Progress on transposition of European Works Council Directive

Download article in original language : PT9901125NPT.DOC

Portugal's long-delayed implementation of the European Work Council Directive moved another stage nearer in December 1998, when the government issued a proposed transposition bill, which is under debate in Parliament in early 1999. At the same time, there has been a renewed debate about EWCs in Portugal, especially in the textiles sector.

The European Union Council Directive 94/45/EC on European Works Councils (EWC s), adopted in September 1994, was due to be implemented by the Member States by September 1996, but Portugal has not yet transposed it (TN9807201S). A proposed transposition bill was issued by the Portuguese Council of Ministers at the end of December 1998 and possible changes and approval are now being discussed in Parliament. Renewed discussion of the issue at Community level, with a review of the Directive due by September 1999, has revived the debate on EWCs in Portugal.

The General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) has recently held a national debate on the EWC issue. and stresses the following points:

• in Portugal, the content of the current legislation establishing the powers of workers' commission s includes only very limited rights to information and there have been no improvements in this area since 1975. Officially, only 200 companies out of a total of 200,000 have workers' commissions;

• workers' commission representatives in Portugal have no legal representative authority, even though their right to information is recognised. Since this is provided for in the EWC Directive, the situation should improve after transposition; and

• EWCs play an important role in circulating information among the various establishments of transnational companies.

In December 1998, the European Trade Union Committee: Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUC:TCL) - the sectoral European Industry Federation affiliated to the European Trade Union Confederation- in conjunction with the Portuguese Federation of Unions of Textile, Woollens, Garment, Shoe-Manufacturing, and Fur and Leather Workers (Federação dos Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores Têxteis, Vestuário, Calçado e Peles de Portugal, FESETE), held an EWC seminar in Portugal. The meeting brought together workers' representatives from European transnational companies that have facilities in Portugal, representing about 12,000 employees. Some problems were identified relating to the creation and function of EWCs, including the following:

• businesses have allegedly used the fact that the Directive has not yet been transposed in Portugal as an excuse to delay setting up EWCs;

• the Directive itself is believed to contain too many restrictions on workers' rights to intervene and to go somewhat too far in terms of confidentiality;

• in reality, some companies are said to be unable to provide sufficient economic information about their operations;

• there are problems with interpreting economic and financial information, which is too often expressed only as numbers, and at the same time, it is claimed, workers are not consulted about important issues;

• there have reportedly been problems obtaining recognition of democratically elected representatives; and

• there are linguistic barriers

In a sector like textiles, where companies tend to have facilities in more than one country, EWCs are considered essential. A list of all the transnational textiles companies operating in Portugal has been put together. At present, in response to the recent exit of foreign investment from Portugal (PT9812114F), public officials have pointed out the importance of information and consultation.

The government has promised to transpose the EWC Directive by the end of this legislature - in other words, before the October 1999 general election.