On 6 May 2009 the Directive 2009/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council replacing the Directive 94/45/EB on the Establishment of a European Works Council or a Procedure in Community-Scale Undertakings and Community-scale Groups of Undertakings for the Purposes of Informing and Consulting Employees was adopted.

      

      The amendments state that the employees’ representatives have a right to training during the working hours without a decrease in wages in so far as it is necessary to exercise their representative duties. Until now the above mentioned right was not established.

      

      Furthermore, the amendments abolish the restriction to a maximum and minimum number of the members of the European Works Council effective until now. The amendments indicate that the number of the members of the European Works Council shall be in proportion to the number of employees employed, by allocating one seat per portion of employees employed in that Member State, amounting to 10 %, or a fraction thereof, of the number of employees employed in all the Member States taken together.

      

      Moreover, the amended provisions of the Directive establish the procedure of the European Works Council formation, also, the principles which have to be taken into account in order to separate the functions of the European Works Council from the functions of the national employee representation bodies, etc.

      

      The Directive obliges the Member States to assure the implementation of the Directive till 5 June 2011.