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A new EWC agreement for Canon was signed on 30 September 2014. In 2010 the Japanese group took over Océ, the Dutch printer manufacturer. In both companies there had been a European works council in place since 1996 under Dutch jurisdiction. Since both agreements were signed shortly before the 22 September 1996 deadline, they were subject neither to the old nor to the new EU Directives.
In the process of integrating 24,000 Océ employees into the substantially larger Canon group, the European work councils also had to merge. They reached an agreement with central management and used the legal right to renegotiation for "changes in the structure of the undertaking", in order to secure itself the full legal status of the new EWC Directive. The only concession to the employer was the change from Dutch to British jurisdiction, as often seen more recently. The negotiations were conducted by both steering committees and started in December 2012 without the establishment of a Special Negotiating Body.
The two plenary meetings belong to the positive aspects of the new EWC agreement. Moreover the seven member select committee meets at least a further three times per year with management. Each year there is one day training for the entire EWC and additional training is possible. The transnational competence of the EWC goes beyond the specifications of the EU Directive. A fixed EWC budget is negotiated between the EWC and central management. On the critical side however is the fixed duration for the consultation procedure: it should not last longer than five weeks.
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