In the run-up to the EU Employment and Social Policy Council meeting on 17 October 2000, trade union confederations from Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK issued a joint statement calling on their governments to support the draft Directive on national information and consultation arrangements. In the event, the Council discussed the proposal and referred it for further debate.
On 17 October 2000, the European Union's Employment and Social Policy Council of Ministers met in Luxembourg (EU0010274F). Among the items on the agenda was a political debate, initiated by the current French EU Presidency, on the draft Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community. The Directive was proposed by the European Commission in November 1998 (EU9812135F) in the wake of the 1997 "Renault-Vilvoorde" affair, when the French motor manufacturer announced the closure of its Belgian plant with the loss of 3,100 jobs, apparently without prior consultation with worker representatives (EU9703108F). If the Directive were to be adopted, all undertakings with at least 50 employees would be obliged to inform and consult employee representatives about a number of employment, business and work organisation matters. The proposal had not been debated in Council prior to the October meeting, but in discussions in the Council's social questions working group and elsewhere a number of governments had raised objections to the Directive, arguing that it would be an unnecessary burden on business.
Joint statement by German, Irish, Spanish and UK unions
In the run-up to the October Employment and Social Policy Council meeting, the trade union confederations from Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK presented a joint statement in which they accused their governments of making joint arrangements in order to block the adoption of the Directive on national information and consultation and the European Company Statute. The German, Irish and UK governments (along with that of Denmark) are thought to oppose the draft information and consultation Directive, while the Spanish government is opposed to the European Company Statute (EU9911211F). The unions which signed the joint statement are
- the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB);
- the German White-Collar Workers' Trade Union (Deutsche Angestellten Gewerkschaft, DAG);
- the Spanish General Workers' Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT);
- the Spanish Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO),
- the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU); and
- the British Trades Union Congress (TUC).
In their joint statement, the unions demanded that their governments give up their resistance to the information and consultation Directive and European Company Statute. The text of the statement runs as follows:
The European Union cannot only be a project for the benefit of business. The improvement and strengthening of workers' rights is also vital if workers' commitment to the EU is to be ensured.
It is unacceptable, therefore, that our governments are engaged, through a series of private agreements, in halting progress on vital social legislation. Between them, the British, Spanish and German governments are colluding to prevent progress on both the European Company Statute and the draft Directive on employee information and consultation. The Spanish government has consistently blocked agreement on the European Company Statute - which is then being used as an excuse for holding back progress on the information and consultation Directive (with the Irish government adding its voice to those opposing this measure).
Both these measures would establish minimum standards for the rights of employees to be told of events and decisions affecting their livelihood, and to have their views on them to be taken into account by their employers. The need for such minimum standards has been shown up by the currently high level of corporate restructuring, merger and takeover. The need is also underlined by the approaching enlargement of the EU, in which these important rights should form part of the social acquis which new members should observe.
The forthcoming Social Affairs Council on 17 October gives our governments the chance to show that their commitment to a Social Europe goes further than just words. They should drop their opposition to both measures, and prove that they have workers', as well as businesses', interests at heart.
The draft information and consultation Directive is based on Article 137(2) of the European Community Treaty and is thus subject to qualified majority decision-making in Council (as well as the co-decision procedure with the European Parliament). When the Employment and Social Policy Council makes a decision on the Directive, a total of 62 out of the 87 weighted votes held by the 15 EU Member States must be cast in favour. With the UK, Germany and Spain holding a total of 28 votes - an effective blocking minority - it becomes clear that the trade unions' joint statement is not a symbolic gesture but seeks to influence these countries' voting.
Council discussions to continue
At the October meeting, the Employment and Social Policy Council heard a report from the Presidency on the progress of discussions and held a short exchange of views on the Directive. The Presidency invited the EU governments to submit written observations with a view to continuing work on the proposal prior to the next Council meeting on 27-28 November 2000. The French Presidency hopes that a compromise may be agreed on a common position on the Directive at the November meeting.
Commentary
As the number of mergers and major reorganisations seems to have increased in recent years, and they have in most cases led to redundancies, employees should be entitled to be informed and consulted in such circumstances. Many EU countries already have legal commitments on workplace consultation. A decision in favour of the draft Directive would improve the situation of employees all over the EU and thereby set a common standard which is urgently needed within an economically integrated Europe. The fact that the Directive has been in the pipeline for two years can be seen as evidence of continuing opposition by some national governments. (Alexandra Scheele, Institute for Economic and Social Research, WSI)