Financial Participation of Employees in the EU-27 (Studies in Economic Transition)

This book aims to systematically assess laws and practices, close gaps that currently prevent a full profiling of financial participation, provide a description of individual countries against the background of comparable scores for the EU 27 and to promote a common platform for financial participation within the European Union. The authors of this volume build upon the 2003 report of the European Parliament on asset formation, which called on the Commission to launch an initiative to promote Financial Participation of Employees. This book embraces all aspects and forms of Financial Participation. It promotes A European Platform for Financial Participation, providing a summary of the development of employee financial participation in the EU 27. This book offers an overview of the situation across the Member and Candidate countries as of 2007, and a proposal for a European policy, for example, the 'Building Block Approach', which draws upon the experience of employee financial participation in Western Europe as it relates to the European integration process. This book includes an outline of functional changes in property rights in Europe and reports on the legal framework for implementation of financial participation at a supranational level including tax incentives and a systematic overview of financial participation. It further presents the U.S. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as an example of an advanced model. For the first time, comparable empirical evidence of employee financial participation in the EU member and candidate countries is made available Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 13 List of Tables......Page 15 Foreword......Page 16 Preface......Page 20 Acknowledgements......Page 23 List of Contributors......Page 24 Network of Affiliated Country Experts......Page 26 Part I: A European Platform for Financial Participation......Page 28 1.1 Introduction......Page 30 1.2 Objective and context......Page 32 1.3 The current situation in Europe......Page 43 1.4 Towards a European concept of financial participation......Page 46 1.5 Conclusions and summary......Page 79 Part II: The Legal Background......Page 98 2.1 Ownership in the welfare state and in post-socialist transformation......Page 100 2.2 Legal foundations of property......Page 101 2.3 Ownership in European law......Page 104 2.4 The problem: Unequal distribution and concentration of capital......Page 107 2.5 The German example......Page 108 3.1 The legislative process......Page 112 3.2 Legal sources for employee participation at a European level......Page 114 3.3 Dealing with tax incentives......Page 116 4.1 Participation in property rights: Control and returns......Page 148 4.2 Employee Participation in Profits and Enterprise Results (PEPPER schemes)......Page 150 4.3 Asset accumulation and employee savings plans......Page 154 4.4 Discussion: Pros and cons......Page 155 5.1 Historical background......Page 163 5.2 Foundations of the US Employee Stock Ownership Plan......Page 164 5.3 Structural changes needed to implement ESOPs and profit-sharing schemes......Page 165 5.4 Key tax incentives for ESOPs......Page 166 5.5 The interim balance in 2007......Page 168 5.6 Future prospects for ESOPs in the US......Page 169 5.8 Four case studies......Page 170 Part III: Empirical Evidence and Country Information......Page 184 6.1 Introduction: Assessing and benchmarking financial participation – The PEPPER IV Report......Page 186 6.2 Availability of financial participation schemes in EU companies......Page 193 6.3 Take-up rate of financial participation schemes in the workforce......Page 201 6.4 Conclusions......Page 205 I. Belgium......Page 208 II. Bulgaria......Page 212 III. Croatia......Page 215 IV. Cyprus......Page 219 V. Czech Republic......Page 222 VI. Denmark......Page 226 VII. Germany......Page 229 VIII. Estonia......Page 234 IX. Greece......Page 237 X. Spain......Page 240 XI. France......Page 243 XII. Hungary......Page 249 XIII. Ireland......Page 254 XIV. Italy......Page 259 XV. Latvia......Page 263 XVI. Lithuania......Page 266 XVII. Luxembourg......Page 269 XVIII. Malta......Page 271 XIX. Netherlands......Page 275 XX. Austria......Page 277 XXI. Poland......Page 283 XXII. Portugal......Page 288 XXIII. Romania......Page 290 XXIV. Slovakia......Page 296 XXV. Slovenia......Page 299 XXVI. Finland......Page 304 XXVII. Sweden......Page 308 XXVIII. Turkey......Page 312 XXIX. United Kingdom......Page 317 Bibliography......Page 336 A......Page 346 C......Page 347 E......Page 348 G......Page 349 N......Page 350 P......Page 351 S......Page 352 T......Page 353 W......Page 354 Aims to assess laws and practices, close gaps that prevent a profiling of financial participation. This book provides a description of individual countries against the background of comparable scores for the EU 27 and promotes a common platform for financial participation within the European Union.