Soft regulation, negotiation and learning in the European Work Councils of the German chemical Multi-Nationals in Spain

Abstract

The 1994 European Union (EU) Directive on European Work Councils (EWC) is conceptualized as a soft regulation that leaves open possibility for negotiation, learning, and evolution. The paper analyzes how internal and external factors influence the evolution dynamics of EWC in three chemical German multina-tional enterprises. The internal factors relate to the organizational dynamics of each EWC and the multina-tional group. The external factors look at the institutional or societal aspects of labour unionism and em-ployee representation at both headquarters and subsidiary countries. Based on secondary data and interviews with key informants, the common and different dynamics of the EWC are analyzed, within the European Union’s institutional and regulatory context. While the internal factors foster a differentiation process between them, the external factors move the EWC in a similar direction from initial structural asymmetries towards more dynamic and interactive relations.