The Commission Recommendation on the role of non-executive or supervisory directors of listed companies and on the committees of the (supervisory) board was formally adopted by the European Commission on 15 February 2005. The final version of the recommendation explicitly excludes board-level employee representatives from being classified as "threats" to board independence (see last page of recommendation, Annex II).
Links:
EU COM website on the recommendation (Commission Recommendation 2005/162/EC of 15 February 2005 on the role of non-executive or supervisory directors of listed companies and on the committees of the (supervisory) board [Official Journal L 52 of 25.2.2005].