COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS of 21 July 1986 on procedures for informing and consulting the employees of undertakings with complex structures (86/C 203/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,Whereas the Commission has submitted to the Council an amended proposal for a Directive on procedures for informing and consulting the employees of undertakings with complex structures, in particular transnational undertakings; whereas the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee have delivered their opinions in this connection;Whereas the Council has to date been unable to reach agreement on this proposal for a Directive;Whereas the need for a social dialogue at all levels is nevertheless generally acknowledged;Considering recent developments, such as the ever-rising level of unemployment and the large-scale introduction of new technology, which have heightened the importance of this social dialogue both outside and inside undertakings;Considering that informing and consulting employees can have a transnational nature;Whereas new developments in this context at the level of management and labour as well as in the legislation of the Member States should be assessed consistently;Whereas it is desirable to involve employees in the operations and the success of the undertakings in which they work,1. Considers that the problem of informing and consulting employees is of great political and economic importance and that the solution to this problem can contribute towards improving relations between management and labour and thus towards a better performance by the undertakings and economies of the member States;2. Emphasizes the importance of a social area in the context of the completion of the Community internal market and the need for greater convergence between the rights of employees in the Member States to be informed and consulted regarding major decisions in the undertakings concerned;3. Notes that it has been unable to find a solution to this problem on the basis of the amended proposal for a Directive submitted by the Commission to the Council on 13 July 1983, and recalls that on 13 June 1985 it noted that in some Member States this problem came solely under collective agreements and that, before examining the said proposal further, a solution to this issue of principle would have to be found;4. Invites the Commission to:- continue its work on this subject and to follow closely developments in national legislation in this area and agreements concluded between management and labour regarding the information and consultation of employees,- continue its close contacts with management and labour with a view to reporting back to the Council each year on major developments in this respect;5. Will resume, at the beginning of 1989, on the basis of these reports, its examination either of the amended proposal for the said Directive or of any other proposal which the Commission might submit to it concerning the information and consultation of employees;6. Invites the employers' and employees' organizations in the Community to continue their dialogue on the subject at all levels with a view to arriving at agreements, at the appropriate level, which provide for information and consultation of employees, inter alia when new technology is introduced, and recalls in this connection the text of the new Article 118 B of the Treaty, as provided for in Article 22 of the Single European Act and reading as follows:'The Commission shall endeavour to develop the dialogue between management and labour at European level which could, if the two sides consider it desiarble, lead to relations based on agreement.'