Participation and Representation of Employees at Board Level, and the opportunities offered by the SE - European Company, in the New EU-Member States
Exchange of views and experiences regarding board-level representation throughout Europe
First seminar of the PRESENS project held in Helsingør (7–9 April 2005)
In April, the first seminar within the framework of the PRESENS project took place in Helsingør, Denmark. The seminar brought together 23 experts, practioners and trade union officials from five new member states (Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta) and four “old” member states (Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden) to enter into a dialogue on worker participation at board level within the enlarged EU.
The presentations and discussions once more revealed the variety of systems and practices in Europe. A clear lesson drawn from the seminar is that there is indeed a need for improved knowledge and a better understanding of the national systems and particularly the practices in the different member states. The first PRESENS seminar constituted a further step in this direction, focussing particularly on exchanging practical experiences: What is the difference between being a worker board member in the Czech Republic compared to Germany? Is it more or less the same whether workers are represented on a board of directors (as is the case in Sweden) or on a supervisory board (as in Hungary)? What links are there to the other channels of interest representation? And above all: What can you achieve by sitting as a worker representative on a company board?
In this regard, the seminar showed once again how difficult it is to make qualitative comparisons between national systems. The reason for this is that board-level representation is always embedded in the wider national context of industrial relations and corporate governance. However, worker board members from all countries stressed that it is indeed a valuable additional tool of workforce interest representation. They particularly highlighted timely access to information about the company and the possibility of introducing the workers’ viewpoint at the highest level. As one Swedish practitioner put it: “Being a board member opens doors”.
