Employee Participation and Involvement Weaknesses

1. The ETUC has pointed to five major areas of weakness in framing its proposals for amending the EWC Directive: A lack of clarity on the type of information and consultation, to be provided to employee representatives; A lack of recognition of the important role played by trade union representatives; Insufficient resources for translations and preparatory meetings; Prevalence of management control of the agenda of meetings; The limited competence of the EWCs. Employee Participation and Involvement Weaknesses

2. Consultation Procedure The traditional legislative procedure set out in the original Treaty of Rome. Commission proposes legislation and consults with Parliament, Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Social Partners. Legislation has to be approved unanimously by the Council of Ministers before it can be implemented. Co-operation Procedurewas created by theSingle European Act 1987. Under this procedure the Parliament has further consultation rights and legislation can be approved on the basis of a majority vote in the Council of Ministers. Co-decision Procedurewas introduced in 1991 in the Maastricht Treaty.Under this procedure the European Parliament has certain rights to veto legislative proposals on the basis of a majority vote of MEPs. Protocol Procedure was also introduced in the Maastricht Treaty. Its aim is to encourage social dialogue between the Social Partners. Procedural Routes through EU Legislation

3. Free movement for all workers within the Union. Employment and Remuneration All employment should be fairly remunerated. Workers should have an equitable wage—that is, a wage sufficient for a decent standard of living (a minimum wage). Improvement of living and working conditions Covers aspects of employment such as collective redundancies and bankruptcies. Every worker must have a weekly rest period, annual paid leave, and a contract of employment. Social protection Every worker in the Union shall have a right to adequate social protection. Freedom of association and collective bargaining Employers and employees have the right of association (i.e. employers’ associations and trade unions) to protect their social and economic interests. Vocational training Every worker must have access to vocational training. Equal treatment for men and women Access to employment, remuneration, working conditions, social protection, educational training and career development. Information, consultation and participation of workersThese must be developed along appropriate lines, taking account of the practices in force in the various member states. These processes must be implemented: when technological change occurs that has major implications for the workforce; in connection with restructuring operations or mergers; in cases of collective redundancy; and when trans-frontier workers in particular are affected by the employment policies where they are employed. Health protection and safety in the workplace Every worker must enjoy satisfactory health and safety conditions in the workplace. Protection of children and adolescents in employment Elderly persons Every worker must, at the time of retirement, be able to enjoy resources affording him or her a decent standard of living, and those not entitled to a pension must be provided for. Disabled persons All disabled people must be entitled to additional measures aimed at improving their social and professional integration. The Social Charter

4. Employability Investment in human resources within a new active policy: how to cover the skills gap and create attachments to the world of work for young people, long-term unemployed and other less competitive groups so that they do not drift into exclusion. Enhancement of skills and motivation of people in order to deal with the rapidly changing world of work and to create successful industries and a successful EU economy. Adaptability How to strengthen the capacity of workers to meet the challenges of change and how to change the organisation of work so that structural adjustment can be managed and competitiveness maintained. Investment in lifelong learning, and reforming contractual frameworks to take into account new work forms, while maintaining the right balance between flexibility for enterprises and security for workers. Entrepreneurship How to create a new entrepreneurial culture and spirit by encouraging self-employment, cutting red tape, reforming taxation systems, and identifying new sources of jobs, especially at local level and in the social economy. This encapsulates a series of measures to make it easier to start and run a business, to develop new jobs, and tap the employment potential of the information society. Equal opportunitiesHow to create conditions where men and women have equal responsibility and opportunities in family and working life, and how to respond to the demographic challenges to maintain conditions of growth through high female participation in the labour market. The Amsterdam Treaty, 1997 – The Four Pillars

5. The Lisbon Summit in 2000 set a strategic target for the EU to become the world's leading 'knowledge economy' by 2010. It also identified the key conditions for fulfilling this goal as being: upgrading of skills participation in life-long learning gender equality promotion of high quality jobs The Lisbon Summit and the Stockholm Council