European private company statute must respect workers’ participation rights
To ensure that employees’ rights to information and consultation will be guaranteed when setting up the European Private Company Statute (Societas Privata Europaea, SPE), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls on European policymakers to complement these statutes with a separate directive on employees’ participation rights – as is the case for a European company (Societa Europaea, SE) and the European Cooperative Society.
The Commission currently proposes a package of measures aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Single market. The underlying idea of this proposal is to create a company with limited liability at European level, thereby establishing a SPE. ETUC generally welcomes such initiatives designed to improve market conditions for SME.
However, such initiatives should not be accomplished at the expense of employees’ participation rights, more specifically in terms of their rights to participate on the boards of companies. ‘Given the impact of the SPE on existing employees’ rights to participation, the social partners at European level should have been consulted within the framework of Article 138 of the EU Treaty,’ emphasises ETUC Deputy General Secretary Reiner Hoffmann. He adds that ‘ETUC will only bring its support to this project if essential modifications are made to the Commission’s proposal, ensuring that employees’ participation rights will be respected’.
See also the Resolution adopted by the ETUC Executive Committee in Brussels on 15–16 October 2008.
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