The EWC Directive, under ‘Subsidiary requirements’, stipulates that ‘the EWC shall have the right to meet with the central management once a year, to be informed and consulted, on the basis of a report drawn up by the central management’. This provision states a normal frequency of meetings (in exceptional circumstances the EWC has to meet more often).

Despite the fact that Directive 94/45 speaks about only one meeting this statement should be considered solely as a minimal standard. Much research has shown that one EWC session a year is insufficient to enable this body to function effectively. The relationship between the frequency of meetings of an EWC and its efficacy is clear: the more often the EWC members meet the more effective they are in representing employee interests.