Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Practical application of the European Works Council Directive (94/45/EC) and on any aspects of the directive that might need to be revised
Date: 2003-09-24
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European undertaking, labour law, worker consultation, worker information, works council

14.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 10/11

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Practical application of the
European Works Council Directive (94/45/EC) and on any aspects of the directive that might
need to be revised

(2004/C 10/05)

By letter dated 26 November 2002, Mrs Loyola de Palacio, vice-president of the European Commission,
requested the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, to draw up an opinion on the Practical application of the European Works
Council directive (94/45/EC) and on any aspects of the directive that might need to be revised.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 September 2003. The rapporteur was
Mr Piette.

At its 402nd plenary session of 24 and 25 September 2003 (meeting of 24 September), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 122 votes to one with six abstentions.

PURPOSE OF THE OPINION

made a made a very important contribution to developing the
European dimension of industrial relations.

In response to requests by the EESC for greater involvement in
the EU’s work in the area of social policy, and in the spirit of
the framework agreement between the Commission and the
EESC, the Commission has requested the Committee to draw
up an exploratory opinion on the practical application of the
directive on the establishment of a European Works Council or
a procedure in Community-scale companies and Community-
scale groups of companies for the purposes of informing and
consulting employees and on any aspects of the directive that
might be need to be revised. This opinion could be very useful
for the Commission with a view to taking a well-founded
decision in 2003 on the follow-up to be given to the request
made by several players, and in particular the European
Parliament, concerning the revision of Directive 94/45/EC.
The social partners will be able to draw support from the
evidence and commonly agreed facts presented in this opinion,
without prejudice to their autonomy or their decision on this
matter.

Thus the present document is primarily meant to be a corpus
of information and its aim is to take stock of the experience
acquired following the implementation of the directive.

1. Background to Directive 94/45/EC and its review

1.1.
The adoption by the Council of Ministers, on 22 Sep-
tember 1994, of a directive on the establishment of a European
Works Council or a procedure for the purposes of informing
and consulting employees and its extension to the United
Kingdom by Council Directive 97/74/EC of 17 December
1997 marked a crucial step forward in the development of a
truly European social dialogue at company level in line with
the transnational structure of companies and groups of
companies.

This new instrument, which is genuinely transnational, has

1.2. Member States were supposed to have transposed the
directive into national
legislation by 22 September 1996
(15 December 1999 for Directive 97/74/EC) (1). The central
management of companies and employees’ representatives
were set the same deadline for negotiating voluntary agree-
ments under the provisions of Article 13. In view of the
complexity and highly innovative character of the directive, in
that it combines specifically European aspects and national
aspects, coordination of its transposition into national legis-
lation proved to be essential in establishing provisions with a
high degree of convergence in terms of content.

Under the provisions of Article 15 of Directive 94/45/
1.3.
EC, the Commission was required to review the operation of
the directive by 22 September 1999 at the latest, with a view
to proposing any amendments that might be necessary to the
Council.

1.4.
By that date, the negotiations and work carried out
within European works councils (EWCs) were supposed to
have provided sufficient practical experience for the review to
be carried out, whilst recognising that this was a ground-
breaking process.

1.5.
The Commission was to conduct the review ‘in consul-
tation with the Member States and with management and
labour at European level’.

1.6.
The review was to focus on the operation of the
i.e. on all aspects relating to the setting-up and
directive,
functioning of EWCs and on the appropriateness of the
workforce size thresholds.

the legal acts transposing Directive 94/45/EC
legislation are available on the web site: http://

(1) The texts of
into national
europa.eu.int/comm/employment–social/soc-dial/labour/
directive9445/index–en.htm.

C 10/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.1.2004

Following the review and a conference with the
1.7.
social partners held in April 1999,
the Commission
submitted its report on the application of the directive to
the European Parliament and the Council on 4 April 2000.
Although the report was largely concerned with assessing
the transposition measures taken by Member States, it also
included an evaluation of the practical
implementation of
the directive. Regardless of the quality of the transposition
measures, the Commission stressed that there was a need
for further interpretation of some issues. The report went
on to note that while some of these issues could be solved
by the parties concerned, others would have to be resolved
by the courts. Therefore the Commission did not conclude
that there was a need to propose amending the directive at
that stage.

