The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of institutional development of employee participation in Europe and analyze European Works Councils (EWC) agreements in the pharmaceutical industry. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry increased the number of EWC...

In France, the legal obligation for private-sector companies to have, under certain conditions, one or two employee representatives on their boards goes hand in hand with the possibility for the company to decide to have its European Works Council (EWC) or SE Works Council (SE-WC) appoint the...

The article compares changes in the European Works Councils (EWCs) at Ford and General Motors Europe during the financial and economic crisis. Previously, both were highly active and effective. Although both otherwise displayed quite different characteristics before the crisis, their reactions...

In 2016 it will be 20 years since the first European Works Councils (EWC) directive came into force in the EU. In the same year, the European Commission is planning an evaluation of the EWC recast directive that will undoubtedly lead to debate on the need for further review of European...

European Works Councils (EWC) face many limitations in terms of timing and quality of information and consultation. One way of addressing this is through communication with board-level employee representatives. The mere presence of a board-level employee representative is not related to better...

The article analyses the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the structures and activities of the European Works Councils (EWCs) at Honda and Toyota, which until 2007–8 were categorized as non‐efficient representation bodies. A theoretical concept is introduced to measure...

Drawing on a structured survey of European works council representatives within the engineering industry, this paper identifies a number of shortfalls in the performance of European works councils. In particular, it shows that European works council representatives retain a national rather than...

The working paper uses the example of digitalization to showcase how European Works Councils can further develop their participation practices in companies and their various locations. There is both room and need for improvement in organizing decent digital work and in the use of information and...

Across Europe, there are many differing opinions on whether workplace employee representation should be encouraged or discouraged. Yet there is very little evidence on the variations in workplace employee representation across Europe or the reasons for this. We use a workplace survey covering 27...