European Works Councils were established in the early nineties, starting with the voluntary agreements under Article 13 before the EWC directive 94/45/EC came into force in September 1996 and the Article 6 agreements after the Directive took effect.

Since then, more than 800 EWC agreements have been concluded for European multinational companies with over one thousand employees across the Member States and 150 employees in at least 2 Member States of the European Union.

Sustainable Social Dialogue

After the EWC recast directive in 2011 regarding information and consultation for EWC meetings, European works councils now focus on quality, continuous improvement and a sustainable social dialogue for cross-border participation in a changing global business environment.

If you are a EWC organiser, chairperson, secretary or decision maker, go to our EWC Planner page.

• If you want more information on our language services for EWCs, go to the EWC Language Services page.
• If you are looking for background information on European Works Council, go to our EWC Resources Page.