ABSTRACT
The involvement of workers in the governance of corporations–the central organisation of the capitalist economy–has always been a contentious issue, since it limits the power of owners and management. European law is indeed neither defender nor promoter of the form of “industrial democracy” but one of its worst enemies. Proponents of co-determination on the European level should use their knowledge and influence to nurture the processes as constructive and helpful as possible. The Statute of a European Company (SE) Directive reflects this perfectly: which co-determination rights apply in an SE depends on several conditions that vary from case to case in order to avoid both strengthening of worker-involvement in Member States with weak co-determination and weakening of stronger co-determination systems. The capital side can always threaten to change the company’s legal form to one without co-determination in order to force the workers to support company decisions against their interests.
