For the past 30 years, hundreds of multinational companies have been exempt from national laws on European Works Council (EWC).
Significant reforms to the 2009 European Works Council Directive will become law on 31 December 2025. One of the most significant changes is the removal of the "Article 13" and "Article 3" status exemptions, bringing hundreds of multinational companies under the scope of EWC legislation.
For the past 30 years, hundreds of multinational companies have been exempt from national laws on European Works Council (EWC). In the first of two articles on the draft directive, we explore what this reform means for those businesses.
Our second article examines the new legal regime that will be applicable to all businesses.
A European Works Council (EWC) is a body that facilitates information and consultation with European employees of large multinational businesses on transnational issues. EWCs are composed of employees' representatives from each country that is a member of either or both of the European Union and the European Economic Area (Member State), in which a business has employees. They operate separately from national information and consultation bodies.
The concept of an EWC dates from 1994, when Directive 94/45/EC was enacted. However, that legislation was designed to reward businesses that already engaged in transnational information and consultation of their European employees by 22...
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