Impact of the information and consultation directive on industrial relations
March 2009
Comparative study [ 
size 292 kb ]
This comparative report provides a general overview of the steps taken by the 27 EU Member States and Norway to implement the 2002 Directive on informing and consulting employees in the European Community. The extent of the changes required to existing systems of information and consultation and workplace representation has varied considerably between countries. In some countries, the directive has had few, if any, implications, particularly in those with longstanding statutory works council systems; in others, it has prompted only limited amendments. However, in a number of countries, the directive has driven extensive legislative reform, for example in the UK and Ireland, where a ‘voluntarist’ industrial relations tradition predominates, and in many of the new Member States. Moreover, the transposition process has generated intense debate in some countries, in particular on the workforce-size thresholds above which undertakings or establishments are covered by information and consultation requirements, and on the nature of the employee representatives through which information and consultation takes place; the latter focus is a major issue in those countries where trade unions have traditionally been the sole or main representation channel. However, most EIRO national centres report that national measures which give effect to the directive have, as yet, had little or no impact on industrial relations practice in their countries, or that it is too early for their effects to be fully assessed.
The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EIRO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The national reports were drawn up in response to a questionnaire and should be read in conjunction with it.