Der Europäische Betriebsrat und das comité d'entreprise européen

The works constitutional law of individual countries is traditionally based on the principle of territoriality, which means that the rights of employee representative bodies end at their respective borders. In order to ensure that company workforces would be able to exert rights of co-determination outside of the country in which the corporate headquarters of their company is based, the first European Works Councils were established in the European Union countries in 1994. This body has the right of participation in cases which involve multiple countries.

The present study analyses the implementation of the Directives 94/45/EC and 2009/38/EC in Germany and France. In addition to differences between the implementation acts, the analysis looks in particular at the divergent case law applied by German and French courts and at the jurisdiction of the ECJ. A further focus will be on the experiences which have already been gained in relation to the practical application of the implementation act in Germany.