223 pages
evolution 2006-2019
main findings of census 2019
more than 100 tables and graphs
democratization rate in various countries
list of all most remarkable companies
ordinary employees and top executives
employee representation on boards
discrimination in voting rights
ownership control
listed companies
employee-owned
non-listed
companies
and much more

An exhaustive picture based on the EFES database (the 2.750 European companies gathering 96% of employment in all European listed companies).

in partnership with

In addition to all the information on employee share ownership and employee share plans, this Survey includes chapters on corporate governance (in particular employee representation on board) and the ownership structure of all large European companies.

The Survey reveals further progress last year for employee share ownership in Europe. The rate of growth increased for the number of employee shareholders, with 7.2 million people in large European companies (Graph 1). If one adds one million employee shareholders in SMEs, the total figure reaches 8.2 million.

They held 350 billion Euro in May 2019, increasing to 400 billion Euro in early 2020. Assets held reached 50.000€ per person in 2019, and 27.000€ in 2019 if top executive are excluded, compared to 13.000€ in 2009, an increase of 113% when the European stock exchanges rose by 58% over the same period, - a good illustration of the benefits of employee share ownership for European employees.

The development of employee share ownership in large European companies continued in 2019. More and more of them are organizing employee share plans (Graph 2). In 2019, 94% of all large European companies had employee share ownership, of which 89% had employee share plans of all kinds, while 52% had "broad-based" plans for all employees, and 62% had stock option plans. Finally, 31% of all large European companies launched new employee share plans during the year, a proportion that keeps increasing year by year.

Obviously, this development responds to the general demand of employees and companies. However employee share ownership is still much more widespread and more democratised in France, in the UK and in Nordic countries than in Central/Eastern and Southern countries. Unfortunately, the European Commission has still not taken any initiative for convergence in this area.

Graph 1

Graph 2

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"Merci pour ce travail récurrent si précieux !"

"Remarkable work ! Thanks and congratulation".

"Nous sommes en phase de finalisation du texte concernant une saisine au CESE en France. Votre publication pourrait nous être fort utile."

"Muchas gracias por la información y felicitaciones..."

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