Employee involvement and participation as a pillar of sound business management and balanced approaches to overcoming the crisis. By Wolfgang Greif

In this opinion the EESC shows how businesses and investors can work with their employees to find balanced approaches to overcoming the crisis. It looks at European policy ideas for replacing the prevailing approach of one-sided transparency for shareholders with a broader understanding of the company in the interests of its long-term development.

The EESC proposes that the idea of a sustainable company be anchored in European policy as a superior approach to business management that combines economic efficiency targets with social and environmental targets in a coherent concept.

Starting from the principle that sustainable companies take a multi-stakeholder approach in which employees are given a say, the opinion calls for the establishment and consolidation of foundations for a dialogue of mutual trust between management and employees as an indispensable part of socially responsible business.

To anchor this model more firmly, the opinion calls for EU legislation to be improved to reflect the principles of sustainable business management, with all economic stakeholders given the same status in a way that builds on standards achieved in Europe, and with corporate governance incentives and legal obligations created to this end.

The EESC will therefore need to increase its advocacy for clearer reflection in EU secondary law of the fundamental European right of employee involvement, and in particular:

• for outlining the conditions on obligatory employee involvement at a high level in EU law on the basis of standards already achieved;
• for standardising the various definitions of consulting, informing and, where they exist, participation on company boardrooms in EU legislation; and
• for amending the EU Framework Directive on informing and consulting employees (2002/14/EC) to include the right of presence of employee representatives in company boardrooms.

In doing so, EU law must safeguard and strengthen existing national and European employee involvement rights. European law regulating the cross-border transfer of a registered office and mergers must not bring about a move away from board-level participation.

Finally, the EESC welcomes the European Parliament decision of 15 January 2013 to create a legal framework of minimum standards for restructuring to minimise the social and economic costs of change and better anticipate it. This would not only strengthen employee involvement, it would also promote a sustainable and long-term approach to business management in the single market.