The President of

the European Parliament

sub-
1.8.
sequently referred the report to the Committee on Employ-
ment and Social Affairs for its report and to the Committee
on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market and the Committee
on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy for their
opinions. The European Parliament resolution on the report
was issued on 17 July 2001; in it the Parliament called on
the Commission to submit, at an early date, a proposal for
series of
revision of
the
improvements (1).

containing a

the directive

Nearly three years after its report and a longer period
1.9.
of application, the Commission considers that it would now
be appropriate to carry out a new review of the practical
implementation of the directive, especially as this issue was
mentioned in the Agenda for Social Policy adopted by the
Nice European Council in December 2000.

1.10.
Since the publication of the Commission report in
the European labour market has undergone
April 2000,
considerable change. The quickening pace and changing
nature of transnational restructuring, which has become a
more permanent feature of business life, represent challenges
for EWCs today.

1.11.
Directive 94/45/EC will apply to the new members
of the European Union, ten of which are scheduled to join
on 1 May 2004. Enlargement will have an important impact
on both some of the existing councils, which will have to
include employees’ representatives from these countries, and
on new groups of companies that will come under the scope
of the directive, which will certainly bring new challenges.
Any assessment of EWCs and action related to them over

the next few years will have to recognise the special features
of the new companies that will be covered by the directive
and the specific characteristics of industrial relations systems
in the new Member States. As was stressed by the social
partners at the conference European works councils: practice
and development held in April 1999, a learning process will
be necessary to enable the players to bring together facts
and features that are the product of different cultures,
practices and realities and overcome obstacles related to
social, economic and cultural differences.

1.12.
The legal context has also changed with the entry
into force of new Community legislation on informing and
consulting employees, namely Council Directive 2001/86/EC
of 8 October 2001 on supplementing the Statute for a
European Company with regard to the involvement of
employees, and Council Directive 2002/14/EC of 11 March
2002 establishing a general framework for informing and
consulting employees in the European Community.

2. The evidence to date

2.1. An already considerable body of experience

2.1.1.
Out of a total of 1 865 companies or groups of
companies employing 17 million people which come under
the scope of the EWC directive, 639 of them, with 11 million
employees, had an EWC at the end of 2002. 72 % (400) of
the agreements were concluded under Article 13 of
the
directive before the deadline for the entry into force of the
directive (‘agreements in force’) and 28 % under Article 6.
Thus a very large majority of the EWCs in operation today
are still based on agreements in force, renewed or amended
where appropriate. The list of agreements also includes
seven agreements which provide for the introduction of
information and consultation procedures without the setting
up of an EWC (2).

2.1.2. More than half of the agreements were concluded
in 1996 alone. Since then, about 40 agreements have been
the companies and groups
concluded annually. Of all
currently covered by the directive, 1 200,
employing
6 million people, have yet
to establish an EWC or a
procedure for informing and consulting employees. Many of
the companies or groups concerned are smaller in size and
less integrated in transnational terms but already engage in
significant transnational operations.

(1) European Parliament report A5-0282/2001 of 17.7.2001 on the
Commission report on the application of Council Directive 94/
45/EC — Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

(2) ETUC Infopoint database.

14.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 10/13

A quarter of the agreements fall under German
2.1.3.
law, 12-13 % fall under French, Belgian or UK law, 4 to
7 % under Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Irish or Finnish law and
less than 20 agreements fall within the scope of, respectively,
Austrian, Norwegian, Danish, Luxembourg, Swiss, Spanish
or Greek law.

federations have played an important coordinating role in
more than three-quarters of the voluntary negotiations and
have been co-signatories to agreements. In many cases, the
the special negotiating body have requested
members of
for example representatives of
experts of
appropriate Community level trade union organisations, to
assist them in their work.

their choice,

2.1.4.
Enlargement is already a reality for about 30 % of
existing EWCs (1) which include members or observers from
the countries set to join the European Union on 1 May
2004. The candidate countries, among them Poland, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary, have
started to transpose Directive 94/45/EC into their national
legislation.

