European works councils go missing

Only a third of the companies which could be required to set up a European works council (EWC) have done so, according to the ETUI, the research arm of the ETUC.

The EWC directive, originally passed in 1994, says that companies with 1,000 employees in Europe, with at least 150 in two separate states, can be compelled to set up an EWC, a body bringing together employee representatives from across Europe. So far only 720 have done so, leaving 1,449 which have not.

In the UK, only 98 of the 264 companies which could be required to set up an EWC have actually done so, with companies such as Abbey National, EMAP and Tesco still without one.

A list of the companies which have not yet set up an EWC is available from www.etuc.org/etui/databases