EWCs after 15 years — success or failure?

Abstract

The present article contributes to the debate on the failure or success of European Works Councils (EWCs) as an institution of European industrial relations. To this end it takes stock of EWC performance from various points of view. First, a quantitative evaluation of the development of EWCs, based on the ETUI database, is used to show that EWCs have become an essential element of European industrial relations. Second, we show that EWCs are a dynamic, constantly developing institution of employee representation. Their significance is assessed, including by looking at their institution-building capacity on various levels. The article also considers the future of EWCs. In this context the recent recast Directive 2009/38/EC is briefly discussed. Functional developments of EWC practice (signing company-level transnational agreements) are identified as new challenges for the coming years. The article concludes by arguing that the firm position of EWCs in European industrial relations can be viewed as a self-evident success, and has had positive spillover effects resulting in provisions on employee representation in other EU instruments.

Training programmes for European works councillors in Germany, in Ireland and at EU level: Transnational trade union action through education?

“…So far, however, EWCs have rarely transformed international competition from a factor that hampers transnational action into one that fosters it. A few EWCs have coordinated transnational action with social and political repercussions, as at Renault Vilvoorde or ABB Alstom Power (Erne, 2008), but most EWC members are far from satisfied with their achievements (Jagodziński, 2011; Kotthoff, 2006; Waddington, 2011). Nevertheless, such cases of successful transnational labour mobilizations also show that international economic competition per se does not explain why labour’s capacity for transnational collective action has remained limited (Bieler et al, 2015; Erne et al, 2015; Stan et al, 2015; Stevis and Boswell, 2008).…”

Looking for European solutions. Trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe striving for cross-border solidarity

“…This supranational platform for collective regulation has been the subject of intensive debates since the adoption of the EWC Directive 94/45/EC (Streeck, 1997; Müller and Platzer, 2003). Opinions vary on the actual and potential effectiveness of European works councils (Jagodzinski, 2011; Mählmeyer et al, 2017), but, over time, the more pessimistic assessments seem to have prevailed (Köhler et al, 2015; Waddington, 2011), pointing not only to their limited functional capacities, but also their proneness to becoming a venue for clashes between particularistic national interests destructive to trans-border solidarity (for example, Adamczyk, 2011; Pernicka et al, 2017; Royle et al, 2016).…”

“…At present, transnational company agreements are signed by the management of corporations with European works councils and other bodies (European trade union federations and national-level unions) despite the lack of a legal basis. These documents exist in parallel with legislation (Jagodziński, 2011: 28). European framework agreements make a useful ‘lens’ through which the asymmetry between the economic and social dimensions of European integration can be seen (Scharpf, 2010).…”

Skating on thin ICE? A critical evaluation of a decade of research on the British Information and Consultation Regulations (2004)

“…Significantly, 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of the transposition of the ICE Regulations into UK law. Such coincidences naturally incline stakeholders to draw up evaluations and critiques (see Jagodzinski, 2011: 204).…”