Members of the European Parliament have voted for ‘a review and modernisation’ of all Directives relating to information and consultation in the workplace.
Along with the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations and the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees, the review will also affect the consultation requirements of TUPE.
Owing to the way the EU works, the parliament cannot initiate legislation – so the review will be carried out by the Commission, which will then propose any new legislation. A Commission spokeswoman confirmed to HR Zone that, at the moment, a timetable for the review has not been finalised.
Stephen Hughes, the Labour MEP who pushed for the review, said: “It is high time that we put a stop to the inconsistencies and contradictions between the various European texts on worker information and consultation, because they leave the door open to abuses.”
But as well as inconsistencies between the EU Directives on information and consultation, there are also big differences in the way that works councils operate in the countries which have them.
For instance, in France there is only the right to be informed and consulted, in Germany works councils have rights to take court action if the company does not follow the law, while in The Netherlands they have a right to initiate company policies.
The vote followed an earlier EU parliament debate about the restructuring of Airbus, which wants to shed 10,000 jobs by 2010, and complaints by unions and works council representatives that they had not been properly informed and consulted about the proposals.
