The Impact of Brexit on European Works Councils: Forms and Factors of Continuity and Change

European Works Councils (EWCs) provide employees with consultation and information rights in multinational companies (MNCs) operating in the European Union (EU). The decision of the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the EU (Brexit) meant that UK subsidiaries in EU-based MNCs no longer fall under the scope of the European works council directive. As a result, UK-based EWCs are moved to other EU-countries. Management may eliminate UK members from EU-based EWCs. The directive’s threshold conditions for the existence of an EWC may not be met anymore, resulting in their extinction.

This paper explores the question of how EWCs have been affected by Brexit and what strategies the various actors have developed to pursue their interests in keeping or disrupting a specific EWC. Using a qualitative case study design of some 60 company cases, we analyse how EWCs developed since Brexit. Interviews have been led with EWC and SE-Works Council members and managers from the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Ireland. This data is complemented by data from trade unions, expert interviews and document analysis.

We focus on two sets of questions. First, we seek to analyse the characteristics of change in EWCs in specific companies: Which changes have occurred in EWCs regulatory frameworks, i.e. the company specific EWC agreements, formal structures and participation rights and how can those developments be categorized? In which aspects did an EWC remain stable or change after Brexit? To cover different types of change, we draw on institutionalist theory and develop a typology with four types of developments, i.e. stability, exclusion, limitation and innovation. Secondly, the study aims at explaining the changes observed: What are the key factors and mechanisms explaining the above-mentioned developments? How did the developments unfold in processes of bargaining between the actors involved (i.e. management, EWC, national representatives, trade unions)?