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For multinational enterprises, managing employee relations in Europe is becoming increasingly complex and looks like becoming even more difficult in the immediate future. The eurozone crisis is resulting in a de-facto split within the European Union between counties in the euro and those outside. In the words of former UK prime minister, John Major,
If the eurozone integrates and co-ordinates policy, non-euro members may co-ordinate too. Confrontation looms. Deeper eurozone integration may encourage non-euro member states to seek to repatriate key policies they can’t influence. The UK will not be alone in this. In the next decade, a federal eurozone will change Europe’s mosaic. Within the eurozone it will become more prescriptive; outside, a looser union could emerge.
This suggests that employment laws and social policy between the euro and non-euro zones could diverge significantly over time. What would be the consequences for corporations with EWCs based on UK law if the UK were to negotiate a new opt-out from EU social policy?
The European Commission is also currently considering a range of policy initiatives which, if adopted, could significantly change the shape of the labor relations landscape:
· The Commission is expected to publish a set of conclusions in the near future based on the discussions of an expert group on “transnational company agreements” which will encourage the development of such agreements and suggest a framework to give them legal validity.
· The Commission is also conducting a “fit for purpose” audit on the Collective Redundancies, Transfer of Undertakings and the Framework Information and Consultation Directives which could lead to proposals to harmonize the definitions of information and consultation in these Directives with the definitions to be found in the 2009 EWC Directive.
· A consultation paper on “socially responsible corporate restructuring” will also be published in 2012, at the latest, which will invite the social partners to negotiate an agreement between themselves on the issue.
· A study on the possibility of setting-up a European mediation service to assist in resolving “transnational disputes” in multinational companies has been commissioned and will be published in 2012.
· The Commission will also make significant financial resources available to significantly advance these policy objectives, Much of this funding will go to trade union-sponsored projects.
The full impact of the new provisions of the 2009 EWC Directive will begin to make themselves felt in 2012 while May 2012 will see the merger between the metal workers, chemical workers and textile workers federations completed, creating a potent new trade union force at European-level.
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