More flexibility for start-ups in the European single market

On 18 March 2026, the European Commission presented the draft regulation on the introduction of an "EU Inc." as a possible legal form for start-ups and companies expanding internationally, which had already been announced in January 2025. The new legal form, similar to...

EU Directive on Quality Jobs in the Planning Stage

On 4 December 2025, the European Commission unveiled its long-awaited Quality Jobs Roadmap, which aims to identify new challenges for labour law and culminate in a new EU directive. The first phase of consultation with the social partners...

European Parliament calls for a just green and digital transformation

The European Parliament's resolution on a just transition in the world of work of 20 January 2026 should also be seen in the context of the ongoing initiatives for an EU directive on quality jobs (see above). By a majority of 420 votes to 207...

European Parliament calls for EU legal framework on subcontracting

On 12 February 2026, the European Parliament adopted a "Resolution on addressing subcontracting chains and the role of intermediaries in order to protect workers' rights" by a majority of 332 votes to 209. The aim is to curb abuse in...

Historic turning point in Britain

On 18 December 2025, the new British Employment Rights Act came into force, one of the most important reforms of the Labour Party, which has been in power since July 2024. It is regarded as the biggest improvement in employee rights for decades...

Is "el capitalismo alemán" coming to Spain?

On 5 February 2026, an international group of experts presented the report on democracy in the workplace requested by the Spanish government. In addition to financial participation of the workforce in the company's capital, the report focuses in particular on co-determination...

Reinstating the Greek collective bargaining system

On 16 February 2026, a law to reinforce collective bargaining agreements came into force in Greece. It enacts a social agreement concluded on 26 November 2025 between employer organisations, trade unions and the government to end the restrictions imposed...

Ryanair bars Irish trade union from EWC

On 17 December 2025, the Labour Court in Dublin ruled on the election of Irish delegates to the European works council of the airline Ryanair. It had received a complaint from the Fórsa trade union, which is recognised by Ryanair as a collective...

Mediation procedure avoids legal proceedings 

On 11 March 2026, the EWC and the central management of American Express Global Business Travel ("Amex GBT") signed a letter of intent on their future cooperation. Recently, there had been repeated differences of opinion regarding the interpretation of...

Co-determination side-stepping through SE comes before the Federal Court of Justice

The German works councils of the Berlin-based direct bank N26 have appealed to the Federal Court of Justice in the third instance in the battle for employee representation on the supervisory board. The legal dispute, which began in April 2024...

Luxembourg steel group seeking to relocate functions to India

On 29 January 2026, ArcelorMittal's central management informed the European works council in a video conference that it intends to relocate 5,600 jobs in IT, logistics and maintenance in 20 countries in order to "optimise and standardise activities spread across...

German chemical group plans to relocate functions to India

On 11 February 2026, BASF's central management announced its intention to bundle its finance, HR and IT functions in a new global hub in India by the end of 2028. The aim is to "increasingly utilise cost-efficient locations". The Global Business Services subsidiary...

Planned mega-merger in the aerospace industry

On 16 February 2026, fourteen trade unions represented in Airbus, Thales and Leonardo called for social guarantees for Bromo in an open letter to the three CEOs. The new company will combine the space activities of the three partners by 2027, creating an innovative...

Europe's largest online fashion retailer closes logistics centre

On 8 January 2026, the Zalando management announced that it would be completely closing its logistics site in Erfurt (Germany), which has 2,700 employees. The site, which was built in 2012 with €22 million in state funding, no longer meets today's...

Food delivery services in Italy placed under forced administration

On 9 February 2026, Foodinho with 40,000 delivery riders and on 23 February 2026 Deliveroo with 23,000 delivery riders were both placed under court administration. The Milan public prosecutor's office had established that the riders earn just €2.50 per delivery...

IG Metall takes legal action against election interference by Elon Musk

From 2 to 4 March 2026, 10,700 Tesla employees at the only European factory for electric vehicles and batteries in Grünheide (near Berlin) were able to elect their new works council. Through threats and intimidation...

