Bringing together a collection of respected contributors, this book explores how employee representatives perform their jobs as members of the European Works Councils.

Michael Whittall is an associate professor at the Technical University in Munich and a European Union level correspondent for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Herman Knudsen is an associate professor in labour relations at Aalborg University, Denmark. Fred Huijgen is a professor in business administration at the Nijmegen Business School, University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Introduction: Process and Structure of the Book 1. European Works Councils and the Problem of Identity 2. The European Works Councils Directive: Changing Rationales for EU Regulation of Employee Participation 3. Living Apart Together?: A Chorus of Multiple Identities 4. Beyond European Works Council Networks: The Break-Up of the Rover Group 5 Co-Ordinating across Borders: The Role of European Industry Federations within European Works Councils 6. Regional Clusters of Communication: Between National and European Identities 7 Ethno-, Poly- and Eurocentric European Works Councils: How does German Involvement Influence their Identity? 8. Still Learning from Europe: Spanish Participation in European Works Councils 9. Interest Representation and European Identity: A Twofold Challenge for European Works Councils 10. The European Works Council and the Feeling of Interdependence 11. Preparing the Ground for a Social Europe?: European Works Councils and European Regulatory Identity 12. Coming of Age: The Development of a Collective Identity in European Works Councils 13. Tackling the Identity Dilemma