2.1.5. More than 10 000 workers’ representatives are now
directly involved in the work of EWCs and in implementing
intercultural exchanges and practices. This is one of the
most striking and significant features of social Europe.

2.2. The negotiation of agreements

2.2.1.
The merit of the principle of the directive, i.e. that
it requires management and employees at company level to
take the initiative with regard to negotiations, is confirmed
by the number of agreements concluded under Articles 6
or 13. Admittedly, the role of the social partners has not
always been easy, given the complex and inherently European
nature of this new instrument, but
the studies generally
indicate that the social partners have taken full advantage of
their shared experience of EWCs.

The agreements

2.2.2.
show great diversity both as
regards agreements concluded before the entry into force of
the directive, which make up the majority of the total, and
those concluded after. In most cases the agreements include
provisions on informing and consulting employees on a
transnational basis, in accordance with the rights laid down
by the directive. Only eight agreements are limited to the
provision of information. Moreover, some agreements not
only include
information and
consultation but also make provision for decentralised
procedures at national level for certain aspects of information
and consultation.

central mechanisms

for

2.2.3.
The social dialogue and the role of management
and employees in a company have been strengthened simply
as a result of negotiations between central management and
special negotiating bodies on establishing EWCs. The studies
that European trade union
on the agreements

reveal

2.2.4.
The method of negotiating a new agreement is laid
down by Directive 94/45/EC. However, the adjustment or
renegotiation of existing agreements can raise the sensitive
issue of negotiators and signatories where there are no
provisions on this in the agreement.

in Europe,

The question of information on the structure of
2.2.5.
the
the company or group of companies
workforce and the negotiating partners in different countries
is usually the first to arise for employees in the 1 200 com-
panies or groups of companies which may wish to initiate
the process for negotiating a new EWC or establish a
informing and consulting
procedure for the purposes of
employees. Three cases brought before the European Court
of Justice for a preliminary ruling (2) establish the principle
that the managements of all the undertakings located within
the European Economic Area must provide employee
representatives with any information required to open
negotiations on setting up a European works council,
in
particular information on the structure of the group and the
the
workforce,
group is located or the central management’s opinion as to
the relevance of the directive.

irrespective of where the headquarters of

is

Creating the conditions and means necessary for
2.2.6.
conducting negotiations
the responsibility of central
management, which must handle various practical aspects of
organising meetings (travel, accommodation,
interpreting,
allocation of time, etc.) as well as meet the costs. This is
particularly crucial
for medium-sized European groups,
which make up the majority of companies that still have to
commence negotiations.
to consider
practical arrangements for supporting the establishment of
transnational social dialogue within such companies,
for
example through the budget lines opened in this area.

It could be useful

(1) European Trade Union Institute, European Works Councils —

facts and figures, Brussels, November 2002.

(2) C-62/99 Bofrost, Ruling of 29.3.2001; C-440/00 Kühne & Nagel,
Conclusions presented on 11.7.2002; C-349/01 ADS Anker
GmbH, Conclusions presented on 27.2.2003.

C 10/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.1.2004

The negotiations, which must be commenced
2.2.7.
within six months of the request or initiative, can take up
to three years, but usually take less. The conditions under
which they are conducted are often decisive when EWCs
start operating.

The results of various studies (e.g. Lecher (3)) clearly
2.3.3.
indicate that the conclusion of an agreement is more a point
of departure than the end result in the evolution of an EWC
as a body.

