EU has many different governing bodies in the financial sector that is in charge of or are influencing legislation, supervision, impact assessments and more. A diverse stakeholder representation in EU institutions and bodies is an important democratic function.

Employees must be given seats in relevant stakeholder groups to ensure that the employee perspective is taken into account.

The exchange of information needed to create understanding of the bodies ongoing work, that effects the situation of employees, is furthermore an argument to give employees a role as vital stakeholders. As employees are among the first to be impacted by EU rules for the financial sector, they must be regarded as relevant and important stakeholders.

During the last years, several EU proposals have interfered with the autonomy of collective bargaining. This ignorance of trade union rights and democratic governance of the labour market is unacceptable and a serious problem for EU’s democratic legitimacy.

The Nordic labour market parties have a long tradition of autonomous and free collective bargaining, established throughout decades of responsible regulation of wages and working conditions.

The European Union has no right to interfere with or regulate pay according to the EU Treaties.

NFU thinks that employee representation in governing bodies contributes to sound and effective corporate governance. This provides a bottom-up perspective on companies’ activities, which is a crucial factor for well-informed corporate decision-making.

Employees are interested in long-term performance of the company and thus contribute to sustainable business models. Therefore, employees should be seen as stakeholders that contribute to democracy – a democratic corporate governing body should reflect a diversity of interests to promote responsible decision-making.

Employees have an absolute right to be informed and consulted in company restructuring, resolution and any other material changes to corporate reality.