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On this page we will shortly inform about some of the things that has been done in order to fulfill the objectives of the Work Programme.
Non-solicitation agreements between employers
The network on Company Policy has been discussing the presence of ”non-solicitation agreements” between employers, i.e. agrements not to hire staff from each other.
In the Nordic countries this kind of agreements have been most common in Denmark and Norway. In Denmark it has been tried legally. The judgement was that it must be made public, the employees that are affected have the right to know about the agreement in question. Bo Falkencrone at the Danish trade union IDA (bfa@ida.dk) can give further infomation.
In Germany agreements of this kind are not permitted.
Revision of the EWC Directive
The trade unions have for some years been proposing a revision of the EWC Directive. Some of the improvements asked for are:
- Clearer definitions of the notions of information and consultation, which are also coherent with other EU legislation
- The right to preparatory and follow-up meetings
- Improved right to language training and other specific training programs that can be needed
- The right to call more than one expert in special circumstances
- The right for an EWC representative to gain access to all sites within a company
A revision of the directive was on the agenda of the European Commission, but was delayed for quite some time. In 2008 the Commission produced a draft for a new EWC directive. At first Business Europe was reluctant to negotiate with the ETUC on a short schedule. However, during the summer 2008, ETUC and Business Europe agreed to negotiate on nine (9) question, when asked by the Commission. ETUC and Business Europe could agree on eight (8) question (see below). At the moment the European Parlament is discussing the proposal for an EWC directive. We expect the revision to be complete by 15th December for the directive to be adopted during the French Presidency. The draft is a step forward.
ETUC
and Business Europe advice (agreement)
Latest
amendments done by Members of Parlament (EU) 5 Nov 2008
ETUC
strategy in view of the revision of the EWC Directive
Five
key questions for EWCs
Letter
to Mr Spidla, European Commissioner for Employment
A
new EWC Directive shall be adopted in 2008 (EWC News)
Respons
from Mr Spidla, European Commissioner for Employment, to the letter from
EMF
Communication from
the Commission on the EWC Directive
Now, in February 2008, the Commission has launched a
communication on their view on what changes that are needed in the
Directive. The view of the Commission is in many aspects similar to that
of the trade unions. The Commission wishes feedback of the the social
partners on the suggested changes. The Commission also wants to know
whether the social partners are willing to open negotiations in order to
develop a new Directive from this starting point.
ETUC has finally chosen to reject the alternative to change the Directive by means of a negotiation process, after discussions with BusinessEurope about their opinion on the factual matter and on the prerequisites of starting the negotiations rapidly.
Consultation
of the European social partner on the revision of Council
Directive
94/45/EC
BusinessEurope
about negotiations on a new EWC Directiv
ETUC about negotiations on a new EWC DirectivETUC
Background paper
Opinions
of the ETUC of the second phase consultation of the social partners of
20 February 2008
Traning for EWC work
Nordic IN carries out training seminars for coordinators and presidents of European Works Councils. The role of these two groups have to be clarified, as well as how they should communicate. The link to the trade union is in many cases unclear, so the training will also focus on that.
Next traning will be in September 2008.
For more information, get in touch with Daniel Valtakari.
Information about EWC and SE
If you want to know more about European Works Councils and SE, you can find information and some useful home pages by using the links below.
EMF
Resolution on role of trade union EWC coordinators
About
empty shell SEs
See
Links EWC - SE - Restructuring
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