Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Unit X Politik Info Michael Sommer* A Social Europe Needs Workers’ Consultation and Participation A social Europe worthy of the name will need to be more than a concept promoted by governments. This blend of democratic and social participation must be exercised within society, and not least within industry. Like any other aspect of the European social model, industrial democracy has taken shape in very different systems in the various countries of the European Un­ion. But there is also a common thread: the idea that working men and women should participate in com­pany decision-making. Apart from shop-floor represen­tation through workplace trade unions or on works councils, the great majority of European states also make provision for workers’ representatives to sit on the highest-level committees of their enterprises. I would like here to formulate a few theses on workers’ participation – partly in response to the at­tacks on workers’ codetermination that we have wit­nessed in Germany, which centre on the argument that it is out-of-date, and that our Europeanised and globalised economy and the new role of the capital markets have rendered it non-viable. I believe firmly, however, that codetermination rein­forces a well-functioning social democracy, that it is the key to tomorrow’s economy, that it helps to pre­vent the division of society, that it is a vital component of the European Single Market and that it is essential to prevent the unbridled influence of financial investors on corporate management. Codetermination reinforces a well­functioning social democracy The economy is not an autonomous universe which exerts no impact or influence on other systems. Eco­nomic power always entails political power. Wherever consultation and participation enable workers to moni­tor power, a key condition is created for a well­functioning political democracy. This becomes even more relevant as the political world is handing over its ability to define societal processes to the corporate world. Democracy, then, must not stop at the factory gate. Questions about the future of society can only be re­solved together with working men and women and * Chairman of the Confederation of German Trade Unions(DGB) April 2007