What makes an effective European works council? Considerations based on three case studies

Abstract

This article analyses the operation of European works councils (EWCs) in three multinational companies (GSK, Coca-Cola and UniCredit) across six EU Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and the UK). Based on interviews with EWC members and other employee representatives in these companies, it argues that EWCs are in a process of continual development, and examines the influences on their effectiveness by using a fivefold typology: company type, path dependency, socio-institutional environments, actors’ strategies and internal EWC dynamics. The article reveals that our respondents refer most frequently to the internal dynamics of EWCs as the key influence on their effectiveness, and concludes by assessing the policy implications for trade unions.