The European Parliament held a plenary debate, on the evening of 7 May, on the Commission's plans to revise the European Works Council Directive.

There is a need for community action to improve the European Works Council Directive, confirmed Employment Commissioner Vladimír Špidla, reasoning that "European Works Councils are not properly consulted" in restructuring because of legal uncertainty (see Europolitics 3524). Therefore "the Commission is currently reviewing the options for Community action", he said. With a view to workers' information and consultation during restructuring, Spidla stressed that "the directives we have are underused" and that "the Commission will support the social partners in efficiently implementing the existing guidelines".

"The issue should fall at the first fence" because the European Works Councils refuse to take part in the social dialogue, said Philip Bushill-Matthews (EPP-ED, United Kingdom) in the name of his group. "Where is the penalty for not having sat down?", he asked. The Commission's proposal should therefore reflect "that one party was prepared to negotiate and the other one was not". The European trade unions had failed to represent their workers, he concluded.

Harlem Désir (PES, France) recalled that the directive was pioneering when it was adopted in 1994, building the foundation of labour law in Europe. However, it was "absolutely necessary to review it". "BusinessEurope (the European employers' association) made sure that there is no solution to the existing problem", he added. He could not accept "that the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) is being called into question".

"Unfortunately, one side is rejecting the idea of a revision", said Elisabeth Schroedter (Greens/EFA, Germany). It was "insufficient just to talk about social Europe", she stressed, "people want to see action". The EWCs could not do their job if they were informed too late, she said.

"In my country, only 5% of workers belonged to trade unions", Siiri Oviir (ALDE, Estonia) stressed. "People don't see trade unions as defenders of workers' rights", he said. When putting forward the new proposal, the Commission should bare the different situations in the various member states in mind.

Ewa Tomaszewska (UEN, Poland) called the European Works Council Directive out-of-date because it was no longer in line with other EU directives. She said that "the role of trade unions in EWCs has not been properly defined". "The lack of a proper definition leads to barriers for workers to access information", she concluded.