Main Article What makes an effective European works council? Considerations based on three case studies Michael Gold Professor of Comparative Employment Relations, School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London Chris Rees Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London Summary This article analyses the operation of European works councils (EWCs) in three multinational companies (GSK, Coca-Cola and UniCredit) across six EU Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and the UK). Based on interviews with EWC members and other employee representatives in these companies, it argues that EWCs are in a process of continual develop- ment, and examines the influences on their effectiveness by using a fivefold typology: company type, path dependency, socio-institutional environments, actors’ strategies and internal EWC dynamics. The article reveals that our respondents refer most frequently to the internal dynamics of EWCs as the key influence on their effectiveness, and concludes by assessing the policy implications for trade unions. Re ´ sume ´ L’article analyse le fonctionnement de comite ´s d’entreprise europe ´ens (CEE) dans trois socie ´te ´s multinationales (GSK, Coca-Cola et UniCredit) ope ´rant dans six E ´ tats membres de l’UE (Bulgarie, Croatie, Chypre, Irlande, Italie et Royaume-Uni). Sur la base d’interviews mene ´es aupre `s de mem- bres des CEE et d’autres repre ´sentants des travailleurs au sein de ces entreprises, il soutient que les CEE connaissent encore un processus de de ´veloppement ininterrompu et examine les facteurs qui influencent leur efficacite ´ en utilisant une quintuple typologie : le type d’entreprise, les facteurs historiques, les environnements socio-institutionnels, les strate ´gies des acteurs et la dynamique interne des CEE. L’article re ´ve `le que les personnes interroge ´ es citent le plus fre ´quemment la dyna- mique interne des CEE comme e ´tant le facteur cle ´ de leur efficacite ´ et il conclut en examinant les applications de ces re ´sultats quant a ` l’action a ` mener par les syndicats. Corresponding author: Michael Gold, Professor of Comparative Employment Relations, School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK. Email: m.gold@rhul.ac.uk Transfer 19(4) 539–551 ª The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1024258913501770 trs.sagepub.com