European Company (Societas Europaea, SE)
The European Company (SE) and the European Cooperative Society (SCE) have added additional facets on obligatory worker involvement at European level particularly by including – for the first time – participation rights at company board level. As of 8 October 2004 it became possible to establish a European Company (SE).
The main purpose of the SE statute (EC 2157/2001) is to enable companies to operate their businesses on a cross-border basis in Europe under the same corporate regime. An important feature of this new company form is that – by means of the associated SE Directive (2001/86/EC) – obligatory negotiations on worker involvement in SEs were introduced which include the question of representation of the workforce at board level. Indeed, in many EU member states statutory workers’ representation on the companies’ supervisory or administrative board is already a standard right rather than the exception.
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The European Company (SE) Factsheets – A new online tool of the ETUI
Since 2005 the ETUI has been regularly issuing information on registered SEs which is supplied by its SEEurope research network. As from July 2008 the SE Factsheets are now accessible via a new online tool. They aim to provide information on the use of the SE statute and to monitor implementation of the SE Directive in the area of worker involvement where the Directive contains provision for a legally binding procedure of negotiations on worker information, consultation and participation.
The SE Factsheets offer key information on both established SEs and companies planning to adopt SE status. The Factsheets deliver key data to facilitate observation and analysis of developments in this rather new but dynamic field of European company law and European industrial relations.
Click here to visit the SE factsheets
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The resources for this section are taken from the SEEurope research network on worker participation in the European Company.
