International Encyclopaedia of Labour Law and Industrial Relations:European Works Council

The Directive on the European Works Council (EWC) has an enormous significance for the practice of labour law, industrial relations and human resources management in Europe and beyond, involving as it does around 1,500 undertakings and groups of undertakings and up to 15,000 subsidiary establishments. Although EWCs are established as European institutions, the Directive requires management and employees in each Member State to set up a European Works Council which suits their specific needs while respecting the national diversity and traditions of their own state. In other words, EWCs are created by agreement between the social partners at a European level, but have their roots in the various national systems.

The complex process of establishment at the national level may be achieved by legislation, collective bargaining or both. This enormous task, which must be ultimately manifested as settled law in all EU Member States (with further important legal ramifications beyond the Union, because so many European employers are headquartered elsewhere), is well under way. Many agreements, however, still have to be negotiated, and it is therefore necessary for both academics and practitioners to have easy access to the most up-to-date information.

European Works Council provides that information in a convenient and ready format. Following an in-depth analysis by Dr. Blanpain of the European Directive and related legal instruments, separate country reports provide:

- An analysis of the way the Directive has been implemented in the national legal labour law and industrial relations system
- The texts of the relevant legislative acts or collective agreements which incorporate the Directive into national law
- The texts of some existing collective agreements establishing EWCs, for insight into how already existing EWCs work