During the meeting of Gaz de France's EWC on March 11, 2008 (see our dispatch No. 080204), the management presented an outline of the future of the European staff representation bodies of the two groups, which the council accepted. Between the two usual options – creating a negotiation group equally composed of staff representatives of the two groups to negotiate a new agreement or extend the acquiring company's EWC agreement to the acquired company's staff -the management proposed a solution which takes a little of both. (Ref. 080214)
First, let’s remember that no text, or the directive, or the French legislation applicable in this case, or even the two groups’ respective agreements plan the approach to follow in the event of a merger of two EWCs. The solution has to be found among social partners. Practice brings out two main options; the first is aligned with business law: the acquiring company’s EWC becomes the EWC of the new group and the staff of the acquired company is integrated when the agreement’s perimeter is renegotiated (unless an adaptation clause exists in the EWC agreement of the acquiring company).
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