As part of its Social Agenda for the period 2005-2010, the European Commission initiated a discussion on setting up an optional legal framework for transnational bargaining.
The Commission recognises that there is a growing number of agreements (well over 100) at transnational company level covering issues such as health and safety, restructuring and training. It notes that in some cases the agreements are given a legal basis at national level and may include some form of dispute resolution process. However, the practice varies widely and most agreements operate in a legal grey area.
With the growth of transnational businesses, the continuing pressures of takeovers and mergers and the extension and development of European works councils, the Commission believes that transnational bargaining will become more common. As a result it argues that a legal framework will be necessary to clarify a number of important issues:
- Actors entitled to negotiate and procedure
- Form and content of agreements
- Legal effect of agreements
- Links to national and sectoral agreements
- Right to collective action.
The European Commission has so far organised a seminar for the social partners and commissioned a report of legal experts in order to identify the main issues. Another seminar is planned for the first half of 2007. The framework concept has been discussed at a number of meetings of the ETUC Collective Bargaining Committee and the next Committee meeting on 5 October will be the next step in the process of formulating a clear view of the proposals in anticipation of a debate at the ETUC Congress in May 2007.
Some of the key Commission documents are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/labour_law/documentation_en.htm#5
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