Information and Consultation Directives

The objective of Directive 2002/14 is to establish a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community in order to fill the gaps and counter the shortcomings in the provisions in force at national and Community levels. The Directive was adopted by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on 11 March 2002. By March 2005 Member States were required to implement the Directive in national legislation and lay down procedures through which companies would have to inform their employees about their employer’s economic situation and to inform and consult them on issues concerned with employment and work organisation. In contrast to the EWC and SE Directives, this legislation lays down minimum standards at national level. It covers companies with at least 50 employees or establishments with at least 20 (Member States can choose which threshold should apply to them).

The two main objectives for the adoption of the Directive were to approximate Member States’ legislation concerning the practical arrangements and procedures for such redundancies and to afford greater protection to workers in the event of collective redundancies.

In 1977 the Transfer of undertakings directive, 77/187/EEC, was adopted by the Council. According to the preamble, the differences in employee protection among the Member States can have a direct effect on the functioning of the Single Market. The purpose of the Directive is (Article 1) to protect employees’ rights in case of a ‘ transfer of an undertaking, business or part of a business to another employer as a result of a legal transfer or merger’. It aims to achieve partial harmonisation of the Member States’ legislation by extending the protection of workers to cover the case of transfer of undertakings. The aim of the Directive is to ensure, as far as possible, that the employment relation continues unchanged with the transferee and that the workers are not placed in a less favourable position solely as a result of the transfer.