Financial participation in the EU: Indicators for benchmarking

Financial participation, in the form of profit-sharing and share-ownership has been the focus of European Commission initiatives since the early 1990s, culminating in the adoption of a 'Communication on a framework for the promotion of employee financial participation' in 2002. This report is based on recent Foundation research into financial participation, incorporating the eight general principles outlined by the Commission in its framework Communication. It outlines the scale of financial participation across the European Union, highlights differences in national policies and pinpoints characteristics that could act as barriers to the widespread uptake of financial participation schemes. The overall objective is to develop a set of indicators to facilitate benchmarking of financial participation policies and practices across the EU.