When are European Works Councils informed and consulted, and how do they gain influence? A quantitative analysis

• Published date: 01 November 2021
• Author: Stan De Spiegelaere
• Date: 01 November 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12350

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

When are European Works Councils informed

and consulted, and how do they gain influence?

A quantitative analysis

Stan De Spiegelaere, Prof. Dr.

Department of Marketing, Innovation

and Organisation, Faculty of Economics

and Business Administration, Ghent

University, Ghent, Belgium

Correspondence

Prof. Dr. Stan De Spiegelaere,

Department of Marketing, Innovation

and Organisation, Faculty of Economics

and Business Administration, Ghent

University, Ghent, Belgium.

Email: stan.despiegelaere@ugent.be

Funding information

European Union

Abstract

The objective of European Works Councils (EWCs) is

to provide employees in multinational companies with

information on transnational issues, and with the

opportunity to voice their opinions, in order to influ-

ence managerial decision-making. Few, however, reach

that goal. This article therefore asks the question:

Why? What factors explain whether or not an EWC

is able to reach its goals? Building on previously

established models and using large-scale survey

analysis, this article largely confirms the importance of

factors related to management structure and policy,

employee-side organisation and interaction with

management. As several of the main determinants

relate directly or indirectly to managerial agency, the

study discusses alternative ways to improve EWC

functioning by focusing on the role of management.

1|INTRODUCTION

Driving from Brussels to Vilvoorde, one encounters a roundabout in the middle of which stands

an 8-m-tall clenched fist. Officially, this is named the ‘Struggle for Labour’, but it is generally

known simply as ‘The Fist’. The monument symbolises the struggle of the employees of

Renault Vilvoorde when their plants faced closure in 1997. The history of the closure is rich as

it includes one of the first coordinated company-level European strikes as well as political

interventions, work stoppages, occupations, demonstrations, court cases and one of the first

reemployment cells in Belgium.

DOI: 10.1111/irj.12350

© 2021 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

502 Ind. Relat. 2021;52:502–527.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/irj

It all started on 27 February 1997 when the CEO of Renault held a press conference at the

Hilton Hotel announcing that the Vilvoorde plant was to close. At roughly the same time, the

works council was being informed. More than 3000 jobs were at stake and the news spread like

wildfire, resulting in partners speeding to the factory to inform workers who, as yet, knew noth-

ing about it.

The events caused a scandal (and resulted in two court cases), eventually leading to national

legal initiatives to ensure effective social dialogue on the issues raised by restructuring. They

also contributed to a clarification at European level of the right to information and consultation

in multinationals through European Works Councils (EWCs), realised finally in 2009. Since

then, the Recast of the Directive on EWCs states clearly that EWCs shall be informed at such a

time that employees are able to make an in-depth assessment of the impact of decisions (Article

2.1.(f)) and shall be consulted in such a way that they are able to express an opinion about the

proposed measure that may be taken into account by company management (Article 2.1.(g)),

which should be ‘useful to the decision-making process’(Recital 23) and which involves the

possibility of obtaining a ‘reasoned response’from management (Recital 44 and subsidiary

requirements).

The goal of the legislator is clear: to make sure that employee representatives are properly

informed and consulted before management takes the final decision on transnational issues so

that the opinion of the EWC is able to influence the decision-making process. In other words,

the legislator has sought to avoid other ‘Renault’cases where employees are only informed

after decisions are taken and when there is no way that they can influence them. Discussions in

the EWC should therefore be capable of having a ‘useful effect’(effet utile) as regards the whole

decision-making process. If this is not the case, EWC members could rightfully ask themselves

what they are doing this for.

Although the objective of the legislator is clear, the findings on the ground are not

convincing. In the run-up to a European Commission evaluation of the 2009 Recast of the EWC

Directive, studies were conducted based on surveys (ICF, 2016), focus groups of EWC coordina-

tors (Voss, 2016), EWC agreements (De Spiegelaere, 2016) and interviews with managers

(Pulignano & Turk, 2016). All point to a similar conclusion: EWCs are often informed, but

barely consulted and rarely do they have an impact on managerial decision-making. This is,

accordingly, also the conclusion to the European Commission's evaluation of the Recast

Directive (European Commission, 2018a, pp. 28, 39).

A recent ETUI (European Trade Union Institute) survey of over 1500 representatives shows

a similar picture. Only about one in four representatives say they are generally informed and/or

consulted before final decisions are taken; and, although a clear majority find their EWC

meetings effective for information purposes, only around one in two think this is the case in

respect of consultation, falling to just 22.5% regarding their ability to influence decisions

(De Spiegelaere & Jagodzi

nski, 2019, pp. 39, 41).

Both from a policy (European Commission, 2018b, p. 9) and an academic point of view, the

questions therefore are as follows: When are EWCs effective at being informed and consulted,

so that they have the ability to influence company decisions; and what can be learned from

that? This article focuses on these questions. In doing so, it uses quantitative survey data to

apply a model on EWC effectiveness in line with the research of Marginson et al. (2004). The

main argument that runs in this article is that, although the model is largely confirmed, the role

of management and its approach to the EWC is critical.

WHEN ARE EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS INFORMED AND CONSULTED,

AND HOW DO THEY GAIN INFLUENCE? A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

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