Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:502
Date: 2000-09-26
Language of the case: German
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social Policy
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
Social policy — Information and consultation of employees in Community-scale under­
takings — Directive 94/45 — Requirement that an undertaking forming part of a group 
of undertakings should supply information to internal workers' representative bodies — 
Requirement imposed even before the existence of a controlling undertaking within the 
group of undertakings has been established — Scope 
(Council Directive 94/45, Art. 11(1) and (2)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-62/99 
On a proper construction of Article 11(1) 
and (2) of Directive 94/45 on the establish­
ment of a European Works Council or a 
procedure in Community-scale undertak­
ings and Community-scale groups of under­
takings for the purposes of informing and 
consulting employees, an undertaking 
which is part of a group of undertakings 
is required to supply information to the 
internal workers' representative bodies, 
even where it has not yet been established 
that the management to which the workers' 
request is addressed is the management of a 
controlling undertaking within a group of 
undertakings. 
Where information relating to the structure 
or organisation of a group of undertakings 
forms part of the information which is 
essential to the opening of negotiations for 
the setting-up of a European Works Coun­
cil or for the transnational information and 
consultation of employees, an undertaking 
within the group is required to supply the 
information which it possesses or is able to 
obtain to the internal workers' representa­
tive bodies requesting it. Communication 
of documents clarifying and explaining the 
information which is indispensable for that 
purpose may also be required, in so far as 
that communication is necessary in order 
that the employees concerned or their 
representatives may gain access to informa­
tion enabling them to determine whether or 
not they are entitled to request the opening 
of negotiations. 
(see paras 36, 41 
and operative part 1-2) 
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