Industrial Democracy and Involvement of Employees in the Societas Europaea

Abstract

Industrial democracy denotes a specific proposition as well as the practice of shaping relations between employees and employers in an enterprise. The intensification of discussion on industrial democracy has happened due to changes that have occurred in this area on the basis of EU law. The European Union legislature has not only developed the idea of industrial democracy, moving it from domestic work establishments on to a plane of cross-border businesses, but it has also introduced one of the most powerful forms it takes the participation of employees in the bodies of enterprises. New legal solutions have contributed to the evolution of views on the sociological approach to industrial democracy. In order to determine the reasons for the development of worker participation in an enterprise it is reasonable to determine to what extent industrial democracy and industrial citizenship manifest themselves in an enterprise in a way similar to political democracy and state citizenship. The considerations in this respect have been supplemented by a presentation of legal solutions which are the basis for functioning of industrial democracy in the Societas Europaea.