text: Employment contracts and pensions Employment contracts and pensions are not covered by the directive. With regard to occupational pension schemes, the SE is covered by the provisions laid down in the proposal for a directive on institutions for occupational schemes, presented by the Commission in October 2000, in particular in connection with the possibility of introducing a single pension scheme for all their employees in the European Union.
  Development
  Two approaches have been attempted to solve the problems cited above. One approach is to harmonize the company law of the member states. This approach has had some successes, but after thirty years only limited progress has been made. It is difficult to harmonize widely different regulatory systems, especially when they reflect different national attitudes to issues such as worker involvement in the management of the company.
  The other approach is to construct a whole new system of EU company law, that co-exists with the individual company laws of the member states. Companies would have the choice of operating either under national regulations or under the EU-wide system. However, this approach has been only somewhat more effective than the harmonization approach: while states are not as concerned about having foreign traditions of corporate governance imposed on their companies, which the harmonization approach could well entail; they also wish to ensure that the EU-wide system would be palatable to the traditions of their national companies, so that they will not be put at a disadvantage compared to the other member states.