The EU and transnational company agreements

Beryl ter Haar elaborates in her chapter (17) that Transnational Company Agreements (TCAs) lack legally binding force because, despite efforts to establish an optional legal framework (OLF), there still is none. Besides debates between, among others, employers’ and workers’ representatives about the necessity of such a framework, there are also a number of unresolved issues, such as the proper level of representation (sectoral or company level), that obstruct the adoption of a legal framework. Despite the lack of such a framework Ter Haar sees a positive development in the content of TCAs, which may result in more de facto effects in practice. Nevertheless, this will not resolve all the issues a legal framework would be able to do.