EU: Expert Group on European Works Councils put on hold until further notice

An Expert Group on European Works Councils had been the European Commissions’ compromise response to its assessment of the EWC Recast Directive (2009/38/EC); i.e. no new revisions to the text, but instead the establishment of a joint group of experts that would collaborate on preparing a practical handbook with relevant best practices. The first meeting of the group of experts from both employers and trade union bodies was held on 01 April 2019. The meeting adjourned however with no agreement possible and as a result the European Commission announced in a letter dated 02 July 2019 that the group’s work was being suspended.
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In a letter to European employers and trade union bodies, the European Commission recalled that this Expert Group had been set up to advise and assist in the preparation of a guide for EWC practitioners and was meant to address the lacunae that had been identified during the Commission’s assessment of the recast Directive on EWCs (2009/38/EC) (c.f. article No. 10676)

While the employers’ representatives had been supportive of the guide, the trade union delegations were more reticent as to the ef

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