European Works Councils are bodies representing the European employees of a company. Through them, workers are informed and consulted by management on the progress of the business and any significant decision at European level that could affect their employment or working conditions.
European Works Councils are established under Directive 2009/38/EC, which replaced an earlier directive from 1994 (94/45/EC).
Member States are to provide for the right to establish European Works Councils in companies or groups of companies with at least 1000 employees in the EU and the other countries of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), when there are at least 150 employees in each of two Member States.
A request by 100 employees from two countries or an initiative by the employer triggers the process of creating a new European Works Council. The composition and functioning of each European Works Council is adapted to the company’s specific situation by a signed agreement between management and workers’ representatives of the different countries involved. Subsidiary requirements are to apply only in the absence of this agreement. The obligations arising from the Directive do not apply to companies which already had an agreed mechanism for the transnational information and consultation of their entire workforce when the Directive took effect in 1996.
Political agreement was reached in 2008 to recast the Directive. The aims are to ensure the effectiveness of employees’ transnational information and consultation rights, increase the number of European Works Councils and enable the continuous functioning of the existing ones. The Commission published an evaluation of the implementation of the 2009 recast Directive in 2018.
In 2024, the Commission proposed to amend the 2009 recast Directive in order to improve the effectiveness of the framework for the information and consultation of employees at transnational level. The proposal is being considered by the European Parliament and Council under the ordinary legislative procedure.
The texts of the current (2009) and previous Directives are available, together with working documents, national implementation measures and implementation reports.
Directive
Proposal to amend the Directive
Previous Directives
- Directive (94/45/EC) on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees
- Directive (97/74/EC) extending, to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Directive 94/45/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees
- Directive (2006/109/EC) adapting Directive 94/45/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania
Preparatory Documents
- Impact assessment of the Commission proposal to amend Directive 2009/38/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council
- Impact assessment of the Commission proposal to amend Directive 2009/38/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council – Executive summary
- Proposal for a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees COM (2008) 419
- Questions and Answers on the Proposal
- Impact assessment on the revision of the European Works Council Directive SEC (2008) 2166
- Summary of the Impact assessment on the revision of the European Works Council DirectivE SEC (2008) 2167
- Commission Communication - Restructuring and employment - Anticipating and accompanying restructuring in order to develop employment: the role of the European Union COM (2005) 120
- Commission Communication - on Worker Information and Consultation COM (1995) 547
Studies
- Study exploring issues and possible solutions in relation to the Recast Directive 2009/38/EC on European Works Council (2024)
- Evaluation study on the implementation of Directive 2009/38/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council and annexes
Case Law
As regards the setting up of new European Works Councils, three cases brought before the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling have established the principle that the managements of all undertakings located in Member States are required to supply any information required to open negotiations on setting up an European Works Council, in particular information on the structure or organisation of the group, to employee representatives, irrespective of where the headquarters of the group is located or of the central management’s opinion as to the relevance of the Directive.
See also the 2008 impact assessment for a review of major national court cases.
Implementation
- Commission report on the implementation of the Works Council Directive 2009/38/EC (2018)
- National implementing measures of Directive 2009/38/EC: General table October 2012
- Implementation of Recast Directive 2009/38/EC on European Works Councils - Report of the Group of Experts (December 2010)
- Commission Report - on the application of the Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees COM (2000) 188