancellation decisions. The text of the decision is however not always provided. Search terms can be entered either using the simple search interface or the advanced option where Boolean operators are enabled.