Employee representation: the European cooperative validated by the Court
(B2) The European Court of Justice, on May 2, validated the regulation on the European cooperative society. The European institutions were divided on two provisions of the EC Treaty which both aim at the establishment of the common market. But according to different means and objectives. Article 308 of the EC Treaty allows the adoption of acts, according to the unanimity procedure in the Council by simple consultation of the Parliament, "if action by the Community appears necessary to achieve the functioning of the common market". MEPs would have preferred the basis of Article 95, which aims at "approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States which have as their object the establishment and operation of the internal market", according to the co-decision procedure. For the Court, recourse to Article 308 is justified because it "cannot be regarded as having the object of approximating the laws of the Member States (…) but has the object of creating a form
new cooperative society superimposed on national forms". Adopted on July 22, 2003, the regulation, modeled in part on that of the European company, sets up a single statute, applicable to the European cooperative society, which thus enables it to act on the whole of European territory. It provides for a procedure for informing and consulting personnel. (ECJ, 2 May 2006, European Parliament / Council, case C-436/03)
(NGV)