European Works Councils: Prospects for a New System of European Industrial Relations

Abstract

Following the adoption of the `Council Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council' (EWC) in September 1994 there now exists for the first time a transnational system of industrial relations based on European legislation. This article discusses the development of EWCs in the context of the contemporary restructuring of European transnational capital. Thereby, EWCs may in future lead to a new transnational `micro-corporatism' helping to stabilize the emerging `Euro-company' while at the same time reinforcing the contemporary trend of undercutting national, regional and sectoral collective bargaining through the decentralization of industrial relations.