Die zivilgesellschaftliche Unternehmensmitbestimmung und ihre verfassungs- und europarechtliche Bewertung

Within the context of economic democracy, the author develops a new model of extending German corporate co-determination of labour, analysing its compatibility with the German constitution and with European law. Representing civil society on supervisory boards and abolishing the capital side’s exclusive right to final decision is conducive to reducing orientation towards shareholder value and widening the scope for more democratic corporate strategies. The study analyses whether a pledge to democratise economy can be derived from the German constitutional principle of democratic and social government based on the rule of law. Subsequently, possible constitutional concerns regarding primarily property rights are challenged by deriving an innovative theory of distinction between substance and boundary of property from functional logic. The analysis concludes by studying obstacles posed by European law with regard to freedom of establishment and freedom of capital movement.