From the Vredeling Directive to the European Works Council Directive . some historical remarks

Abstract

In September 1994, after over twenty years of debate and controversy, the Council of Ministers adopted the Directive 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. For a long time it had looked as though an EU directive on employee information and consultation rights in multinational groups of undertakings stood no chance of ever being carried through, and it was not until the Treaty of Maastricht was ratified that new prospects emerged. The "Protocol on social policy" is part of the Maastricht Treaty, and attached to it is an agreement on social policy signed by the eleven Member States without the United Kingdom. On that basis it was possible for the directive to be adopted by eleven Member States by a simple majority in the Council of Ministers. The following article describes several of the important stages in the debate on this controversial directive.