Much literature on European Works Councils (EWCs) is pessimistic, stressing their limited formal powers and the risks of isolation from broader mechanisms of worker solidarity and of `capture' by management. This article questions such dismissive conclusions. EWOs must be studied as an element in a more general and complex process of regulatory innovation within the EU. Three specific developments create `windows of opportunity' for a more optimistic scenario: the internal inconsistencies of managerial control, the new strategic importance of information flows, and the evolution of new bases for supranational trade union cooperation.
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