US chemicals group with EWC under Luxembourg law

Just a few days before the new EWC directive came into force, an EWC agreement was concluded on 3 December 2025 for the chemical group Avient, which previously had no European works council. The management in the USA had appointed a sales office in...

Danish energy company integrates British workforce

On 3 December 2025, an EWC agreement was signed at Ørsted's headquarters in Fredericia, which has now been in force since 1 January 2026. The semi-state-owned energy company is the global market leader in offshore wind energy with 8,100 employees worldwide. Until now...

Dutch food delivery service with four EWC meetings per year

On 3 December 2025, an EWC agreement was signed in Amsterdam for Just Eat Takeaway, which has now been in force since 1 January 2026. The online delivery service is represented in 14 European countries, Israel and Canada. However, only eleven EU countries...

Artificial intelligence as a topic for the Global Works Council

On 15 December 2025, the central management of the Belgian chemical group Solvay agreed with the Global works council and the European works council an addendum to their framework agreement on digital transformation of March 2020...

Spanish textile group promotes elderly employees

On 20 January 2026, the management of Inditex signed a pan-European agreement with the European works council to promote age diversity in the workplace. With 160,000 employees, Inditex is one of the largest clothing groups in the world and...

Use of AI tools in Italian insurance group

On 4 February 2026, Generali signed a joint declaration between central management and the European works council on how to manage technological transformation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI). This was made in connection with the launch of...

Italian energy group enhances social responsibility

On 13 January 2026, ENI's central management and the International Federation of Industrial Trade Unions (industriALL), with the support of three Italian trade unions, signed a new version of the international framework agreement in Milan that has been in place since 2002...

Social responsibility in the supply chain of agricultural commodities

On 15 January 2026, a declaration was signed in Oslo between the Norwegian retail company Vinmonopolet and the IUF, the global umbrella organisation of food trade unions. Both parties commit to working together to improve working conditions in the...

Collective bargaining agreement for Swedish clothing chain in New York

On 29 January 2026, the US retail union RWDSU (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union) announced that it had been able to secure a collective agreement for more than 1,000 employees at H&M shops in New York for the first time...

Competence centre for human rights due diligence

The competence centre founded in March 2025 by two European trade union federations, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation with financial support from the German government now has its own website. It aims to...

European Employers' Institute with its own website

On 1 October 2024, thirteen employer federations founded the European Employers' Institute (EEI) in Brussels, which now also has its own website. It is intended to serve as a central point of contact for cross-industry research in order to influence EU policy...

Network for cross-border labour mobility

Since 1993, the EURES (EURopean Employment Services) network has been supporting the search for jobs and labour throughout Europe. The network's partners include public employment services, trade unions and employer federations. The network is coordinated by the European Commission...

Research centre on collective labour law in Switzerland

At the University of Basel's Faculty of Law, a research centre is working on the consequences of digitalisation, health, privacy and data protection in the working world and the internationalisation of labour law in connection with cross-border work. In addition to research...

Country reports on corporate co-determination

At the end of November 2025, a collection of articles was published that examines ten countries that have so far undergone little research in co-determination studies. These include Belgium, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Poland, where company co-determination in...

Enforcement of employee data protection rights

In December 2025, the Brussels competence centre of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on the Future of Work presented a brochure on employee data protection under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The key question is how employees can ensure control...

Legal reference work on EWC and SE law

The 7th edition of this handbook on the German Works Constitution Act was published at the turn of the year 2025/2026. It contains a dedicated chapter of 219 pages on the German EWC Act and 45 pages on co-determination in the European Company (SE)...

International minimum wage report

On 5 March 2026, the Hans Böckler Foundation presented a minimum wage report for Europe. It also includes comparative figures with other parts of the world. In 2025, minimum wages in the EU were raised significantly, which is attributed to the influence of the...

18th conference for European and SE works councils in Hamburg

A few days after the new EWC Directive came into force, the EWC Academy once again held a conference in Hamburg on 26 and 27 January 2026. With 61 participants from ten countries, it was one of the largest of the annual conferences...