Brexit and European Works Councils: А confused scenario

Abstract

Brexit has finally arrived and its consequences are still unpredictable. This exit is unique in European Union history, as are its effects on economies, transportation, and workers. While the Withdrawal Agreements signed by the European Union and United Kingdom aim to soften the economic effects and grant a stable collaboration, there are some loopholes that could deprive British workers of rights that they enjoyed during their membership in European Union, such as transnational information and consultation rights enshrined in the art. 27 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union and disposed by Directive no. 2009/38/EC: a Directive that no longer applies in United Kingdom since January 2021. This essay retraces and contextualizes the effect of Brexit on Directive no. 2009/38/EC, mainly known as European Works Councils Directive. The analysis deals with the exclusion of British workers and British representatives from the rights of information and consultation granted by such Directive. Apart from the position of British representatives in many European Works Councils, also the fate of some of these bodies is at the stake due to the exclusion of British workers from the calculation threshold for their creation. This issue will be dealt looking at clarifications set out by the European Commission to face the several legal implications brought by Brexit in the context of European Works Councils.