2.2.8. Many companies adjust or renegotiate the agree-
ments on their EWC(s) because of mergers,
transfers of
business or important changes in activity. The adequate
adjustment of the composition of representative bodies in
the event of changes in the company’s or group’s field of
activity and their continued existence during transition
periods are crucial for the ability of the council(s) to deal
with restructuring. In half of the agreements restructuring
issues are included in the remit of the EWC; 51 % of the
agreements mention mergers, 47 % closures and 53 %
relocations (1). Changes in the field of activity have raised
issues in most councils.

2.3. The operation of EWCs

The joint

2.3.1.
reports published by the European
Commission (DG Employment and Social Affairs) and the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions drew a distinction between agreements
establishing EWCs whose potential seems to be confined to
a largely formal or symbolic existence, based on annual
meetings, and agreements establishing EWCs with the
potential
the latter
to develop a dynamic role. Under
agreements there is ongoing activity on the employee side
between meetings and permanent
liaison with manage-
ment (2).

2.3.2.
However, existing EWCs are constantly evolving as
part of a constructive internal process, so that to determine
the extent to which the agreements offer EWCs real scope
to play an active role, it is necessary to focus not only on
the provisions of the agreement but also on the analysis of
practical experience.

The studies analysing the operation of EWCs in the
2.3.4.
form of monographs, surveys or exchange of practices point
to a dynamic process of development in successive stages.
If, initially, there may have been some reservations regarding
requests to establish EWCs, today there is wide recognition
of the positive role played by EWCs in improving social
dialogue and information/consultation in the company.

2.3.5.
A study published by the Dutch employers’
association sheds light on the tasks and role of EWCs in
17 companies headquartered in the Netherlands and shows
that most employers feel that EWCs bring or can bring
added value, particularly in the case of restructuring (4).
Some employers nevertheless thought that EWCs had not
helped to improve social dialogue in the company. Similarly,
in a survey conducted among Japanese multinationals (5) a
large majority of the senior managers interviewed gave a
positive assessment of EWCs. A recent survey by a US-based
management consultancy firm of managers in 24 major,
mainly American, multinationals also found that experience
of EWCs was positive (6). A majority of companies indicated
that the formal provisions of their EWC agreements had
been exceeded in practice; management was now more
willing to examine issues falling within their transnational
dimension than in the early days of their EWC; confidentiality
posed very few problems; the contribution of experts was
judged useful; and consultation on restructuring was viewed
as positive. Three-quarters of the mangers interviewed felt
that EWCs brought added value to the company, despite the
heavy demands in terms of
time and resources. Several
respondents even reported that EWCs had brought unexpec-
ted benefits through improved management discipline and
coordination in the decision-making process.

(1) Agreements database, ETUC Infopoint.
(2) Negotiating EWCs under the Directive: A comparative analysis of
Article 6 and Article 13 agreements, European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Mark Carley &
Paul Marginson, 2000.

(3) Lecher W., Nagel B. & Platzer H.W. (1999), The establishment of
European Works Councils. From information committee to social
actor, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.

(4) The added value of European Works Councils, J. Lamers, AWVN,

Haarlem, 1998.

(5) S. Nakano, European Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 5, No 3,

pp. 307-326.

(6) Organization Resources Counselors Inc., ORC European Works

Councils Survey 2002, summarised in EIROnline 01/2003.

14.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 10/15

Reflecting the different stages in their development,
2.3.6.
EWCs are often classified according to the way they operate
(Lecher): some are an extension of national representative
structures in the country where the company is headquart-
information for
ered, and thus are a source of additional
national use; others are led by representatives from the
dominant country and thus possess a transnational quality,
albeit embryonic; still others are characterised by a true
‘supranational collective identity’, with equality between
members, and the development of common positions.

2.3.7.
The timing, content and frequency of transnational
information and consultation are key factors in the operation
of EWCs, in particular:

— the quality of regular and specific information (provided
by management and by members to their colleagues)
and all
interested parties’ actual accessibility to such
information are considered vital to the quality of the
dialogue which can take root within an EWC and to its
capacity to play an active role. Some EWCs are
therefore agreed on the need for access to and analysis
of updates and other types of information;

— the confidentiality clause appears in 87 % of

the
agreements and is often the subject of debate in
practice, mainly in cases of restructuring. However, the
establishment of an atmosphere of confidence seems to
have made it possible to mitigate the problem with the
help of the dialogue mechanisms in place.

