Thirty years of German co-determination - a success model?

For the past 30 years, employee representatives have held seats alongside shareholders on the supervisory boards of German companies with more than 2,000 employees. But ever since its introduction, the German system of co-determination has been controversial. It opponents argue that it deters foreign investment in Germany. Is the co-determination model on its way out? Jürgen R. Thumann, Federal Association of German Industry, argues for a reform of the co-determination laws and for the introduction of voluntary models with a more flexible design so that companies can react faster to business developments. He nevertheless feels that employee representation in supervisory boards should not be completely sacrificed to such models. Also Roland Wolf, Federal Employers' Association of Germany, sees the need for change: "In order to lead the German model of co-determination out of its isolation and not to let it become a locational disadvantage, it must become compatible with other systems. German co-determination should be adjusted to the European model with the necessary legal changes." For Henning Röders of the DHV, a commerce, services and public employees' union in the German Christian Federation of Labour Unions, the board membership of employees in equal numbers is "an important component of the social, consensus-oriented market economy alongside free collective bargaining. The German co-determination model is not a thing of the past. On the contrary, it contributes to a stable economic system." However, he sees the need for reform in how representatives are elected.