The statute on the German works council system, somehow the backbone of industrial relations in Germany and a point of reference in many comparative studies on workers' participation, has been significantly amended in 2001. This amendment was supposed to improve the conditions for the application of the law in small and medium-sized companies, to adapt the traditional organizational structure to the needs of an ever changing reality, to improve the ressources available to the works councils and to increase the works council's powers in specific areas. It turned out to be highly controversial. The article describes the innovations in a sketchy way and tries to evaluate their impact on the future functioning of the works council system in Germany.
International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations