What should happen before an EWC is asked for its opinion

It’s a question that goes to the heart of meaningful consultation.

A European Works Council should be consulted while its opinion can still influence the outcome not after decisions have effectively been made.

That means consultation is much more than circulating a PowerPoint presentation and arranging a meeting.

For consultation to be meaningful, EWC members should have:

📄 Information early enough to understand the proposal.
❓ Time to ask questions and challenge assumptions.
📊 Access to the relevant business information needed to assess the impact.
🌍 Professional interpretation so every representative can participate fully, regardless of language.
💬 A genuine opportunity for their opinion to be considered before decisions are finalised.

This becomes even more important during major transnational changes, such as mergers and acquisitions.

Recent discussions around the proposed KONE/TK Elevator transaction have highlighted another layer of complexity. If the acquisition proceeds, it could eventually require two existing EWCs to be brought together, raising important questions around governance, representation, existing agreements and consultation processes.

It’s a useful reminder that successful consultation isn’t just about meeting legal obligations. It’s about creating the conditions for informed dialogue across countries, cultures and languages.

In my experience, the most effective EWC meetings don’t begin when everyone enters the meeting room.

They begin long before the meeting itself with the right information, enough preparation, and communication that allows every participant to contribute with confidence.

Because when people truly understand the issues being discussed, consultation becomes far more valuable for employees, management and the organisation as a whole.

How to make EWC meetings more inclusive

In a European Works Council meeting, having interpreters in the room is essential.

But linguistic inclusion goes beyond providing interpretation.

An EWC brings together employee representatives, management, different languages, cultures and communication styles — often to discuss complex and sometimes sensitive issues.
Small choices in how the meeting is run can make a significant difference to whether delegates feel able to participate fully.

✨ Allow space to think and respond.
EWC representatives may be listening through interpretation, processing detailed information and preparing a question or response. A few extra seconds can make a real difference.

✨ Keep management presentations clear.
Long sentences, unexplained acronyms, corporate jargon and slides overloaded with text make an interpreter’s job harder — but, more importantly, they can make information harder for employee representatives to understand.

✨ Build interpretation time into the meeting.
Interpretation is part of the communication process, not an interruption to it. Speakers need to pause, avoid speaking over one another and allow sufficient time for questions and answers.

✨ Remember that participation looks different across cultures.
Some representatives will intervene readily; others may wait to be invited or need more time before speaking. Silence does not necessarily mean agreement or lack of interest.

✨ Make room for every delegation.
An EWC should not become a meeting dominated by those who are most confident speaking English or most comfortable taking the floor.

For me, successful multilingual EWC communication is not simply about ensuring that everyone can hear the same information.
It is about creating the conditions in which employee representatives can understand it, question it and contribute to the discussion on equal terms.

And sometimes, that starts with something as simple as slowing down.

Choosing the right format for your EWC meeting

Greetings from Athens 🇬🇷 — where I’m working today and, perhaps inevitably, thinking about European Works Councils and the very different ways we bring people together.

One question that comes up regularly is:

In-person, remote or hybrid?

After years of working with EWC meetings, I don’t think the answer is simply about logistics or cost.

It’s about how you want people to communicate.
The format you choose can affect how easily representatives communicate, how engaged participants are, and how effectively discussions can take place.

🏢 In-person
Best suited to meetings where relationship-building, detailed discussions and informal conversations are particularly important.
Being in the same room can make it easier to read the room, build trust and have those conversations that happen naturally between sessions.

💻 Remote
A practical option when bringing everyone together physically isn’t realistic.
It can reduce travel, simplify logistics and make it easier for representatives in different locations to participate.
But it also requires strong preparation and reliable technology to keep discussions productive.

🔄 Hybrid
Useful when some participants need to join remotely while others are together in person. This is a preferred option for many multinational companies, as it combines face-to-face interaction with greater flexibility and can reduce travel, accommodation and per diem costs for interpreters working remotely.
However, it can be more challenging to ensure that remote participants have the same opportunity to contribute as those in the room.

So before choosing a format, consider:

✔️ What does the meeting need to achieve?
✔️ How much discussion and interaction is required?
✔️ Who needs to participate?
✔️ How important are informal conversations and relationship-building?
✔️ What practical or budgetary constraints do you have?

The best format isn’t necessarily the easiest one to organise.

It’s the one that supports the purpose of the meeting and allows everyone to participate meaningfully.

4 things you should never do when interpreting for EWC meetings

European Works Council (EWC) meetings bring together employee representatives and management from different countries to discuss issues that can have a real impact on people’s working lives.

As an interpreter, your role is to make sure everyone can communicate effectively, regardless of the language they speak. But there are also clear professional boundaries to keep in mind.

Here are four things you should avoid:

❌ 1. Summarising or editing

Even when discussions are complex or a speaker goes into great detail, it isn’t the interpreter’s job to decide what is important enough to leave out. Every participant deserves to hear the full message, conveyed as accurately as possible.

❌ 2. Giving advice or suggesting solutions

An interpreter facilitates communication, not decision-making. Offering personal opinions or suggesting solutions can influence the discussion and take the focus away from the people involved.

❌ 3. Acting as an advocate

You may understand why someone feels strongly about an issue, but your role isn’t to defend their position or make their argument more persuasive. Your responsibility is to convey their message faithfully, without adding your own judgement.

❌ 4. Taking sides

Impartiality goes beyond avoiding openly supporting one party. It also means being mindful of your tone, word choices and personal assumptions, ensuring that every participant’s contribution receives the same professional care.

💬 Why does this matter?

EWC meetings can involve sensitive issues, different perspectives and decisions that affect employees across countries. Trust in the interpreting process is essential to meaningful participation.🤝

Cultural agility in an EWC meeting isn’t about knowing every cultural rule

Cultural agility in an EWC meeting isn’t about knowing every cultural rule.

It’s about knowing when to adapt.

Because put 10 or more nationalities around the same table and you’re not just bringing different languages into the room.

You’re bringing different expectations about:

👉 How disagreement should be expressed
👉 Who should speak first
👉 How openly people challenge management
👉 How decisions should be discussed
👉 What “yes” actually means
👉 How much context people expect before making a point

And this can matter more than we realise.

A comment that sounds perfectly straightforward to one person might come across as confrontational to another.

A cautious response might be interpreted as agreement.

A very direct question might be seen as inappropriate rather than constructive.

None of this necessarily means someone is being difficult.

They may simply be communicating in the way that feels natural to them.

That’s why cultural agility matters so much in European Works Councils.

It helps representatives, management and interpreters recognise what is happening beneath the words, and adjust without losing the substance of the conversation.

Because being understood isn’t just about speaking the same language. 🗣️

It’s about creating enough understanding for people from different backgrounds to actually work together.

And in an EWC, that can make a real difference. 🌍