2.3.8.
Experience shows that early intervention by EMCs
in all decision-making processes can help to promote a
responsible
style of management,
especially in the case of restructuring.

and precautionary

The transnational nature of

2.3.9.
issues addressed by
EWCs is often the subject of practical debate, for example
in cases where decisions which, although in principle
concern only one country, actually have strategic implications
that extend beyond national
level. Despite the fact that it
covers a different area, partly because of the purely optional
the directive on the
nature of
involvement of employees in a European Company stipulates
the body representative of
that
the employees and/or employees’
representatives by the
competent organ of the EC on questions which concern the

the European Company,

the informing of

‘...

EC itself and any of its subsidiaries or establishments situated
in another Member State or which exceed the powers of the
decision-making organs in a single Member State ...’.

2.3.10.
Research by the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions on
transnational joint texts negotiated by EWCs in 12 companies
or groups of companies (1) and databases on EWC agree-
ments (2) show that some EWCs are starting to expand their
information and consultation role by drawing up joint
opinions, codes of conduct, charters, action programmes
and agreements at European level covering areas such as
health, safety, the environment, fundamental rights, mobility,
training, supplementary pensions, and mergers, closures,
relocations and restructuring.

Experience also shows that the establishment of
2.3.11.
fruitful dialogue within an EWC is linked to the
real,
this determines how
council’s mode of operation, as
information is circulated and the capacity to coordinate and
respond:

— The select committee, whether a bureau or secretariat
(present in three-quarters of councils), its composition,
the frequency of meetings, contacts with national
representative bodies, the possibility of contacts with
the company’s various sites and translation facilities are
considered key to the effective operation of EMCs.

— The skills and competence of EWC members and the
resources at their disposal vary between EWCs: 42 %
of the agreements already make provision for training,
and training is geared to the
specific needs of
performing representative functions at European level;
most of the agreements provide for access to experts
(57 % of the agreements provide for the use of expertise
at plenary and preparatory meetings) although expertise
nevertheless remains a subject for debate in view of the
specific characteristics and day-to-day practices of
national bodies — in some countries trade union
officials are council members; communication facilities,
including links to the various sites represented, and
customised translation and interpreting services, are
essential; the frequency of ordinary council meetings is
also important (83 % of the agreements explicitly limit
the number of meetings to one a year or to one
ordinary meeting with the possibility of an extraordinary
meeting; 14 % of
the agreements provide for two
ordinary meetings).

(1) M. Carley, Joint texts negotiated by European Works Councils,

EFILWC, Dublin, 2001.
(2) ETUC Infopoint database.

C 10/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.1.2004

— The information and consultation process largely covers
the topics set out in the directive and is of particular
importance in cases of restructuring. However, some
councils have extended the scope of
information
and consultation to include measures planned by
management in, inter alia, the following areas: continu-
ing training, the environment, health and safety, equal
opportunities, possible employee financial participation
in a very small minority of cases,
and, albeit still
cultural and social activities.

EWCs are proving to be a forum for
the practical
implementation of objectives, such as those set in Lisbon, a
key element of which deals with lifelong education and
training.

The capacity of EWCs to adapt and evolve as a
2.3.12.
result of changes within the group or with the aim of
improving the way they operate (dynamic process) is also
very important in practice. The Belgian agreement on the
transposition of
in its
the directive makes
supplementary provisions to changes in the structure or size
of the company or group and lays down rules applicable in
such cases. These rules can be laid down in a cooperation
protocol.

reference

2.3.13.
Some agreements provide for separate treatment
of different activities or divisions within a group. While in
some cases the EWC is a single body, despite a very wide
range of activities, organisation along sectoral
lines within
one and the same EWC is already the case for more than
one in ten EWCs (study by the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin,
2000). Most of
also
companies
established formal arrangements
the circulation of
information and coordination between the different levels
and bodies engaged in dialogue.

concerned have

the

for

the legal
The approach to the question of
2.3.16.
personality of EWCs and their right to take part in court
proceedings, manage assets and conclude agreements, varies
between Member States.

