This year’s annual EWPCC Conference, held in Rome from 20-21 March 2013, reflected on the first decade of experience and research on SEs. The conference was attended by over 75 board-level employee representatives, SE-Works Council members, trade union officials, and academic experts.

To set the stage, the conference opened with an overview of facts and figures on the SE legislation in practice. This was rounded out by an analysis of common trends and recent developments in workers’ participation and industrial relations in Europe. Parallel working groups assessed the EU agenda on corporate governance, evaluated the experience of SE-Works Councils, explored ways in which the work of board-level representation and that of SE-Works Councils can be linked, and debated the impact of the SE on trade union policy and debates. The ETUI book publication A Decade of Experience with the European Company (SE) was officially launched on this occasion. Finally, an international panel of experts discussed the perspectives for workers’ voice in European company law.