European Works Council or procedures for informing and consulting employees in Community-scale undertakings

The proposal for a directive incorporated, within the context of the social protocol, a proposal put forward in 1990 which sought to establish a European Works Council for Community-scale undertakings or groups of undertakings with a view to informing and consulting the workers. The proposal covered undertakings with more than 1,000 employees, with at least two establishments employing more than 100 persons in two or in several Member States. It was also aimed at undertakings based outside the Community or in the United Kingdom, if they met the above criteria. The establishment of the Works Council would be a matter of negotiation between the company management and the workers' representatives. In the absence of an agreement, a certain number of minimum provisions, which were defined in the proposal, would be applied in respect of the scope of the information and consultation process and the conditions under which the Works Council would operate, thereby ensuring that workers were informed and consulted. �