2.3.17.
All countries prescribe penalties for the infringe-
ment of the requirements laid down in the directive, as
the setting-up of a negotiating body and the
regards
operation of the EWC. However, problems may arise with
regard to the accessibility of
the law in certain cases,
especially where a group headquartered outside Europe has
its main European office in a country which has no trade
union representatives on the EWC. The representatives may
come up against practical and legal difficulties regarding
recourse to the competent courts in the country concerned
(in Belgium, for example, national
law allows employees’
representative organisations to seek legal remedy through
the labour courts).

2.4. Coordination of national and European social dialogue

2.4.1.
Directive 94/45/EC largely respects the subsidiarity
types of
principle by taking into account
representation and ways of informing and consulting workers
in a company. The arrangements for selecting or appointing
workers’ representatives are decided by the Member States.

the different

2.4.2.
In some cases the interaction between the local
and the European level has helped to improve national
practices.

2.4.3.
Thus, following on the heels of an EWC, some
companies have established a group works council (inter-
establishment works council) at national level, in some cases
through an agreement. According to a survey of Belgian
representatives of the CSC-ACV (Confederation of Christian
Trade Unions), EWCs have led to the creation of
inter-
establishment communication networks at national level in
35 % of cases. According to the same survey, 67 % of
representatives feel that EWCs have been a factor behind the
improved operation of local works councils (1).

The serious imbalance in the representation of
2.3.14.
men and women is a persistent feature of special negotiating
bodies and EWCs and most probably reflects the imbalance
that also exists in representative bodies at national level. In
view of the position of EWCs in the European social model,
its
seems appropriate to consider ways of voluntarily
reducing this imbalance.

2.4.4.
Thus, in some companies, EWCs have also helped
to eliminate obstacles to staff information, consultation and
communication, as a result of the requirement in point 5 of
the annex to the directive for EWC members to provide
information to the employees’ representatives, or in the
absence of representatives, to the workforce as a whole.

2.3.15.
In addition, some agreements and some provisions
of national transposing legislation provide for a balanced
representation of different categories of employees on EWCs.

(1) Le CENE est-il sur la bonne voie? CSC and Hoger Instituut voor
de arbeid, Veerle Cortebeeck and Joris Van Ruysseveldt, Leuven,
2002.

14.1.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 10/17

Thus, with a view to strengthening coherence
2.4.5.
between local managements, some groups also introduced
transnational management meetings when EWCs were set
up.

contribution of EWCs to European social dialogue and
European development. However, a number of fundamental
questions remain open. They mainly concern the following
aspects:

2.4.6.
EWCs have fostered the emergence of a European
awareness in social dialogue not only through information
and consultation but also through the exceptional cultural
opportunity provided to foster exchanges at transnational
level. Seen against the background of building Europe and
mindful of the diversity of arrangements for representation,
exchanges of knowledge, reciprocal interaction and synergy
between the interests of workers and employers within the
same group represent a real cultural advance.

3. Conclusions

The various reports and studies on agreements and
3.1.
practices confirm that
the experience gained to date is
sufficient for conclusions to be drawn on how to organise a
simple, democratic and effective negotiation process on the
establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure
for the purposes of informing and consulting employees.
There is also a wealth of experience on the extent to which
the basic aim of the directive, i.e. to improve the right of
workers to information and consultation, has been achieved.

By virtue of its composition, the EESC has certainly
3.2.
been able to shed special light on the dynamic process of
social dialogue under way in companies and groups of
companies. The EWC is still a very new body but one which
is constantly evolving. The proportion of agreements that
are renegotiated each year bears witness to this.

the parties concerned,

Information and consultation through EWCs and the
3.3.
dynamic nature of their role and practices would certainly
including citizens. The
benefit all
responses made in the context of
the globalisation of
companies and restructuring affect not only living and
working conditions but also the social climate beyond
company gates.

