Moves to transpose Works Council Directive on course

Date: 05/09/1996

By Michael Mann

With less than three weeks to go before the 1994 Works Council Directive comes into force, only six EU member states have legislation ready to put the measure on to their statute books.

But while there is little prospect of all 17 countries which will apply the directive putting laws in place by the deadline, Commission officials are taking a relaxed view of member states' efforts to respect their obligations.

The directive, agreed in September 1994, will apply in all EU member states except the UK, plus the EFTA countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Officials are anticipating formal notification of national legislation by the 22 September deadline from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ireland and Belgium. In both Norway and Belgium, collective agreements were negotiated by the social partners. Preparations are also at an advanced stage in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France and Spain.

But in Portugal, Italy, Luxembourg and Iceland, talks between unions and employers are taking rather longer.

The Commission will not formally begin the process of examining the proposed measures in detail to see whether they meet the requirements of the directive until after the notification deadline.

But, when asked whether some national measures might be at odds with the directive, officials stressed that they could not “anticipate problems”, adding: “Our first impression is not bad, but we have not yet had the chance to look too carefully, because the draft laws we have seen refer to a whole back catalogue of national laws which require careful consideration.”

Officials are keeping an open mind about when the remaining countries will put all the necessary measures in place, aware that democratic parliamentary procedures can take longer than anticipated.

In the meantime, Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn is pointing with considerable satisfaction to a study prepared in conjunction with the Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

This outlines the first 51 agreements reached by European multinational companies under Article 13 of the directive, which allows for agreements to be reached between management and the workforce on a voluntary basis.

The Commission has derived particular satisfaction from the fact that a number of UK-based firms have elected to introduce this type of worker consultation on British soil, although the UK's opt-out from the Social Protocol theoretically exempts them.

“This is a sign that UK management has a much more realistic approach than the government or the Confederation of British Industry,” said an official at the European Trade Union Confederation.

Commission officials now believe that about 150 voluntary agreements have been negotiated and are confident that up to 150 more are in the pipeline.

When the directive comes into force later this month, firms will then have three years to agree works councils according to the terms of each country's national legislation. After that, consultation bodies will have to follow precisely the lines set out in the annex to the directive.

The Commission will carry out its first review of the workings of the directive by September 1999. Overall, some 1,200 companies are thought likely to fall within its scope.

An examination of the first 51 agreements showed that the size of works councils varies between seven and 70 members, with most comprising ten to 40 people. Generally, the areas covered by the councils include economic, financial, social and employment matters.

The councils, set up to ensure proper consultation with employees, tend to meet once a year except in special circumstances.