Worker participation has been subject to controversial debate in Europe. Although the member states' traditions in industrial relations and especially in worker participation vary greatly, the Council of Ministers agreed on some directives in this regard, recently: the EWC directive (94/45/EC) and the information/consultation directive (2002/14/EC), and the directive (2001/86/EC) supplementing the Statute for a European Company with regard to the involvement of employees, which emphasises voluntary negotiations between employees' representatives, a so-called special negotiating body, and the management. The latter directive does not only provide information and consultation procedures but also provisions regarding board-level representation. For that reason, the focus of this paper is on the European Company (Societas Europaea = SE). In this context, the fundamental provisions regarding the SE are presented. After discussing some exemplary cases in order to demonstrate the practical implications of this legal initiative regarding employee involvement, some issues arising are examined.