3.4.
Drawing on various findings — which it shares —
on the practical application of the directive and the operation
the EESC has been able to identify the
of

the EWCs,

— the concepts of

‘useful effect’ and ‘timeliness’ with

regard to informing and consulting employees;

joint ventures,

— the scope of Directive 94/45/EC with regard to, for
example,
the possible exclusion of
merchant navy crews and the concept of ‘undertaking’,
forms of business
owing to the many different
increase further at
organisation. This diversity will
European level with the inclusion of community
enterprises, cooperatives and mutual enterprises, whose
economic activities are becoming increasingly important
in scope. Public enter-
and increasingly transnational
prises are nevertheless mentioned explicitly in the
national transposing legislation of two states, Sweden
and Spain;

— the question of representation and proportionality of
representation on EWCs, which is not covered by
transnational rules;

— the question of the impact of EWCs on social dialogue

in the company at national level;

— the question of the possibility of EWC representatives
visiting the establishments whose workers they represent
and communicating with these workers;

that

stipulates

‘natural or

— the question of the relation between EWCs and the
regulatory authorities in the competition field. Council
Regulation No 4064/89 on Community control of
‘recognised workers’
concentrations
legal
representatives’ may be heard as
persons showing a legitimate interest’
in connection
with an examination of a concentration operation
subjected to Community control. At present, however,
workers’ representatives have no guarantee of access to
files, not even ‘non-confidential’ versions. This is a
matter first and foremost for the Community authorities
in connection with the establishment of a more
coherent link between Community social policy and
competition policy.

C 10/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.1.2004

EESC members are divided on the significance of the
3.5.
findings and views put forward on the application of the
directive and the operation of EWCs. Some feel that the
present exploratory opinion must simply provide a corpus
of information, without any intention of influencing possible
future discussion by the social partners on the revision of
Directive 94/45/EC; the Commission has indicated in its

Brussels, 24 September 2003.

it

intends to consult

the social
work programme that
partners starting in the autumn of 2003. Others consider
that it should be possible to use the evidence presented by
the Committee on the application of the directive and the
operation of EWCs as a basis for assessing any aspects of
Directive 94/45/EC which might need to be revised.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a European
Parliament and of the Council decision establishing a Community action programme to promote
bodies active at European level in the field of youth’

(COM(2003) 272 final — 2003/0113 (COD))

(2004/C 10/06)

On 24 June 2003, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 149 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 September 2003. The rapporteur was
Mrs van Turnhout, the co-rapporteurs were Mr Soares and Mr Pezzini.

At its 402nd plenary session on 24 and 25 September 2003 (meeting of 24 September), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 128 votes in favour and 1 vote
against.

1. Executive summary

1.1.
The European Economic and Social Committee wel-
come this measure, which ensures continuity of essential
funding to bodies active at European level in the field of youth.

1.2.
However the EESC is critical of the proposal to reduce
funding by 2,5 % each year after the third year. In this opinion
we have outlined the probable impact of this proposal. In
addition we argue that these organisations should be treated
as per Article 162 of the Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom)
No 2342/2002 (1). They are bodies who pursue an aim of

(1) Article 108 of the Financial Regulations.

general European interest (2) and therefore should not be
treated under Article 113(2) of the Council Regulation (EC,
Euratom) No 1605/2002.

The EESC welcomes the stability of

funding this
1.3.
measure will give to the European Youth Forum, ensuring that
it can continue to grow and strengthen.

the Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom)

(2) Article 162 of
No 2342/2002.
‘A body pursuing an aim of general European interest is:
(a) a European body involved in education, training, information
or research and study in European policies or a European
standards body; or

(b) a European network representing non-profit bodies active in
the Member States or in the candidate countries and promot-
ing principles and policies consistent with the objectives of
the Treaties.’