European employees took advantage of lower share prices

                                                                                       2009                2008                2007                2006
Employee owners                                                             9.3 million       9 million         8.4 million
Employees' share in ownership structure                           2.86%             2.79%              2.75%              2.43%
Capitalisation held by employees in €                            166 billion       249 billion       291 billion       213 billion
% European companies having employee ownership      91%                 83.8%             81.4%              77.4%
% European companies having broad-based plans         53.1%              50.9%             49%                 45.2%
% European companies having launched new plans       30.3%              35.3%             26.5%

In short: European employees took advantage of lower share prices to increase their share. This is the main conclusion of the new Economic Survey of Employee Ownership in the European Countries in 2009 which will be soon published. More

Go ahead
Employee ownership is a hot debate in the campaign for national election in the UK (see press review). From Paris, the new European Commissioner for Internal Market, Michel Barnier expressed his own positive will: "I am going to make a set of proposals for better corporate governance: Better transparency, better say from shareholders about executives' remuneration, better place for employee ownership…" Go ahead Michel !!… More

Press review
Much new information about employee ownership in February 2010, with 1.517 articles in this press review (on which 607 involving stock options and 408 about workers' cooperatives). We made a selection of  58 remarkable articles in 12 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, India,  Jamaica, Poland, Spain, UK, USA, Zimbabwe.
Australia: Australian Employee Buyout Center at work.
Austria: New employee share plan for Erste Group Bank.
Canada: New employee buyouts using the Employee Shareholders' Cooperative model.
France: Michel Barnier expresses his strong vision about financial regulation and employee ownership as the new European Commissioner for Internal Markets. French companies promote employee share plans for emerging countries. New employee share plan for GDF Suez based on free performance shares. Growing participation of employees in General Shareholders Meetings. The French Confederation of Workers' Cooperatives launches a new common logo "lesScop".
Jamaica: Strong debates about employee ownership solutions for Air Jamaica. The Jamaica Civil Service Association wants the government to divest ownership of the country's postal service to the workers through an Employee Share Ownership Plan.
Poland: Vice-Prime Minister Pawlak conference launching the new privatisation plan based on employee ownership.
Spain: Employee-owned companies will be encouraged through a new legislation for the social economy.
UK: Political follie in the UK. "Employee ownership – employee ownership – employee ownership…"  "John Lewis – John Lewis – John Lewis" as the few key words from both Tories and Labour campaigning for national elections. Plans to give public sector workers the opportunity to take over the services they deliver from the state through workers' cooperatives – shifting power from the State to working people. A new "John Lewis State"? The UK's largest employee-owned company, The John Lewis Partnership, welcomes Tories' plan, but the scheme wrong-footed Labour and sparks fury.
USA: Some employee buyouts and ESOPs' fables as usual.
Zimbabwe: Indigenisation Regulations encourage employee share ownership schemes or trusts to be established.

La revista de prensa esta disponible en:
                http://www.efesonline.org/PRESS REVIEW/2010/February.htm