Proposal for a regulation
Article 34 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. If more than 500 employees of the SPE, or a number of employees above the threshold laid down in national law if that threshold is above 500 employees, constituting at least three-quarters of its total workforce, work in a Member State or in Member States which provide for broader employee participation than the Member State in which the SPE has its registered office, the following provisions shall apply: a) The management or administrative organ shall take the necessary steps to open negotiations with the representatives of the employees of the SPE or its subsidiaries on an agreement covering the involvement of employees in the SPE. For this purpose, a special negotiating body shall be set up to represent the employees of the SPE. b) The members of the special negotiating body shall be elected or appointed. When the members of the special negotiating body are elected or appointed, it must be ensured that those members are elected or appointed in proportion to the number of employees employed in each Member State, by allocating in respect of each Member State one seat per portion of employees employed in that Member State representing 10%, or a fraction thereof, of the number of employees employed in all the Member States taken together. c) The management or administrative organ shall determine the method to be used for the election or appointment of the members of the special negotiating body. It shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, as far as possible, each subsidiary or each establishment is represented on that body by at least one member. However, application of this point must not result in an increase in the overall number of members. d) Without prejudice to national rules laying down thresholds for the establishment of a representative body, the SPE shall provide that employees in subsidiaries or establishments in which, irrespective of the employees’ wishes, there are no employees’ representatives, have the right themselves to elect or appoint members of the special negotiating body. e) The special negotiating body and the competent organ of the SPE shall determine, by written agreement, arrangements for the involvement of employees within the SPE. f) Subject to the provisions of point (g), the special negotiating body shall take decisions by a majority of its members. Each member shall have one vote. g) The special negotiating body may decide, by the majority laid down in this point, not to open negotiations or to terminate negotiations already opened and to rely on the rules on information and consultation of employees in force in the Member States where the SPE has employees. Such a decision shall halt the procedure to conclude the agreement referred to in point (e). Where such a decision has been taken, none of the provisions of the subsidiary rules set out in point (k) shall apply. The majority required for the decision not to open or to terminate negotiations shall be the votes of 50% of the members representing at least 51% of the employees, with the proviso that those members must represent employees in at least two Member States. h) The competent organ of the SPE and the special negotiating body shall negotiate in a spirit of cooperation with a view to reaching an agreement on arrangements for the involvement of employees within the SPE. The agreement between the competent organ of the SPE and the special negotiating body shall specify at least the following: (i) the scope of the agreement; (ii) the composition, number of members and allocation of seats on the representative body which will be the discussion partner of the competent organ of the SPE in connection with the arrangements for the information and consultation of the employees of the SPE and its subsidiaries and establishments; (iii) the frequency of meetings of the representative body; (iv) the financial and material resources to be allocated to the representative body; (v) the number of members of the SPE’s administrative or supervisory body which the employees shall be entitled to elect, appoint, recommend or oppose, the procedures as to how those members may be elected, appointed, recommended or opposed by the employees, and their rights. i) Negotiations shall commence as soon as the special negotiating body is established and may continue for six months thereafter. The parties may decide, by joint agreement, to extend negotiations beyond the period referred to in the previous sentence to a total of nine months from the establishment of the special negotiating body. j) If, by the end of the period referred to in point (i), the parties have not reached agreement and the special negotiating body has not taken a decision pursuant to point (g), the subsidiary rules laid down in point (k) shall apply. They shall also apply if the parties agree as much. k) In the conditions provided for in points (g) and (j), the employees of the SPE and its subsidiaries and establishments, or their representative body, shall have the right to elect, appoint, recommend or oppose one-third of the members of the administrative or supervisory body of the SPE.