BEHIND THE EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS DIRECTIVE - THE EUROPEAN-COMMISSIONS LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY

The aim of the draft European works councils Directive is to bridge the gap between increasingly transnational corporate decision-making and employees' nationally-defined information and consultation rights. The proposal seeks to accommodate existing national systems of employee representation, but in the UK auxiliary measures would be needed to designate employee representatives in the absence of voluntary trade union recognition by employers. Although the Directive is strongly opposed by the UK government, the Maastricht social policy protocol has boosted its prospects of being adopted by the other 11 EC countries, with important repercussions for UK-based multinationals.