Council Directive 97/74/EC of 15 December 1997 extending, to the United Kingdom of Great Britain 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
Date: 1997-12-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: European undertaking, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, national implementing measure, worker consultation, works council

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 97/74/EC

of 15 December 1997

extending, to the United Kingdom of Great Britain 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

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),

Whereas the Council, acting in accordance with the
Agreement on social policy annexed to Protocol 14 to the
Treaty, and in particular Article 2(2)
thereof, adopted
the said
Directive 94/45/EC (4); whereas, as a result,
Directive does not apply to the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland;

Whereas the Amsterdam European Council held on 16
and 17 June 1997 noted with approval the agreement of
the Intergovernmental Conference to incorporate the
Agreement on social policy in the Treaty and also noted
that a means should be found to give legal effect to the
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
wish of
Northern Ireland to accept the Directives already adopted
on the basis of that Agreement before the signature of
the Amsterdam Treaty; whereas this Directive seeks to
achieve this aim by extending Directive 94/45/EC to the
United Kingdom;

Whereas the fact that Directive 94/45/EC is not applic-
able in the United Kingdom directly affects the func-
tioning of the internal market; whereas implementation
of
the Member States will
improve the functioning of the internal market;

the said Directive in all

Whereas Directive 94/45/EC provides for a maximum of
17 members of the special negotiating body; whereas
such a number corresponds to the 14 Member States
which are party to the Agreement on social policy plus
the three remaining Contracting Parties of the European
Economic Area; whereas the adoption of this Directive
will bring the total number of States covered by Directive
94/45/EC to 18; whereas, therefore, the abovementioned
maximum should be increased to 18 so that each

(1) OJ C 335, 6. 11. 1997.
(2) OJ C 371, 8. 12. 1997.
(3) OJ C 355, 21. 11. 1997.
(4) OJ L 254, 30. 9. 1994, p. 64.

Member State in which the Community-scale under-
taking has one or more establishments or in which the
Community-scale group of undertakings has the control-
ling undertaking or one or more controlled undertakings
is represented;

Whereas Directive 94/45/EC provides for special treat-
ment to be accorded to Community-scale undertakings
and groups of undertakings in which there is, at 22
September 1996, an agreement covering the entire work-
information and
force providing for the transnational
consultation
accordingly,
Community-scale undertakings and groups of undertak-
ings falling within the scope of that Directive solely as a
result of its application to the United Kingdom should be
granted similar treatment;

employees; whereas,

of

the adoption of

this Directive will make
Whereas
Directive 94/45/EC applicable in all Member States
including the United Kingdom; whereas, from the date
on which this Directive enters into force,
the term
‘Member States'
in Directive 94/45/EC should be
construed as including, where appropriate, the United
Kingdom;

Whereas Member States were required to bring into force
the laws, regulations and administrative provisions to
comply with Directive 94/45/EC no later than two years
after its adoption; whereas a similar period should be
granted to the United Kingdom, as well as to the other
Member States, to bring into force the necessary measures
to comply with this Directive,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Without prejudice to Article 3, Directive 94/45/EC shall
apply to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.

Article 2

In Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 94/45/EC ‘17' shall be
replaced by ‘18'.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Article 3

apply

undertakings

to Community-scale

The obligations resulting from this Directive shall
1.
not
or
Community-scale groups of undertakings, which, solely
this
by virtue of Article 1,
Directive, provided that, on the date laid down in Article
4(1) or the date of its transposition in the Member State
in question, where this is earlier than the said date, there
is already an agreement covering the entire workforce
providing for the transnational information and consulta-
tion of employees.

fall within the scope of

2. When the agreements referred to in paragraph 1
expire, the parties to those agreements may decide jointly
to renew them. Where this is not the case, Directive
94/45/EC, as extended by this Directive, shall apply.

and labour introduce the required provisions by way of
agreement, the Member States being obliged to take all
necessary steps enabling them at all times to guarantee
the results imposed by this Directive. They shall forth-
with inform the Commission thereof.

2. When Member States adopt these measures, they
shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be
accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their
official publication. The methods of making such refer-
ence shall be laid down by the Member States.

Article 5

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 15 December 1997.

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
with this Directive no later than 15 December 1999 or
shall ensure, by that date at the latest, that management

For the Council

The President

J.-C. JUNCKER