Contrary to appearances, Telefónica’s European works council agreement, renegotiated in November, isn’t the Spanish multinational’s but the one signed by the British subsidiary, Telefonica Europe plc, which manages all European operations outside of Spain. Therefore, answering to British law, this EWC isn’t the group’s EWC. The group still doesn’t have a European employee representation structure. This new agreement adapts the previous agreement (dating back to 2004) to the new directive. Interestingly, it includes agency workers in the calculation of staff numbers for the award of seats.
In reality, this EWC agreement is a renegotiation of the O2 company’s agreement, signed in June 2004 and placed under British law. O2 was a British telecom firm specialized in mobile telephony until Telefónica bought it in 2005. now, this entity is called Telefonica Europe plc and has its headquarters in England. It operates in the UK, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Therefore, Spain isn’t included in the scope as the British company doesn’t operate in the country, where Telefónica, a former public group, is present.
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