Worker involvement in the European Company (SE) [antikvár]

Foreword mim It may be that 'your company' has just announced that it will convert itself into a European Company (SE) or you have been nominated as a member of a special negotiating body. Or perhaps you were asked to provide assistance to colleagues who are involved in setting up an SE. In that case, this is the handbook for you, because it has been designed first and foremost to help practitioners to prepare and conduct negotiations on agreements on employee involvement in SEs. In October 2001, the EU formally adopted the legislation on the European Company, also knovra by its Latin name Societas Europaea (SE). It consists of a Regulation on the European Company Statute (EC 2157/2001) and an accompanying Directive on employee involvement within the SE (2001/86/EC). Since the entry into force of these two pieces of EU legislation three years later, companies can freely opt for this new corporate form. Throughout Europe, more than 900 SEs have been registered in the meantime. The principal intention of the SE legislation on the part of the European legislator has always been to enable companies to operate more easily across European borders. However, it also opens up new possibilities for employee representation at European level. Indeed, the SE Directive takes worker involvement within multinational companies one step further. Before an SE can be registered, management and worker representatives have to negotiate an agreement on how the workers will be involved in the future SE. The scope of these negotiations includes not only the establishment of a transnational information and consultation body (SE Works Council) but also participation rights. Participation is understood as the right to elect or nominate some of the members of the SE's administrative or supervisory board.