Article 3
Creation of a special negotiating body 1. Where the management or administrative organs of participating legal entities draw up a plan for the establishment of an SCE, they shall as soon as possible take the necessary steps, including providing information on the identity of the participating legal entities and subsidiaries or establishments, as well as the number of their employees, to start negotiations with the representatives of the legal entities' employees on arrangements for the involvement of employees in the SCE. 2. For this purpose, a special negotiating body representative of the employees of the participating legal entities and concerned subsidiaries or establishments shall be created in accordance with the following provisions: (a) in electing or appointing members of the special negotiating body, it shall be ensured: (i) that such members are elected or appointed in proportion to the number of employees employed in each Member State by the participating legal entities and concerned subsidiaries or establishments, by allocating in respect of a Member State one seat per each portion of employees employed in that Member State which equals 10 %, or a fraction thereof, of the number of employees employed in all the Member States taken together; (ii) that in the case of an SCE formed by way of merger, there are such further additional members from each Member State as may be necessary in order to ensure that the special negotiating body includes at least one member representing each participating cooperative which is registered and has employees in that Member State and which it is proposed will cease to exist as a separate legal entity following the registration of the SCE, insofar as: - the number of such additional members does not exceed 20 % of the number of members designated by virtue of point (i); and - the composition of the special negotiating body does not entail a double representation of the employees concerned. If the number of such cooperatives is higher than the number of additional seats available pursuant to the first subparagraph, these additional seats shall be allocated to cooperatives in different Member States by decreasing order of the number of employees they employ. (b) Member States shall determine the method to be used for the election or appointment of the members of the special negotiating body who are to be elected or appointed in their territories. They shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, as far as possible, such members shall include at least one member representing each participating legal entity which has employees in the Member State concerned. Such measures must not increase the overall number of members. The methods used to nominate, appoint or elect employee representatives should seek to promote gender balance. Member States may provide that such members may include representatives of trade unions whether or not they are employees of a participating legal entity or concerned subsidiary or establishment. Without prejudice to national legislation and/or practice laying down thresholds for the establishing of a representative body, Member States shall provide that employees in undertakings or establishments in which there are no employees' representatives through no fault of their own have the right to elect or appoint members of the special negotiating body. 3. The special negotiating body and the competent organs of the participating legal entities shall determine, by written agreement, arrangements for the involvement of employees within the SCE. To this end, the competent organs of the participating legal entities shall inform the special negotiating body of the plan and the actual process of establishing the SCE, up to its registration. 4. Subject to paragraph 6, the special negotiating body shall take decisions by an absolute majority of its members, provided that such a majority also represents an absolute majority of the employees. Each member shall have one vote. However, should the result of the negotiations lead to a reduction of participation rights, the majority required for a decision to approve such an agreement shall be the votes of two thirds of the members of the special negotiating body representing at least two thirds of the employees, including the votes of members representing employees employed in at least two Member States, - in the case of an SCE to be established by way of merger, if participation covers at least 25 % of the overall number of employees of the participating cooperatives, or - in the case of an SCE to be established by any other way, if participation covers at least 50 % of the overall number of employees of the participating legal entities. Reduction of participation rights means a proportion of members of the organs of the SCE within the meaning of Article 2(k), which is lower than the highest proportion existing within the participating legal entities. 5. For the purpose of the negotiations, the special negotiating body may request experts of its choice, for example representatives of appropriate Community level trade union organisations, to assist it with its work. Such experts may be present at negotiation meetings in an advisory capacity at the request of the special negotiating body, where appropriate to promote coherence and consistency at Community level. The special negotiating body may decide to inform the representatives of appropriate external organisations, including trade unions, of the start of the negotiations. 6. The special negotiating body may decide by the majority set out in the second subparagraph not to open negotiations or to terminate negotiations already opened, and to rely on the rules on information and consultation of employees in force in the Member States where the SCE has employees. Such a decision shall stop the procedure to conclude the agreement referred to in Article 4. Where such a decision has been taken, none of the provisions of the Annex shall apply. The majority required to decide not to open or to terminate negotiations shall be the votes of two thirds of the members representing at least two thirds of the employees, including the votes of members representing employees employed in at least two Member States. In the case of an SCE established by way of transformation, this paragraph shall not apply if there is participation in the cooperative to be transformed. The special negotiating body shall be reconvened at the written request of at least 10 % of the employees of the SCE, its subsidiaries and establishments, or their representatives, at the earliest two years after the abovementioned decision, unless the parties agree to negotiations being reopened sooner. If the special negotiating body decides to reopen negotiations with the management but no agreement is reached as a result of those negotiations, none of the provisions of the Annex shall apply. 7. Any expenses relating to the functioning of the special negotiating body and, in general, to negotiations shall be borne by the participating legal entities so as to enable the special negotiating body to carry out its task in an appropriate manner. In compliance with this principle, Member States may lay down budgetary rules regarding the operation of the special negotiating body. They may in particular limit the funding to cover one expert only.