S.L. 452.98 Art. 5Election of membersofspecial negotiating body.

(1) The special negotiating body shall be set up in accordance with the following criteria:

(a) the employees of the participating legal entities and concerned subsidiaries or establishments in each Member State in which employees are employed shall be entitled to elect or appoint one member of the special negotiating body for each 10%, or a fraction thereof, of the number of employees employed in all the Member States taken together;

(b) if, in the case of an SCE to be established by merger, following the election or appointment referred to in paragraph (a), the members elected or appointed to the special negotiating body do not include at least one member representing each participating cooperative which is registered and has employees in that Member State and which will cease to exist as a separate legal entity on or following the registration of the SCE, the employees of that cooperative in respect of which there is no member shall be entitled to elect or appoint an additional member to the special negotiating body, provided that:

(i) the number of additional members which the employees are entitled to elect or appoint shall not exceed 20% of the number of ordinary members elected or appointed by virtue of paragraph (a);

(ii) the composition of the special negotiating body shall not entail a double representation of the employees concerned; and

(iii) if the number of such cooperatives is higher than the number of additional seats, such additional seats shall be allocated by decreasing order to cooperatives in different Member States having the highest number of employees.

(2) If, following the appointment or election of members to the special negotiating body in accordance with this regulation,

(a) changes are made to the participating legal entities, concerned subsidiaries or establishments which result in the number of ordinary or additional members which employees would be entitled to elect or appoint under this regulation either increasing or decreasing, the original appointment or election of members of the special negotiating body shall cease to have effect and those employees shall be entitled to elect or appoint the new number of members in accordance with the provisions of these regulations; and

(b) a member of the special negotiating body is no longer willing or able to continue serving as such a member, the employees whom he represents shall be entitled to elect or appoint a new member in his place.