The Eurofound recently published two topical and important pieces of research that contribute to a better understanding of new (and old) challenges that EWCs face:
'Linking information and consultation procedures at local and European level' by Filip Dorssemont and Peter Kerckhofs
and
'European Works Council developments before, during and after the crisis' by Peter Kerckhofs
'Linking information and consultation procedures at local and European level' by Filip Dorssemont and Peter Kerckhofs
This report examines the differences in alignment, timing and content of workplace information and consultation processes at national and European level, which are questions that need to be mandatorily arranged for in agreements signed following entry into force of the Recast Direictve since 2011.
It compares the legal situation at national and European level in six EU Member States: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. It finds that the provisions of the EU directive governing the operation of European Works Councils are ambiguous about the order in which information and consultation processes should happen at each level. It also highlights the fact that EU Member States have interpreted the directive in different ways when transposing it into national law. The report concludes with a number of pragmatic guidelines as to how this issue might be resolved.
The Report can be downloaded directly from the Eurofound website.
Both authors are renowned experts in the field and have cooperated with the ETUI: Filip Dorssemont is a contributor to a forthcoming publication by the ETUI 'Implementation of the EWC Recast Directive' (due in 2015) and Peter Kerckhofs used to work as senior researcher at the ETUI.
'European Works Council developments before, during and after the crisis' by Peter Kerckhofs
The report uses case studies to explore the efforts of the members in 10 EWCs to enhance the practice and capacity of these bodies. It offers a rare opportunity to looking not at a snapshot of current stituation, but more tellingly at the developments in EWCs over a longer period of time. This approach gives an insight into how practices evolve and how they achieve their objectives. Based on these 10 longitudinal case studies, it proposes an analysis of the factors that can influence these developments. Interestingly, it argues that 'company characteristics and how these change can influence developments in the composition or functioning of EWCs' have proven to be more powerful factors than the 2008 economic and financial crisis and the recast directive 2009/38/EC.
A full version of the report and an Executive Summary can are available.